"There it is!" Vinyl cried excitedly, pointing ahead.

Bon-Bon looked up, shifting her sunhat to continually keep the sun out of her eyes. She followed Vinyl's outstretched arm and pointed finger above the heads of the crowd to their destination. The ship was massive, painted dark blue and dazzling white. It rose above the water, dozens and dozens of decks stacked on top of one another, each and every glass window sparkling in the sun. On top, four massive smokestacks rose into the clear blue sky, completing the look. The ship looked majestic just floating in the harbor. Bon-Bon imagined it would be even more impressive once they set sail.

Although, she wouldn't be able to see it sailing all majestic-like, being on board and all. There were probably some videos online.

"Come on," Vinyl grinned, pulling on Bon-Bon's arm and pushing through the throngs of people between them and the ship.

Well, 'people' was something of a generalized term now. Bon-Bon didn't often think about it, as she mostly only saw other humans on campus.

The crowds cluttering up the port were a mix of Humans and Equines, with members of a few dozen subspecies and mixes thrown in as well. It had been over eighty years now since 'Linking of the Worlds' or whatever it was called. Bon-Bon may like going to class hell of a lot more than Vinyl did, but even she had difficulty paying attention to what happened years before she was born. All she knew is that she was technically living on an alien world. One with an eerily similar atmosphere, ecosystem, and layout. Hell, the Equines even called their Caribbean the Caribbean too!

Vinyl was getting more aggressive the closer they got to the ship, less slipping between people and more shoving them out of her way. Bon-Bon found herself repeating a string of apologies as she was dragged along, her face turning redder and redder by the moment. They eventually broke through into a small clearing, stopping to catch their breath. They were right next to the ship, close enough to hear the water gently lapping against the hull. Bon-Bon craned her head back to read the name painted along the side of the ship.

SS Panzuri.

"Vinyl?" Bon-Bon asked, looking from the ship to her friend.

"Yeah?" Vinyl looked back over her shoulder.

Bon-Bon pointed up at the ship. "What's 'Panzuri'?"

"It's one of those foreign words, Bon-Bon."

Bon-Bon frowned. "I know that. What does it mean?"

Vinyl snickered. "I'll tell you when you're older.

Bon-Bon opened her mouth to argue but quickly decided against it. She could just look it up later. It probably just meant 'flower' or 'mountain' or something and not 'eat humans here'.

Probably.

"Ha, there it is!" Vinyl said, pointing ahead to gangplank. "We're almost there!"

Vinyl didn't wait for a reply, reaching back and grabbing Bon-Bon's hand once more dragging her through the crowds. The people here were at least less tightly packed than they were further up the docks, which meant distinctly less shoving on Vinyl's part. Bon-Bon was still saying her apologies, but the faces they passed seemed to be much less annoyed than before. In fact, most of them seemed almost glad to see a pair of nubile humans brush past them. Bon-Bon wasn't yet sure how she felt about that.

Please don't let Panzuri mean buffet.

They were almost to the gangplank when they ran into a wall. Not a literal wall, though. In between them and their way onto the ship stood the largest creature Bon-Bon had personally seen. Green scales glinted in the sunlight, covering a massive tail at least five times long as Bon-Bon was tall and nearly twice as thick. The tail was attached to a similarly scale-covered torso, seeming to take the place of the creature's legs.

The snake-lady, Bon-Bon assumed the creature was female based on the striped sundress they wore, was also making her way to the gangplank, although at a considerably more languid pace than Vinyl had been. The DJ was hoping from one foot to the next. All she had to do was step over the snake-lady's tail and they would have a straight shot to the gangplank. Bon-Bon could never do it, the very thought of it making her nervous, but even Vinyl seemed hesitant to.

And so, Vinyl excitedly shuffled behind the snake-lady. There were too close now to move around her, but she was clearly going far too slow for Vinyl's liking. Bon-Bon held tightly to Vinyl's hand, worried that Vinyl just might try to step over the snake-lady's tail. She looked around nervously, knowing that Vinyl's fidgeting was going to attract attention.

She was right. There was an Equine walking beside the snake-lady, wearing loose shirt and shorts, revealing quiet a bit of her thick, bright pink thighs. She looked over her shoulder at them just as Bon-Bon was staring at said thighs. Bon-Bon instantly flushed red and looked down, pulling her hat low over her face to hide her embarrassment. She stayed like that for a few moments before sheepishly peeking out. The pink Equine girl was looking directly at her.

The girl ran hand through her short bob of blonde hair and poked the snake-lady's arm, pointing back at Bon-Bon and Vinyl. The snake-lady craned her head back, her face certainly a match for the rest of her. She smiled sheepishly, revealing enough sharp teeth to make Bon-Bon nervous (which wasn't much), and quickly drew her tail closer to the rest of her body.

"Sorry," she said, thin cheeks flushing a slightly darker shade of green as she started up the gangplank.

The Equine girl let the snake-lady go past, moving to walk beside Vinyl and Bon-Bon.

"Sorry about Val," the girl said, falling into step on Vinyl's left side while Bon-Bon walked on her right. "She's really into the sun, y'know? I told her to hurry up, but..." the girl shrugged. "I'm Twisty, by the way."

"I'm Vinyl," Vinyl replied.

"And I'm Bon-Bon," Bon-Bon said, quickly adding, "And it's okay. There's no rush, right Vinyl?"

Vinyl smirked. "Actually-"

Bon-Bon elbowed her in the ribs.

"Ah! I mean yeah, who wouldn't want to enjoy the sun?" the albino said, pulling her hand out of Bon-Bon's to rub her side.

Twisty snickered. "Ugh, I know right? It's been snowing pretty much non-stop back home. This is the least amount of clothes I've worn in weeks." Twisty stuck her hands in the pockets of her shorts, or as much of her hands fit in the tiny pockets anyhow. "So, I gotta ask. You two together?"

"You offering to-?" Vinyl said, earning another elbow from Bon-Bon. "Gah, why?"

Twisty snickered again. "I'll take that as a yes."

Vinyl shook her head, pushing Bon-Bon away to avoid more abuse. "No, we're not,"

Twisty just smiled. "Okay,"

They came to a halt at the top of the gangplank. The snake-lady, Val presumably, was talking to the imposing man guarding the ship entrance.

"Nice to see you again, Miss Morlin," The man said, nodding to Val. "I hope you have a pleasant time."

Val looked over to Twisty, a knowing smile on her lips. "Oh, I'm sure I will."

Val began slithering inside the ship, Twisty quickly moving with her. Vinyl and Bon-Bon moved to follow, but found their way blocked by the man.

"Alright then, I'll just need your tickets and passports."

A worried look flashed across Vinyl's face. Bon-Bon bit her lip. She knew that look and she knew what it meant. Vinyl never said anything about a passport, so Bon-Bon didn't think to bring hers. And Bon-Bon wasn't sure if Vinyl even had a passprot.

"Um..." Vinyl laughed nervously. "Are you sure you need to see them? I mean, it's not like we're, uh, underage or anything."

The man crossed his arms. "Sorry ladies, but I don't know you. Which means I need to see your passports before I-

"Oh, Thomas?" Val said, suddenly appearing beside the man. "Did I forget to mention? They're with me."

The man seemed startled by the snake-lady. "They are?"

Val smiled sweetly, brushing her fingers over Thomas's chest. "You know me, Thomas. I've got a big appetite. And I'm starving, so the quicker we all get inside-" her fingers trailed lowed down the man's shirt "-the happier I'll be."

The man blushed and nodded. "Okay, Miss Morlin. If you vouch for them, then they're okay with me." He moved aside. "Sorry about that,"

Vinyl flashed him a big smile. "Don't worry about it," she said, quickly following Val inside the ship, dragging Bon-Bon along.

The interior was just as impressive as the exterior. A long, wide hallway stretched out before them, the floor were plush velvet and the walls were lined with lacquered wood. A ways in the hall split into three more hallways. There Twisty stood next to a coiled Val. Vinyl quickly made her way over to them, Bon-Bon just a step behind her.

"Thank you so much. I thought he wasn't going to let us in!" Vinyl said gratefully.

Val shrugged. "Don't mention it. Most folks don't think to bring their passports with them their first time and I hate to see anyone miss their ship." Val smiled with a bit too many teeth. "Especially a pair of cuties like you."

Twisty elbowed Val.

"Hey!"

Twisty smirked and shook her head. "Ease up, Val. Let them unpack before you invite them to our room. We're in room eighty-seven A, by the way." she winked.

"I'll remember that," Vinyl grinned.

Bon-Bon nervously shifted her weight from one foot to the next. "Vinyl? I kinda gotta..." she squeezed her legs together.

"Hm? Oh! Gotta run, catch you later?" Vinyl said, slowly backing down one of the hallways.

Twisty smiled and nodded. "If you don't find us, we'll find you,"

"Vinyl," Bon-Bon whispered urgently.

"Yeah, yeah, we're going," Vinyl said, turning and picking up the pace. "I thought I told you to go before we left."

"I did,"

"So what's this then?"

"It was hot, I drank some water,"

"You still got the bottle, right? Just-"

"Vinyl,"

Vinyl snickered.

Author's Note

I hate trying to come up with new characters, so I steal old ones from other stories.

If you notice and typos or anything, leave a comment or something and I'll get them straightened out.