“You know…I probably should have figured this would be your first plan.”

There was a sense of slight annoyance to Aria’s words as she spoke them, but, as for her expression, none could say. Because, at this moment, both of Aria’s sisters, as well as Sunset and Twilight, were currently standing on the opposite side of a door from her, in the changing rooms of one of Canterlot’s more popular locations; the public pool. While this may have been a strange thing to consider, given the time of year it was, there had nevertheless been some unseasonal warmth to the place, so many had taken to coming here far more than usual. There were children, families and friends all enjoying themselves here, or just lounging around the side trying to get a tan. Regardless, this was the place where Adagio had come to enact her brilliant plan, and so stood with her hands on her hips, looking at the door to her sister’s booth.

“Come now, Aria! You know as well as I do that if you want some kind of loving attention, the best way to get it is just to flaunt what you’ve got!”

Folding her arms, Sunset looked to her with a raised eyebrow.

“Adagio, I know you three have a history of…well…flaunting, but do you really think this is the best thing to do? Just show off her body and hope it gets her a guy?”

Looking to her fellow Equestrian, Adagio chuckled somewhat.

“But of course, my dear! What my sister wants is to have the same kind of attention that Sonata and I enjoy. And you know guys, right? Once they catch sight of her, they’ll be falling over each other to speak to her.”

Sunset considered that for a moment, letting out a sigh as a clear sign that she’d acknowledged that there’d be little argument here. She gave a quick glance over to Twilight, who seemed to at least be in the same frame of mind as her, but was soon distracted by the distinct sound of a door opening. All turned in unison to see, as expected, that Aria was indeed coming out of her booth, and, as befitted her environment, had donned a swimsuit to wear for the occasion. It was nothing spectacular, just a simple bikini top and shorts, both of which were coloured her usual green, the same tone as her vest. With a towel wrapped under one arm, she regarded the four girls looking at her before raising an eyebrow.

“Take a picture why don’t you? It’ll last longer.”

With a blush creeping onto their faces, Twilight and Sunset both looked away. As for Adagio, she clasped her hands together as she looked her sister over.

“Oh, Aria! You look positively radiant today! Now go and blow those boys away!”

Aria rolled her eyes at that, starting to make her way past Adagio. But, as she neared Sunset, the latter stopped her, leaning in and speaking in a hushed voice.

“Um…doesn’t it bother you that your own sister talks to you like that?”

Looking to her, Aria shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s Adagio. She talks to everyone like that.”

Sunset considered that for a moment before eventually giving a nod, acknowledging that rather obvious point. Aria moved past her in earnest at this stage, and without saying a word, Sunset, Twilight and Sonata all turned to Adagio. The elder Siren gestured away from the pool, and after giving a nod, the other three girls began to follow her away. They walked together until they were in their chosen spot, that of a small area surrounded by bushes, just a little bit away from the pool itself. Once there, they knelt down, with Adagio looking more than a little confident.

“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. We stay here, keeping an eye on things. But I doubt we’ll wait long. Aria will be sure to find someone soon.”

Looking to her, Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“I know it’s good you have confidence in your sister, but…do you really think it’ll be that easy for her to catch some boy’s attention?”

Turning to her, Adagio gained that infamous smirk of hers.

“Sunset, darling, we’re Sirens. Any one of us will be the centre of attention in any given place we happen to be. Remember when we first arrived at your school?”

Sunset sighed at that.

“Yeah…good point.”

For a while, they turned their attention to the pool. Even with all the hustle and bustle of the usual visitors to this place, it was not difficult for them to spot Aria. True to her Siren roots, she strode through the place with the usual swagger of her kind, as if she owned the place, eventually happening upon a deck-chair by the side of the public waters. Setting her towel upon it, she got herself comfortable, reclining on it in such a way so that nobody was going to be able to not notice her. Before long, she’d even whipped out a pair of sunglasses, placing them over her eyes before getting back to the business of doing nothing. Sunset watched for a minute or two, occasionally glancing to her comrades, wherein she noted that Twilight, as usual, had taken to bringing along a small notepad, and was furiously writing on it as she observed the middle Siren sister. Shaking her head at this, Sunset afforded herself a brief chuckle at her friend’s behaviour, before turning back to Aria.

“So…how long do you think we’ll have to…?”

But, she was prevented from saying anything further, as Adagio raised as hand, stopping her mid-sentence. At first, Sunset didn’t understand, but she then noticed that Adagio had regained her smirk from earlier, still watching the pool as she did so. Turning, Sunset now understood why, as there, walking past where Aria was lying, were a few boys. They were about their age, and while they had been chatting amongst themselves for a while, many of them turned their heads towards Aria as she laid there, looking utterly dumbfounded at the sight of her. Seeing this, Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“Okay…maybe it was easier than I thought.”

Adagio cast her an I-told-you-so look, which, needless to say, got on Sunset’s nerves a bit. However, she remained silent, instead watching Aria. The boys from earlier had come and gone, but there was no question that she’d started to catch people’s attention. A few more boys of similar age came and went, and even, to Sunset’s surprise, a few girls, all of which looked to Aria with varying degrees of interest, from simple blushes all the way up to full-on lust. At the end of it, after about twenty minutes of waiting, something of note finally happened, as the four hidden girls saw that another boy was starting to approach her. However, unlike all the others, he did not simply stare at her and walk by, but rather sat nearby on a similar-looking deck-chair. Aria too seemed to have noticed him, taking off her sunglasses.

“And there we have it,” Adagio remarked.

Smiling, Sunset gave her a quick nod.

“You know, I was doubtful of this at first but…it looks like you were right.”

Flipping aside some more of her hair, Adagio’s expression was a cocky one.

“Naturally.”

Rolling her eyes slightly, Sunset turned once more to Aria.

“Hopefully, when this is all done, Aria will be feeling better about herself. At the very least she’ll know now that she’s not ignored, like she used to.”

There was a round of nods all around at that, with all four of them keeping their eyes firmly on Aria and her new gentleman-caller. Things seemed to be going well between them for the moment, with lots of talking and smiles, though none could hear from this distance what was being said. After a while, Adagio clasped her hands together before letting out a sigh.

“Well, it appears our work here is done. My sisters feels good again and we can all go…”

“Wait!”

The elder Siren had not been expecting to be interrupted, and so looked down with a frown at the one who’d done so; Twilight. The spectacled girl, for a moment, looked a little embarrassed about having done this, and so cleared her throat in a nervous manner before speaking up again.

“I’m sorry, it’s just…I think something’s happening.”

Hearing that, they all turned, and sure enough, Twilight seemed to be right. Aria, for some reason, was moving position, getting off her chair and gathering up her towel. The boy, for his part, actually seemed both concerned and confused as to what was going on, a look soon shared by the girls themselves. They watched, in utter silence, as Aria began to storm off from the boy and the pool itself, and upon seeing this, all of the others, without saying a word, began to move off, leaving their hiding place. Making haste, they walked in earnest back to where this had all began, the changing booths outside of the pool itself. There, they saw that the one Aria had used was once more closed and locked, leading to shared glances of concern amongst the four of them. Knocking on it slightly, Sunset spoke in a soft tone.

“Aria? Is…is everything okay?”

Before any other words could be said, the door flew open, causing the girls to take a step backwards. Aria was there, dressed in her usual attire, with her swim clothes stuffed in a bag in her hand. But, it was her expression that caused the most concern, as it appeared, for a brief moment, almost like she was afraid of something. Seeing this, Adagio spoke.

“Aria? What going…?”

But, she didn’t get the chance to finish, as her sister simply walked right past her, with her expression now her usual annoyed look.

“I don’t wanna talk about it! Let’s just go!”

And with that, she was off, walking swiftly away from the pool, leaving all of the girls behind her. Naturally, all of them looked to one another for clarification as to what had just occurred, ultimately summed up with Sunset’s next words.

“Okay…what was that all about?”