The blazing heat of the sun beat down relentlessly, and the clear blue skies did nothing to shelter those on the ground from feeling it in its fullest. But, this was little matter to those who experienced it, as a hot day was exactly what was called for on an occasion such as this. It was a free day for many of the people in the town of Canterlot, and as such, many of them had chosen to take advantage of this gloriously beautiful weather by making their way to the local beach. In particular, the town's youths were the bulk of the people out here, and each of them were busying themselves in a variety of ways, from simply spending time with their classmates, to engaging in a number of beach sports.

And said sports seemed to be the order of the day for two girls in particular, as they frantically played against one another on a nice open stretch of the beach. Rainbow Dash, with a typical smirk plastered on her face, was standing on one side of a hastily-erected volleyball net, holding the ball in question in her hands. At this time, she was clad in appropriate beachwear, a pair of pink swim shorts and a yellow bikini top. On the other side of the net, however, was her friend, Applejack. As one would expect, the farm girl was dressed more modestly, with just a simple green shirt and brown shorts combo, with her famous Stetson hat resting on one of the poles supporting the net. As Rainbow began to spin the ball on one of her fingers, she took on a confident look.

"Well, this is the last round, AJ. You can always back out, you know."

A dry chuckle was Applejack's response.

"Ha! Not likely, Dash!"

Smirking once more, Rainbow took that as invitation, and so threw the ball up as high as she could, which she then followed up by making an almighty leap into the air. Applejack watched, nervously awaiting what was about to happen. And happen it did, for Rainbow, seeing the ball descend back down to her level, gave a massive slam to the thing, sending it shooting towards her friend. As the young athlete landed back down, her bare feet digging deep into the sand with her impact, she watched with eagerness as Applejack just missed the ball, landing face-first into the ground. With the ball bouncing away from her friend, Rainbow leapt up again, punching the air and letting out a loud shout of victory.

"Yes! Who's awesome? I'm awesome, that's who!"

Spitting some of the sand out, Applejack grumbled for a bit, but soon composed herself, getting up and then brushing her shirt down.

"Good game, Rainbow. Good game."

Laughing, Rainbow at least seemed to have enough grace about herself to walk over and offer her hand to her friend, which Applejack happily accepted and shook. With the matter settled, Rainbow walked over to pick up the ball, while Applejack went over to her hat. After picking it up, she began using it to wave some air onto her face, making it clear just how warm she was right now.

"Phew! Ah can't remember the last time it was this hot!"

Rainbow turned to her and nodded.

"I'll say! Still, I guess it's pretty great we got to come out here."

Applejack, after finally putting her hat on, nodded in agreement to that.

"Eyup. So..."

Raising a hand, the farm girl gestured to the nearby waters of the ocean.

"...ya wanna take a swim today?"

Rainbow considered that, bearing a smaller smile than before, as she finally gave her answer.

"Thanks for the offer, AJ, but I think I'll sit this one out for now. I mean..."

Looking to the water fully, Rainbow continued.

"...I kinda feel like I wouldn't be able to keep up."

At first, Applejack was unsure of what her companion was talking about. But, as she turned, a knowing smile crept onto her face. For there, out in the open waters, was none other than Sonata. The Siren was, at this very moment, having a swim at such a pace that those like Applejack and Rainbow could only dream of making themselves. In fact, so fast was she in her swimming, that water was spraying back behind her in the same manner one would see behind a motor-boat. Placing her hands upon her hips, Applejack chuckled.

"Yep. Can't really see y'all lookin too good out there compared ta that."

Rainbow gave her friend a sour look, but nevertheless joined in on the laugh. The two girls then began to walk off together, further along the beach, with the volleyball tucked under Rainbow's arm.

"So...ice cream?" the latter asked.

Applejack nodded.

"Ah was hopin y'all would say that."

Smiling together, the two carried on, eventually making their way past a collection of rocky ground, just where the sand met the sea. Here, Rainbow caught sight of one of her other friends, Fluttershy. As one would expect of the animal-lover, she was even more covered up than anybody else, with her bright-green one-piece obscured behind not only a long sarong, but also a large sun hat, sunglasses and, rather surprisingly, a shawl. Currently, Fluttershy was busy kneeling down beside the rock pool, looking on with fascination at the tiny crabs within them. So enthralled was she, that she did not even notice Rainbow and Applejack, until the former finally called out to her.

"Hey! Flutters!"

That did the trick, and Fluttershy looked up to see her friends walk by.

"We're getting some ice cream. You want some?"

A smile formed on Fluttershy's face.

"That sounds wonderful. I'll be over in a minute."

Rainbow nodded to that, making her way with Applejack away from the rocks. As for Fluttershy, she remained where she was, her eyes fixed on a particularly brightly-coloured starfish. The eagerness she had for these creatures was evident, especially so by the twinkle in her eye as she finally took off her sunglasses.

"Hello there, Mr Starfish. Are you and your little friends having a nice time today?"

"Who are you talking to, Flutters?"

The new voice caught Fluttershy off-guard, and she let out a customary "eep" as a result. But, when she turned, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was Sonata, who had finished her more vigorous swimming and had simply crept along the water to meet with her. Similar to Fluttershy, she too was wearing a one-piece, but a bright pink in colour. Resting, her hands upon the rocks, she looked to Fluttershy with curiosity.

"Watcha doing?"

Having calmed down, Fluttershy then smiled again, gesturing to the rock pool.

"Oh, I was just looking at these little guys here."

Lifting herself up a bit, Sonata peered into the tiny waters, now smiling herself.

"Neat."

Fluttershy nodded, looking a little more thoughtful as she resumed speaking.

"I always love coming out to little pools on days like this. They're so small, but...they manage to make a life in a tiny little bowl of water like this. It...it always makes me happy."

Looking to her, Sonata's expression was difficult to read.

"Wow, Flutters. That's like, really profound and stuff."

A giggle escaped the animal lover at that.

"Oh, don't mind me. I just like to talk about these little guys."

Nodding, Sonata turned her attention back to the pool for a little bit, reaching in and swirling her finger slightly. A small fish, which had taken residence in the pool, swam up to her and gently nibbled the end of her digit, much to her amusement. But, the moment passed soon afterwards, and she pulled her finger out, and here, she elected to hoist her entire body out of the sea water entirely. After shaking a little to get any remaining water off her, Sonata sighed, smiling as she looked over to Fluttershy.

"Say...you wanna come over and get a soda or something?"

Fluttershy raised a hand to that.

"Oh, well, I was actually asked to..."

But, she was kept from saying anything else when Sonata, as giddy as ever, held onto her hand and started leading her away.

"Aw, don't be like that, Flutters! My treat!"

"Um...er...okay then," Fluttershy spoke meekly.

And so the two headed off away from the rocks by the sea, making their way instead to a café that sat on the edge of the beach, far away from them. As they walked onwards, however, they passed by many of their classmates from CHS, who naturally gave them greeting as they passed. One such comrade though was Sunset Shimmer, who was currently in the middle of a little sunbathing, as she was laid out on a deck-chair in the middle of the beach. Her attire for the day was a straight-up red bikini, and like Fluttershy, she too bore sunglasses upon her face. As she noticed the two walking past, she removed said sunglasses, smiling to herself as she called out.

"If you're getting soda, there's a special half-off price today!"

Looking to her, Sonata smiled wider than before.

"Thanks, Sunset!"

The former unicorn nodded, putting her sunglasses back on and leaning back into her chair as her friend continued to walk pat her. For a time, she simply chose to enjoy the sounds of the beach, from the seagulls high above to the crashing of the waves nearby. After some time though, this resting moment was interrupted when a familiar voice called up to her.

"Er...Sunset?"

Turning, the Equestrian looked down to just on the side of her chair. And there, with his head poking out of the sand, was her boyfriend, Flash. The youth had, apparently, been buried there a while back, and was still there, looking up to his girlfriend with a look of slight irritation.

"Can I come out now?"

Chuckling, Sunset nudged her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose slightly, just enough so she was looking Flash eye-to-eye.

"Only if you admit that the movie we saw was actually pretty good."

Here, Flash turned away, or at least as much as he could under the circumstances, with a frown upon his face.

"I will do no such thing!"

Shrugging her shoulders, Sunset sighed and leaned back into her chair, smirking slightly.

"Well, suit yourself. Just don't come crying to me when the tides come in."

Flash rolled his eyes, knowing full well his friend's words were in jest, and so, for the time being, he simply remained buried in the sand. Occasionally, he'd look up at her, hoping she'd relent, but to no avail. After a good five minutes of waiting, he let out a long sigh, blowing away some of the sand in front of him as he did so.

"This is gonna get boring real fast."

Naturally, it was with just such a remark that the universe decided to pay attention to Flash, and gave him an appropriate response. For immediately, the boy was taken aback by the sight of two pink legs suddenly emerging from behind him and wrapping around his head. As one would expect, this caught him completely off-guard, even more so when said legs began tightening their hold on him.

"Gah! What the-?!"

Hearing her boyfriend's dismay, Sunset turned, and found, to her surprise, that a familiar face now greeted her.

"Hiya, Sunset!"

A smirk returned to the former unicorn's face.

"And good afternoon to you, Lemon."

Lemon Zest, noted student of Crystal Prep, had indeed arrived on the scene, clad in a somewhat-familiar green bikini, the same shade as her hair. Sitting upon the sand beside Sunset's chair, the girl, as before, gently squeezed Flash's head, much to his chagrin.

"Um, Lemon? Would you mind letting go?"

Looking down at him, Lemon gave a slight smirk.

"Aw, come on, Flashy! How could I pass up the chance to have your head between my legs?"

Predictably, this led to a look of defeat and an exasperated sigh on the part of the boy.

"Well...there's a mental image that's not going away anytime soon."

Both girls giggled to that, leading to Flash looking up at Sunset in an almost pleading manner.

"So...little help?"

Sunset looked down to him, then to Lemon, then back down to him, before shaking her head a little.

"Sorry, Flash. You know Lemon. There's nothing I can do."

Flash's eyes widened.

"WHAT?!"

And here, Sunset looked over to the newly-arrived girl.

"And as for you...just try and keep things quiet while I rest up here, okay?"

Lemon gave a little salute to that, looking more serious than she normally did, before getting back to Flash. The boy did his best to simply ignore the situation, even as Lemon started twirling her finger in a circle on the top of his head in a suggestive manner. But, thankfully, there was a ray of hope for Flash soon afterwards, as he looked to the side and saw somebody walking by. His eyes widened, and he called out, desperation in his voice.

"Wiz! Over here!"

Wiz Kid, a friend of his, wearing simple dark-blue swim-shorts, was out here like everybody else. He had been walking by at the time, not noticing that they were there, but, now that he'd heard Flash, however, he did know, and he took a moment to stop and look at them. His eyes drifted from Flash to the two girls nearby, and took just a few seconds to absorb the image in front of him, before finally turning away with a slight grimace on his face.

"Yeah...I'm not touching that one."

And so, Flash looked on with dismay as his friend walked off, leaving him to the playful attention of Lemon, and the clear amusement of Sunset. As Wiz walked along the beach, making sure to walk as fast as possible because of the heat of the sand, he scoured the area, eventually setting his sights on one person in particular, cracking into an affectionate smile as he did so. It took a few moments more, but eventually, he made it over to his destination.

"Enjoying the beach, Aria?"

Aria Blaze, who, unlike everybody else there, didn't seem to enjoy being in the light of the sun, was lying flat on her back on a nice beach towel, under the shade of a large parasol. And to complete the picture, she bore a pair of sunglasses, not unlike Sunset's. Her attire for the day? A similar bikini-shorts combo like Rainbow, but hers was coloured the same green as the torn vest she was so fond of wearing. Upon hearing the voice of her boyfriend, she took off her sunglasses, looked him over a bit, before putting them back on and resting her head back against the towel.

"It's okay. Could be a little less hot though."

Wiz nodded to that, placing one hand upon his hip and using the other to shield his eyes as he looked up at the sun in the sky.

"Yeah...I can't even remember the last time it was as sweltering as this."

Looking back down to the Siren, the boy took note of those parts of her that weren't covered, her legs and midriff and the like. For one as young as him, he made sure to keep his looks as brief as possible, lest anybody catch him staring, and took on a nervous expression as he spoke up again.

"You know, um...it's kinda neat how you never sweat out here."

A smirk crept onto Aria's face at that.

"Sirens don't sweat, kid...we glow."

There was no doubting that much, and a blush formed on Wiz's cheeks as she spoke those words, in that husky manner of hers that he liked so much. Under her sunglasses, Aria had noted this, and, Siren that she was, a devilish idea formed in her mind as she considered the boy. Without warning, she sat up, taking her sunglasses off and setting them to one side for the moment, before then changing position and lying flat on her stomach, resting her chin upon her folded arms. As Wiz watched, utterly silent, he stood by as she spoke to him again.

"Alright...go ahead."

The boy morphed into a confused expression.

"Um...pardon?"

Turning slightly to look at him, Aria bore a half-lidded look in her eyes, casing Wiz's blush to grow further, before replying.

"Sun lotion? There should be a bottle of it in the bag over there. Be a good boy and...rub some on me, would you?"

Now, unlike Aria, Wiz did sweat, and thus began doing quite a lot of it after hearing that. As the request truly sank in for him, he stammered.

"I...I...I...I...I..."

"Awww! Having difficulty, are we?"

The arrival of the second voice caught both of them by surprise, and they turned in unison to discover that it was none other than Aria's older sister, Adagio. Emerging from the sea, her image was that of an utter statuesque beauty, as the water droplets upon her skin glistened in the sunlight. She ruffled her hair on that overly-dramatic way of hers, and as she stood there, bearing the most revealing attire yet, that of a strapless purple bikini, many an eye from other passing beach-users were upon her, much to her delight. But, soon afterwards, she ignored them, focusing her attention instead upon her sister. Placing her hands upon her hips, Adagio took a graceful step closer, looking from Aria to the boy beside her.

"And what, may I ask, is the trouble here?"

Although Aria was, at first, irritated at her sister's arrival onto the scene, she soon changed into a more thoughtful look, giving her boyfriend a brief glance before turning with a smirk to Adagio.

"Well...I was gonna get some lotion, but it seems poor Wiz here is a little...hesitant."

Adagio caught the message immediately, walking past Wiz in that hip-swaying way she was known for, giving him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as she passed.

"Don't worry, boy. Let me show you how it's done."

Wiz, of course, had no words to say to all of this, and simply stood silent as Adagio knelt beside her sister. Reaching into a nearby beach-bag, the elder Siren rummaged around in it for a while before, finally, pulling out the bottle of lotion Aria had been speaking of earlier. Before she did anything with it, however, Aria looked to Wiz, fake disappointment in her eyes.

"It's okay, Wiz. If you don't wanna...I'm sure my sister can do it."

The boy looked on as Adagio held the lotion bottle upside-down above Aria's back, giving it a gentle squeeze. As the first drops of the liquid began to emerge, Wiz finally spoke up.

"WAIT!!!"

Both Sirens stopped, looking to him with fake surprise at his words. Wiz cleared his throat, doing his best to look as composed and confident as possible, before marching forward and taking the bottle from Adagio.

"I'm the one she asked to do this so...erm...I'll be the one to do it."

Adagio looked almost impressed by this, and so shrugged her shoulders before scooting off to the side, watching as the boy took a few deep breaths before raising the bottle above Aria's back. But, here, the middle Siren sister broke the silence and stopped him.

"Wait...this probably isn't all that fair to you."

Wiz looked to her, almost hopeful.

"R...really?"

Aria nodded.

"Yeah...there's no way you can do this properly while I've got this thing on me!"

So, before Wiz could say or do anything, Aria reached behind herself and, with one flick of her fingers, unclasped the back of her bikini top. Wiz's eyes widened in panic over this, and doubly so when she took her top off entirely, setting it to the side and leaving her back, and the rest of her torso for that matter, completely bare. Now, obviously, because of how she was positioned, lying down on the towel, her front couldn't be seen, but even so, the effect was still the same, as Wiz's face began to lose all colour. Aria, meanwhile, looked on with amusement, staring at him in a sultry manner as she spoke up to him again.

"Alright then...now you can go ahead."

As one would expect, Adagio found no end of amusement in this, especially when Wiz, after finally having this moment sink in for him, let out a high-pitched squeal that even Pinkie would have found excessive. This noise carried on for quite some time, so long in fact that none of them heard the sound of approaching footsteps until their owner's voice finally called to them.

"I say! What a wonderfully beautiful day we have today!"

Turning, Adagio saw that it was Rarity, who, in keeping with her tone of voice, looked rather happy about how the day was going. Adagio nodded in agreement soon afterwards.

"Indeed it is, and I have to say that..."

Unfortunately, the elder Siren's words were cut short, as she finally took note of what Rarity was wearing. It was, surprisingly, the exact same swimsuit she had been wearing, right down to the colour. Standing, Adagio looked her friend over, and Rarity did the same when she saw what Adagio was dressed in. There was awkward silence to this that lasted for some time. Well, as silent as it could be with Wiz still squealing in the background. When it finally ended, Rarity let out a sigh.

"Well....one of us is going to have to change."

Adagio raised an eyebrow to this, much to Rarity's annoyance.

"Okay, fine! I'll change!"

Raising one hand, Rarity waggled her finger at the Siren.

"You're just lucky I brought an extra outfit today!"

And with that, the young fashionista began to make her way away from the three of them, heading straight for the back of the beach, where there was row upon row of changing booths for just such an occasion. As Rarity approached them, looking at each of their varying colours and mentally deciding which to choose, she was halted by the arrival of yet another voice.

"Hiya, Rarity!"

Rarity smiled as she turned, seeing her friend, Pinkie, approaching from the left. As per usual, the party-lover was as bouncy as ever, practically skipping with every step. Bearing a simple, light-blue one-piece, the girl stopped when she reached her friend, looking around for a bit before finally speaking up t her.

"Have you seen Maud? I've been looking for her for an hour now!"

Rarity shrugged her shoulders.

"Can't say I have, darling. I recall her going off to one of the changing booths some time ago, but I haven't seen her since."

Immediately, Pinkie's head snapped in the direction of the booths, looking to each and every one of them.

"Which one?"

Rarity thought on that for a moment before pointing to a collection over of the left side.

"Somewhere over there, I think."

Pinkie gave her an appreciative smile over this, before happily skipping off in the direction given to her, leaving Rarity free to make her way over to her own booth. When Pinkie reached the left collection of booths, however, she stopped, looking to each and every one of them with uncertainty. Raising a finger to her chin, she gave a ponderous "hmmm" over it all, staring at all of the doors before her, before, at last seeing one door in particular that was different from the rest. It had a sign on the front, with the words "in use" written clearly, making it obvious that this was the one she was looking for. Smiling, Pinkie sat upon a nearby railing, waiting patiently as the minutes rolled by. At the end of it all, the door finally creaked open, and Pinkie's smile widened.

"There you are, Maud!"

Maud Pie was indeed there, and like her sister, she too had elected for a one-piece, albeit one in her usual green-blue colour. And, again as usual, she bore that same stoic expression she was so famous for. Upon seeing her sister, she paused for a moment, before finally addressing her.

"Pinkie? Have you been waiting here long?"

The younger sister nodded.

"Yep! I've been looking for you for ages!"

Maud blinked.

"Sorry for keeping you. I had some...stuff to do."

Pinkie considered that, retaining her smile as she did so.

"Having trouble getting your swimsuit on?"

Maud thought on that one.

"...In a manner of speaking, yes."

Pinkie giggled for a few moments, but stopped when she noticed that one of the straps on Maud's shoulder was not on right, and had slipped down slightly.

"Whoopsie, Maud! Looks like you didn't get it on right!"

Raising her hand, Pinkie adjusted the strap, and Maud nodded to her in an appreciative manner. But, before Pinkie had a chance to say anything else, she turned with surprise that a second person now emerged from the booth; Tom, Maud's boyfriend. The boy was bearing grey swim shorts and stopped as soon as he noticed Pinkie there.

"Pinkie...nice to see you."

The girl smiled again.

"Nice to see you too, Tom! Oh! Were you helping Maud with her suit in there?"

Both Maud and Tom looked at one another, never saying a word, and as they looked back to Pinkie, it was Maud who answered.

"Tom did help me in there...and I was very satisfied with that help."

Tom nodded, never giving away his feelings on the matter. As for Pinkie, she looked from one to the other, before finally giving an oblivious smile.

"Great! Hey, I hear Rainbow and the others have all decided to go and get a meal nearby! You two wanna come?"

Maud nodded.

"A bit late for that, but sure, we'll go to the others."

Pinkie giggled with glee, watching as the other two began to head off towards the place where the café stood. And as Pinkie followed, bouncing happily in that bubbly way of hers, she stopped for a moment as her sister's words sank in, tilting her head with confusion.

"Wait, what?"