My little pony:Adventure of Seresia

Although the ropes binding her body were already pulled taut, Xiao Ling would still occasionally spare a hand to support Pear Butter's bottom—partly to ensure her safety, and partly to prevent the mare from slipping off due to sudden movements. Remarkably, even with only one free limb, Xiao Ling's mobility remained virtually unimpeded. Her movements were as light as a leaf dancing in the wind, every foothold carefully selected after thorough observation and consideration—optimal positions chosen with precision. Her gaze remained resolute, her limbs moving with seasoned coordination. After merely glancing upward briefly, she would decisively plot their next move. Pear Butter, however, had never experienced anything like this. Each of Xiao Ling's leaps sent fresh waves of panic through her. Clutching Xiao Ling's neck with eyes tightly shut, she feared nothing more than being thrown off and plummeting down the mountainside. Though she desperately admonished herself not to look downward, the forbidden urge to glance back only grew stronger.

"Don't move now. Hold tight." Just as Pear Butter's composure was about to break, Xiao Ling's deliberately lowered voice interrupted her turning motion. The supporting hand at her flank withdrew, leaving the pony clueless about Xiao Ling's intentions yet too frightened to ask. She could only tighten her hooves around Xiao Ling's neck and her thighs around the leopard's waist, while twitching her ears to discern their surroundings through sound. Yet the eerie silence yielded nothing but her own trembling breaths:

"Xiao Ling... Xiao Ling?? Are you still there???"

"Shh. Quiet. We're nearly there. But the surface above is too slippery—I need to find climbing assistance."

Confused, Pear Butter opened her eyes to pure darkness. Raising her head revealed a slender pillar splitting the moon in half. As her vision adjusted to the dimness and moonlight illuminated their position, the pony finally recognized the massive ship's bow fragment before them—specifically, the severed prow of a vessel. The "pillar" she had seen was actually the ship's bowsprit.

The weathered planks on the hull had faded severely under sun and wind, their surfaces cracked like tortoise shells, appearing fragile enough to crumble at touch. Currently hidden in the crevice where ship met mountain, Xiao Ling clung with her left claw to a protruding rock while her right carefully worked loose a rusted ship nail. After painstaking extraction, she tossed the nail upward, swiftly switching grip on the crevice to catch it with her left paw. Testing its stability between stone gaps, she finally nodded.

"This should work..." Confirming the nail's usability, Xiao Ling immediately resumed climbing along the joint with Pear Butter on her back. Though their goal was now within reach, the rock surface grew increasingly smooth near the top—a stark contrast to the rugged terrain below. This horizontally stretching "buffer zone" extended endlessly in both directions, likely designed as anti-climbing insulation. With no viable footholds remaining, Xiao Ling looked up to spot a drainage hole on the bulwark above, moonlight cascading from its opening. Yet the distance remained daunting—reaching it would require a precise wall-jump maneuver. Normally effortless for her, the added weight of a pony complicated matters. Could she swing Pear Butter upward by the hooves first?

"No..." Xiao Ling instantly dismissed the thought. Unlike her clawed self, Pear Butter was an Earth Pony—her blunt hooves would find no purchase on the glassy surface.

"Seems we'll have to gamble..." After thorough deliberation, Xiao Ling acknowledged this as their only option. Drawing a deep breath of the lingering tar stench and salty sea air—wrinkling her nose at the foul mixture—she adjusted her stance and glanced back at the Pear Butter:

"We're jumping to that opening above." Xiao Ling pointed at the drainage hole. Pear Butter's ears drooped comically at the sight of the terrifying height. "Close your eyes if scared—but stay silent."

"But it's too high!! How could we possibly—"

"Ready? Beginning now."

Before Pear Butter could protest, Xiao Ling crouched low, muzzle nearly brushing the cliff face. With explosive power, she launched sideways toward the ship's hull. Pear Butter buried her face in Xiao Ling's back, limbs locked in a death grip, refusing to witness their perilous flight. Making contact with the hull, Xiao Ling kicked upward several times before transitioning to the smooth rockface. Anticipating the slippery surface, she jammed the salvaged nail into a crevice for leverage, using the momentary purchase to propel them toward the drainage hole's edge.

Unexpectedly, the drainage rim proved treacherously slick. Caught off guard, Xiao Ling unsheathed her claws, digging deep into the wood despite splinters piercing her paw pads. After desperate scrambling, her hind paws finally found purchase, allowing them to haul onto the deck mere seconds from disaster.

"Horrible idea... Please remind me never to do that again..." Pear Butter slid off, untying the ropes while muttering complaints. She rubbed her sore waistline—marked by rope burns—and flexed hooves numb from prolonged clenching.

"I too wish we'd found safer infiltration methods." Xiao Ling comforted while swiftly coiling the ropes diagonally across her shoulders. Her alert gaze swept across the deck dominated by a crescent-shaped pool emitting strange fishy odors. Beyond it lay a grand hall walls adorned with maritime relics: ship wheels, rope racks, navigation compasses, and assorted seafaring gear. Behind them rose a slender mast supporting patchwork triangular sails that stretched into the mountainside, forming makeshift canopies.

Footsteps suddenly froze them. Xiao Ling yanked Pear Butter behind the mast as doors groaned open.

"How do you plan to handle them?"

"You're the island master Kuiwu. I trust you'll find ways to keep Twilight and her friends permanently on this island." The cloaked leader spoke while turning toward the trophy-covered wall, revealing the cowering ruler trailing behind. Pear Butter stiffened—she recognized that cloak from the tunnels. At closer range, the speaker's mare-like silhouette and voice became clear. More shocking was Kuiwu's demeanor: the usually domineering tyrant now followed like an obedient hound. "Kuiwu"—this was the first time Pear Butter had heard the island master's true name. No resident dared address him so directly—who was this cloaked mare?

"Y-yes! I meant... after keeping them here, what else should I...?" Kuiwu hunched forward, paws nervously rubbing together—the picture of a child fearing parental wrath.

"Of course, do what you're best at, Kuiwu. Do I really need to teach you something so simple?" The mare didn't even turn around to look at the Kuiwu as she spoke. Instead, she casually stared at a glass bottle on a shelf, inside which was a miniature model of a ship. The mare seemed very interested in the model, and after observing it for a while, she used her magic to take the bottle down. She carefully watched as magical solutions simulated waves, making the model ship drift on top of them.

"If you can't even do this right, do me a favor and find a quiet place to end yourself at all," she said, her voice cold. As soon as the words left her mouth, the mare tossed the bottle behind her without a second thought. The Kuiwu was startled by the action and rushed forward, trying to catch the large bottle with his much smaller frame. Even Pear Butter, who had been watching, felt worried whether the Kuiwu could manage to save the bottle.

"Y-yes, I understand... I promise you, Twilight Sparkle and her friends will stay on the island forever..." Though it was a struggle, the island master, the Kuiwu, successfully caught the bottle. He tossed it to a nearby guard, and instead of becoming angry, he bowed his head even lower in respect, his voice laced with a hint of fear. However, his effort to please the island master earned only a dismissive snort from her.

"Very well, prepare a ship with a reverse-flow engine immediately. I must to return to the Overseer as soon as possible and deliver the goods to him."

"I’ll prepare it right away, Honorable East Wind. Please follow me."