Summer had swept over Canterlot City quickly and without warning. That said, very few people found the heat unbearable. It was a perfect balance, hot but breathable, and even Aria had trouble complaining about it. The students of Canterlot High were beyond ecstatic, as to be expected with another year of school behind them. Some were heading out of town, some were starting up their summer jobs, and even more were making plans to relax on the beach. Adagio and Aria were two who fell into that last group.

Then, of course, there were people on the other side of the coin; Those who despised the heat and all it symbolized. Those who wanted nothing more than to spread out on their couch, enjoying air conditioning, television, and lethal amounts of ice cream. Sonata was one of those people.

Sonata had to be argued, threatened, bribed, and tricked into the car and to the beach, and even still didn’t seem to have any of her usual bright, cheery demeanor to spare. Sonata was grumpy, sour, unsociable, and even rude in several instances. Nothing seemed to make her especially excited or happy, and she developed the mindset that the world was out to get her.

To put it simply, summertime transformed Sonata Dusk into Aria Blaze.

“Look, Sonata, we’re already here,” said Aria, stretching out on her beach towel, the sun beaming down onto her. “You might as well make the most of it.”

“Hmph,” grumbled Sonata, rolling to her stomach. “It’s so hot.”

“Oh, quit being such a baby,” said Aria, smacking Sonata lightly with a spare towel. “It’s not that bad. Besides, there are some upsides to the heat.”

“Really?” asked Sonata dubiously. “Like what?”

“You get to see me in this super hot bikini,” said Aria with a smirk. Sonata looked up and studied Aria, who was clearly comfortable with her body. The racy, skimpy microkini was bright green, and left very little to the imagination. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t have minded, but something about how free Aria was with her body made Sonata a little upset. She realized she was being a bit unfair, since her bikini was nearly as bad (and neither of them could even compete with what Adagio decided to wear), but Sonata couldn’t help but feel sour about it.

“What? Too sexy for you?” asked Aria. She rolled to her side, resting her head in her left hand and slapping her right hand on her hip. An bent leg and an alluring smile completed Aria’s ultimate seductive pose. Sonata giggled slightly, flipping to match Aria. The two grinned at each other, raking in the rays and enjoying each other’s gaze. Soon, Adagio joined them (dressed in a surprisingly conservative one piece orange swimsuit), spreading out her beach towel to their right. Adagio adjusted her shades, dropped her beach bag down, and glared angrily at Aria for two minutes before either of them said anything.

“Problem?” asked Aria.

“You moron!” exploded Adagio suddenly. “You told me that this was a nudist beach!”

“I definitely didn’t say that,” said Aria. “Before we left, you said ‘Hey, Aria, do you know if this is a nudist beach like where we used to go in San Fran?’ and I said ‘Any beach is a nudist beach if you’re brave enough’, and then you got in the car in your robe. I thought you were going to call Rainbow Dash to double check.”

“I did!” exclaimed Adagio. “When I asked her about, she just screamed ‘Nudist Beach’ in a weird accent at the top of her lungs and then hung up.”

"You shouldn't have assumed," said Sonata. "Honestly, you should've known better. Does Canterlot City really seem like the kinda place that would pull something like that?" Adagio grumbled something angrily to herself and gently laid herself out on her towel.

"I can't believe I let you trick me into thinking this was clothing optional," grumbled Adagio.

"Where'd you get the suit?" asked Aria.

"I met Sunny in the washroom," explained Adagio. "Apparently, Twilight made the same mistake, and Sunset got a bunch of spare swimsuits that she was gracious enough to let me borrow."

“Speaking of swimming, I was thinking about going in,” said Aria. “You coming?”

“I suppose it would be nice,” said Adagio. Were this a normal, non-summer day, this would be the moment were Sonata chimed in with her agreement, and the three would proceed together. This time, no doubt due to the heat, Sonata ignored the conversation before her.

“Sonata? Are you coming?” asked Adagio. Sonata made a grunting, whining noise, which did a lot of things. Primarily, it irritated Aria.

“I hate when you get like this,” snarled Aria. “What’s wrong with you? Do you wanna go for a swim or not?”

“I do,” said Sonata flatly, in a pretty decent (but unintentional) impression of Aria. “But I’m not going to.”

“Sonata, in a thousand years, you’ve never made less sense than you do today,” said Adagio. “If you want to go, then why don’t you?”
Sonata flopped onto her back, staring up at the sky. She was hot, sweaty, grumpy, and embarrassed. She kept her mouth shut for a while, deciding whether or not she should say anything at all. Finally, when she realized that Aria was staring at her with her version of concern, Sonata let out a sigh and spilled the beans.

“I can’t swim,” said Sonata. Aria and Adagio looked at each other in confusion.

“What?” asked Adagio. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope,” said Sonata. “I do not know how to swim.”

“Sonata, I’ve called you dumb a lot over the years,” said Aria. “I’ve called you stupid and slow, and even that ‘R’ word that you told me isn’t politically correct. But, I can say now, without doubt, that holy crap, you’re an idiot.”

“How do you figure?” asked Sonata, with a glare that sent a chill through even Aria’s chest.

“I don’t know if you know this or not,” said Aria. “But we’re kinda sorta basically fish. We lived in the ocean exclusively for decades! How can you not know how to swim?”

“I know how to swim in my old body, but not with people limbs,” explained Sonata. “It’s super easy with fins. With feet, it’s impossible.”

“Oh my god, we are literally going to teach a Siren how to swim,” said Adagio. “I always thought that was just an expression.”

“No, if you guys wanna go swimming, be my guest. I’d hate to be a burden,” insisted Sonata. Even Aria, who wasn’t very good at reading people, could tell that Sonata just said what was likely one of the most loaded, passive-aggressive, respond-to-this-wrong-and-you-sleep-on-the-couch-for-eternity statements ever uttered in a human tongue.

“Well…” said Adagio, rising nimbly to her feet. “If you say so.”

“I am going to teach how to swim as a person,” said Aria, ignoring the lead Siren. “Come on, babe. Let’s get your feet wet.”

“No, it’s fine,” said Sonata near-scathingly. “I wouldn’t want you to waste time teaching a moron how to swim.” Aria wormed forward and slung her arm across Sonata’s waist, slipping her hand beneath her hip. With a jump and a pull, Aria yanked Sonata to her feet, and was soon pushing her onto her back.

“I bet it won’t take long,” said Aria. “You're smarter than you let on, and swimming is in your blood. Plus, you’re not a moron. I call you that all the time, but only cause I’m too stupid to find a cute name to give you.” Sonata rolled her eyes in disbelief, but accepted Aria’s attempts at cheering her up. At the end of the day, an attempt was good enough. The beginnings of a smile spread across Sonata’s face. Maybe the heat of summer wasn’t the worst thing ever. If it was able to make Aria seem like a cuddly, sappy puppy, then it certainly had some sort of power.

Plus, Sonata thought Aria looked really, really good in that bikini.

“Ow! Owowowow!” yelped Aria, limping into the house, her foot stained with an angry red lash. “God! I hate the beach!”

“Oh, quit being such a whiner,” said Adagio, slinging her bag onto the couch. “It was fun for a while.”

“Yeah, until Sony pissed on my foot!” snapped Aria.

“You’re the one who got stung by a jellyfish,” said Sonata with a shrug. “You said that would help. Did it?”

“I think it made it worse,” said Aria through gritted teeth. She took a few more steps before collapsing onto the couch. Achilles, woken from his nap by his mistress’ return, bound into the living room and slid to a stop in front of Aria. He sniffed at her foot, then licked it, sending spikes of pain through Aria.

“You stupid dog!” yelled Aria, and Achilles was soon whimpering and whining on his way to his “shame corner”.

“You gonna be okay?” asked Sonata.

“I’ll be fine,” promised Aria. “God, you were right. Summer sucks.”

“I dunno. It was pretty okay,” said Sonata. “It was nice to be back in the ocean for a while. Do you think we can go again some time?”

Aria looked at her girlfriend with a gaze that, if summed up and condensed into a single word, would be described as “wrath”.

“Fine. We can go next week, when I can walk again,” said Aria. “But I’m not stepping foot in the water.”