“Are you serious?” The young fawn exclaimed in a conversation with his friend. “How can summer be better than winter?”
“It sure can!” His friend replied. “I love lying in the sun, sunbathing when we’re at the sea with my grandfather!”
“But it’s always hot and stuffy there!” The fawn continued.
Their conversation was overheard by an elderly deer as he sat in an armchair reading a newspaper. He looked to be about sixty years old. He had brown fur, something between the color of milk chocolate and latte with milk, which was rare in this region, but rather classic for the south of Olenia. His nose was dark, like oak bark, and his eyes were a gentle dark blue. On his left shoulder was a scar located right next to the joint.
Realizing that they would continue to argue pointlessly for a long time, he decided to call his grandson and his friend and join their conversation. “Kids, I overheard your conversation, and I have a feeling that you can’t come to a common conclusion.”
“Yes, Mr. Wood, we can’t understand which season is better, so could you tell us your opinion?”
“Children, actually this is a pretty difficult question, and even I’m not sure of the answer to it,” began the elderly deer. “But if you want, I can tell you a story from my life that might help you find a solution this question.”
“Yes, Grandpa, let’s go!” Said his grandson, after which his friend also nodded with interest in his eyes.
* * *
It all started in 1010. At that time, a war had been going on for two years between the Kingdom of Olenia and the Lands of Changelings. Of course, it would have been difficult for Olenia to stand alone against an enemy with such a deadly army, but fortunately, a couple of years before it happened, Queen Velvet came to power by way of an uprising against King Johan. She changed the state system in the country to Harmony and strengthened relations with Equestria, thereby obtaining from it a guarantee of independence for protection against werewolves. However, this did not stop the changelings from attacking. In 1008, the armies of the changelings advanced from their positions and crossed the border, and the war began. Equestria immediately stood up for Olenia and opened a second front on the changelings. When this happened, I was 22 years old. I had some military experience, thanks to serving in the army, even though I worked as one of the managers in WTI (Wood Timber Incorporation), like my ancestors for several generations. I was one of the first to be taken during mobilization, but I even wanted it, because I could not help but go to defend my homeland, especially when our neighbors, ponies, helped us in this. After a year of fighting, the changelings had made significant progress. We held on as best we could, but in the end we had to retreat to Equestria and hold the front there. Olenia fell. Of course, the war was still going on, but hope for its speedy conclusion was fading incredibly fast. Fortunately, most of the peaceful citizens were able to be evacuated by sea, including my family. In Equestria, I was redirected to a group that consisted not only of deer, but also of ponies, pegasi, and unicorns. We mostly carried out sabotage missions and on one such mission an ambush occurred. While we were making our way to the changeling supply point, we unexpectedly came across a group of 40-50 werewolves with whom we got into a shootout. There were about 35 of us. I immediately hid behind a rock with our medic and started firing from under it. I managed to take down three werewolves, but after a couple of seconds a grenade flew in from the left, from the medic’s side, which blew him up immediately, and his body threw me down the slope. In the end, I flew into a tree, hitting my shoulder and head hard. The pain was hellish. My shoulder felt like it was being drilled with a red-hot drill, and my ears were ringing so much that for the first few seconds I couldn’t hear anything. When the pain and ringing in my ears subsided, I examined my body. My shoulder was pierced through with a sharp branch, but before I could feel scared, I felt a sharp pain in my left side. Looking at it, I noticed that my once light brown fur had changed its color to dark red - it was blood from grenade’s shrapnel. After a couple of seconds, I lost consciousness.
* * *
I woke up in the medical unit, where the nurse, noticing this, immediately called the commander of my group. He was a stern ash-gray pegasus with a dirty silver mane in the style of a short flat top and with a scar on his chin (it’s hard to tell what it was from, possibly a knife wound). He sat down next to me and began to speak.
“Private Wood,” he said in a calm voice, but at the same time with clear pronunciation. “Our operation was a failure, we lost forty percent of our squad, but you performed very well and, one might say, saved us.”
“Thank you, sir!” Not that I wanted to become some kind of hero, but getting praise from the commander, while realizing that I had saved several of my comrades was very pleasant.
“Don’t thank me, thank our medics: one managed to stop your bleeding, and the other covered you from a grenade at the cost of his life.”
“Can I thank him?” I asked.
“He’s on a mission right now, so no, but don’t worry, I’ll pass it on to him,” he replied.
“Wait, but I can wait until he returns and do it personally, can’t I?”
“No soldier,” he said. “You were out for several days, the doctors even thought you would be crippled for life, but fortunately they gave you some kind of potion that started healing your wounds, so they decided to send you to a sanatorium for a few weeks for rehabilitation.”
“But Captain!” I protested. “I already feel good, a couple more days and I’ll be back in action!” I absolutely did not want to leave the squad, even for a while. Now is the hardest period of the war and everypony’s strength is needed to win.
“No buts!” He replied firmly. “You are one of the best solders in my squad, and although I don’t want to leave you for so long, it’s better that you return to action in a couple of weeks than perform the role of a decorative rug in Chrysalis’ office.”
With pain, but I agreed. He wished me a good time and said that the train was leaving tomorrow morning. When he left the ward, I realized that I had forgotten to ask which sanatorium I was being sent to, so when the nurse came into the ward, I asked her this question.
“You are being sent to the sanatorium “Sea Breeze” in Haystin,” she said with a sweet smile, and as I thanked her, she left the ward.
Then I realized that it would have been better not to ask. Haystin is a city in the east of Equestria, but it is located in quite warm latitudes, so it is hot there in summer, and now it was June… Not that I didn’t love summer, I just hated the heat, but the other advantages of this season never seemed attractive to me either. In Sakara, where I was born and raised, it is cold all year round, in summer the temperature does not rise above 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) and even then for a week, and then returns to 15 or even 10 degrees Celsius (59 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit). The only time I was in truly hot conditions was as a child in the jungles of Equestria on my father’s business trip. It was hell: it was hot around the clock, not only during the day but also at night! I won’t even mention the insects: once I fell asleep in a hotel room, woke up and there were beetles crawling on me! In general, summer has never been a pleasant time of year for me and I was already mentally prepared for a similar hell to what was in the jungle. I understood that asking for a transfer to another sanatorium would be impolite, but I couldn’t help but try. Unfortunately, they could not redirect me to any other sanatorium because it was dangerous to be in the north and the rest were simply overcrowded. The next day, resignedly, I got on the train.
* * *
The journey took two days, and upon arrival I saw the “Sea Breeze” sanatorium. Today was not very hot, so I didn’t notice much difference in climate, but immediately felt the pleasant sea air, which was also in Olenia, but unlike Sakara, it was much warmer. I immediately went to the reception, where I was immediately checked in and told to go to the chief doctor to find out my procedures. My room was quite small, but it had everything I needed: a bed, a wardrobe, a couple of bedside tables and a bathroom. There was nothing to do in the room, so I decided to go to the doctor right away. The complex itself consisted of several buildings, an outdoor pool and access to the beach with a volleyball net.
* * *
After talking to the doctor and providing him with the data that the nurse gave me in the medical unit, I found out that for three weeks every day I need to go for special procedures, he also advised me to sunbathe more often, as I have a vitamin D deficiency and swim in the sea to stretch my leg. I decided to go for the procedures first. They lasted about two hours, so after them I was left with just going sunbathing. Not that I didn’t want to, I just never did it before, but I had nothing else to do so I went to the beach. Approaching the beach, I noticed that I would have to walk through the sand. I had never seen it in such quantities before, so I slowly lowered my hoof into it. Fine grains of sand began to envelop my hoof and its phalanges. Sand also penetrated my fur, which was quite unusual. It’s hard to say if it would have been pleasant if not for its temperature. The sand was not hot, but warm enough to warm my hoof, causing pleasant sensations. The temperature had already risen by this time, so being in the sun was becoming more and more unpleasant. I lay down on a free lounger, tried to relax, but couldn’t do it, so I decided to enjoy the view. The sea was completely calm, not a single wave that would somehow dilute this blue smoothness. On the beach, there were few ponies, all military: some were sunbathing, some were swimming, and some were playing water polo or volleyball. Unfortunately, the last two entertainments were not available to me due to my injury. After a few minutes, a pale green unicorn, the color of pistachio ice cream, lay down on the lounger next to me. The first thing that caught my eye was his right hind leg, or rather its absence. Instead, he had a white wooden prosthesis that started at the knee. His mane had a slight beige tint mixed with a silvery color, but some of its strands had a very saturated green color. On his side was the so-called cutie mark that all ponies had. It was a glass with an unknown green drink and a decorative yellow umbrella in it. Strangely, his eyes were dark brown, which contrasted sharply with his fur. When he lay down, he immediately began a dialogue. "Good weather today, isn't it, buddy?"
“It seems so,” I replied, not mentioning the unbearable heat. I hadn’t noticed it so much before, but after a few minutes on the lounger, almost all of my fur was already wet with sweat.
“I think you’re not really into it. You’re already sweatin’ all over, dontchu wanna freshen up a bit? I work here as a bartender and can make you an excellent cocktail. Don’t worry, it’s free.” he said.
His offer seemed very tempting to me, because a refreshing cocktail would really not hurt me, especially since I always wanted to try something like that, so I agreed to his offer.
We headed to the bar counter, and as we walked, I noticed that he was not limping at all and walked very well with this prosthesis. When we approached, he began to take out the ingredients, shaker, knife and chopping board. The most interesting thing was that he did this not only with his front hooves, but also with the help of magic. A bright green glow formed around his horn, which was duplicated on all objects that were under the influence of his magic. Then he took a knife with magic and began to cut the lime into slices at high speed, while throwing mint leaves into the shaker. After that, he threw in the lime and poured carbonated water. Then he closed the shaker, lifted it with magic and began to shake it while taking out a glass and ice. When he finished, he poured the contents of the shaker into the glass, added ice, put a straw and very carefully dipped a decorative umbrella using magic.
“This, my friend, is called a mojito, but not an ordinary one, but a whipped one, I always make them like this,” he said with a proud smile on his face, and he had something to be proud of. He didn’t just make a drink, he also put on a show.
“Wow!” I said with special surprise. The drink he made looked exactly like the one on his side. “You know, I’m from Olenia, so I don’t often see unicorns using magic, but that was amazing!”
“Oh, thank you! Ponies usually don’t notice that.” he said. “But the main thing is to try the drink itself.”
I moved the glass closer to my lips with my hoof and began to drink from the straw. I had never drunk cold cocktails before (in Olenia, hot drinks are usually served in restaurants and at home due to the climate), so its taste was extremely unusual for me. However, I definitely liked it. Its taste was moderately sour, but very tasty, and most importantly - the drink was very cold. I clearly felt how a cold stream, passing through my mouth and throat, further went towards my stomach, which invigorated me.
“Wow, man, this is very tasty!” I said honestly. “And it really refreshes.”
“I told you so, by the way, what’s your name and what happened to you?” he asked.
“My name is Wallen Wood, but you can just call me Wallen,” I began. “As I already said, I am from Olenia and participated in the war for it. And now I am participating, just they sent me here for treatment for a couple of weeks: I had a torn shoulder joint, plus there is a shrapnel wound from a grenade. Fortunately, the potion began to heal the wounds, so now I just need to finish healing them. And what happened to you, why don’t you have a leg, and what’s your name?”
“I’m Shaker Splash or just Splash. I also participated in this war, but after a year of hostilities, a grenade exploded near me and its fragments hit my leg, so it had to be amputated. I also underwent rehabilitation in this sanatorium, but after that I decided to stay because they needed a new bartender and I really liked the place and its climate,” he said.
“You know, I’ve lived in the cold all my life, so this climate is extremely unusual for me.”
“Have you swam in the sea yet?”
“No, I just arrived today, by the way the doctor advised me to do it.”
“Wait, have you ever swam in the sea at all?”
“No, even though I lived my whole life in a seaside city: the water there never rose above 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit), and usually its temperature is about 5 degrees (41 degrees Fahrenheit).”
“You definitely have to try it! But not today, this morning was cool, so the water didn’t heat up much, but tomorrow should be even hotter, so it will be an ideal day for swimmin’” said Splash.
“Okay, then we’ll swim tomorrow and for now I’ll go to my room until then. Bye!”
“Bye! See you tomorrow!”
* * *
The next day, after the procedures, I, as planned, went to the sea with Splash. The procedures today took longer than usual, so I was only able to come to the sea at four o’clock.
Arriving at the beach, I noticed many ponies playing volleyball, swimming in the sea and sunbathing. I also noticed Splash, who could swim well in the sea, even without one of his legs. Of course, I could swim myself, because it was included in the army preparation courses, and in my teenage years I often went to an indoor pool located in Sakara, but the sea is completely different. I had to swim in it for the first time today, but there was no anxiety, rather the opposite, a childish interest in new sensations. And so, I dipped my hoof into the cool sea water. Its temperature was a surprise to me and even seemed cold, but after a few seconds I was able to get used to it and a feeling of freshness appeared. I started walking further, dipped my second hoof, third, and now my whole body was up to my neck in seawater. Swimming in it was noticeably more pleasant than in fresh water. I practically didn’t have to make any effort to stay afloat and could easily move around in it.
* * *
I didn't even notice that hours had passed. The only thing that reminded me of this was my muscles, which were already quite tired after being in the water for a long time. So, I still decided to get out of the water and headed towards the lounger. I lay down on it and decided to sunbathe for a while, as the doctor advised me. At first, I didn’t notice anything, but after about ten minutes, when I had already dried out, I felt my body start to warm up pleasantly. My muscles began to relax and I fell asleep.
* * *
“Hey, buddy, are you gonna lie down for much longer?” Splash asked me, waking me up.
“Huh? What? How long have I been asleep?” I asked sleepily.
“Three hours, if not more. You’re lucky that a couple of hours ago it got cloudy, otherwise you would have burned to hell. Okay, I’ll go, see you soon!” said the bright green unicorn.
“Okay, bye!” I said and turned my head towards the sea. There was a beautiful sunset visible there. The sun was already half absorbed by the water, so it had a more orange color than the usual yellow, and the sky from once blue changed to a mixture of yellow, red and even purple shades. Looking at this sunset, I unexpectedly realized that I liked all this. I sincerely enjoy all this summer atmosphere with its heat and swimming, suntan and cooling drinks. I finally realized that summer is far from a bad time of year, but something beautiful that needs to be enjoyed while it exists.
* * *
“The rest of the days at the sanatorium “Sea Breeze” went just as well as the previous ones: I swam, sunbathed, had fun with Splash, and in the last days of rehabilitation played beach volleyball with other ponies. After that, I returned to the front, which had undergone some changes: during my treatment, we were able to break through to the borders with Olenia, which we had not been able to do for several months. Then things only got better and after a year and a half we were able to liberate Olenia and defeat the changelings. I returned home, got married and even had children. I still loved the cold climate as before, but now I wanted to escape from it for a couple of weeks a year, which I did. Almost every year I went with my family to Haystin to rest and meet with Splash,” I finished my long story. “What I’m getting at, kids, is that all seasons are great and they all have their pros and cons, the main thing is to be able to find positive aspects in them and enjoy them while there is time.”
There was no answer. I looked at the children and realized that they had fallen asleep while I was telling my story, but I hope they understood the essence.
