//------------------------------// // Arrival // Story: Summer Love // by Bluecatcinema //------------------------------// A crystal carriage, pulled by two armored Pegasi, descended on the resort of Mihaymi, a small beach town south of Baltimare. Once it landed, Shining Armor, Cadance, and their son Anthem disembarked, carrying some luggage. The trio had decided to take a vacation while their castle was being repaired from the damage it suffered during the battle against Black Knight. "Here we are, gang." Shining Armor smiled. "Sunny Mihaymi!" "Now this is just what we need." Cadance smiled. "A nice relaxing vacation to wash away the stress of recent events." "Yeah, 'cause being captured by a psycho pony with shadow powers and getting locked in your own dungeon can really make you tense." Anthem joked. "Mmm, just feel that ocean breeze." Cadance sighed. "And it's so warm." Shining admitted. "And there's a heck of a view." Anthem added. "Sure beats the snowy mountains back home..." "We'd better get to our hotel." Cadance declared. "Aw, mom..." Anthem groaned. "I wanted to check out the beach!" "There'll be plenty of time for that tomorrow, son." Shining declared. "We're going to be here a couple of weeks, after all, and it's not like the beach is going anywhere." "Thanks for the lift, gentlestallions." Cadance told the Pegasi. "See you in two weeks." "Of course, your highness." One of the stallions bowed. The royals made their way to the Bitz hotel, while the Pegasi departed, to return in two weeks' time. They drew a few looks along the way, with some mutterings along the lines of "The Crystal Empire family! Here?" floating on the wind. Once they arrived in the hotel's lobby, the staff wasted no time in attending to their needs. "Here is your room keys, your highnesses." The concierge handed the keys to Shining and Anthem (They had booked two adjoining rooms, Shining and Cadance taking one room, and Anthem the one next door). "Your luggage will be sent up promptly." "Thank you." Shining smiled. "Thank you for your patronage, your majesty." The concierge bowed. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that." Shining muttered as they went their way upstairs. "Even after all these years, that bowing and scraping bit just doesn't work for me." "It's not my favorite part of the job either." Cadance admitted. "But it's just something we have to live with." They entered their separate suites. Anthem noted wryly that the "deluxe-sized room" he had was actually a little smaller than his own back home, though it was much tidier. After unpacking, he was joined by his parents. "Settling in okay, sport?" Shining asked. "More or less." Anthem shrugged. "I can't remember the last time I stayed in a room with non-fancy walls." "I'm sure you'll adjust." Cadance shrugged. "Now, what say we get some dinner? Anypony up for room service?" "You bet!" Anthem chuckled. "Just don't go overboard, kiddo." Shining warned. "We may be royalty, from a land where gems grow out of the ground, but we're not made of money." "Don't worry, dad." Anthem smiled. "I won't order too much. Today..." "Very funny." Shining frowned. After enjoying some coconut stew and zucchini steaks, the family decided to turn in for the night. "Night, mom." Anthem smiled, as his parents headed back to their room. "Night, dad." "Good night, son." Shining smiled. "Sleep tight." Cadance added. Stopping only to brush his teeth, Anthem got into bed and switched off the lights, looking forward to the coming morning. Meanwhile, Shining and Cadance were preparing for bed too. Before joining his wife, Shining produced an enchanted book. It allowed him to communicate with Shine Paladin, who had offered to oversee the reconstruction of the Crystal Empire while they were away. "How's everything going, Shine?" Shining wrote. At the Crystal Empire, Shine noticed the book's twin vibrating. He opened it up to see the sentence Shining just wrote appear within. Smiling, he started to write back. "It's going great, Shining." Shine answered. "Repairs are really coming along nicely. We might even be finished ahead of schedule." "Good to hear." Shining replied. "How are you holding up, by the way? All that Black Knight stuff was really nasty. I didn't get a chance to ask how you're handling it." "I'm doing as well as I can, I suppose." Shine wrote. "It was a tough experience, but I'm working through it. Besides, coming from a family of war horses makes me a tough nut to crack. And the fact that I'm immortal gives me a slight edge." "That's right, buddy." Shining wrote. "You hang in there." "Thanks, Shining." Shine replied. "Enjoy your vacation." "Oh, I will." Shining wrote back. Closing the book, Shining turned to Cadance, who had finished her night-time rituals. "Done with the novel?" She lightly chided him. "I've got a good feeling about this vacation." He declared. "We're going to have the time of our lives, just wait and see!" "If you say so, dear." Cadance yawned, as they climbed into bed. "It does feel nice to get away from it all, and just enjoy each other's company." "I always enjoy your company, darling." Shining nuzzled his wife. "I know you do." Cadance kissed him on the nose. The couple fell asleep in each other's hooves soon after. The next morning, Anthem awoke, and (after ordering some breakfast and changing into his beach gear) entered his parents' room. "I'm heading down to the beach." He announced. "Wanna come with?" "Maybe later, kiddo." Shining declared. "For now, we're going to have some 'quiet time' on the balcony." Cadance grinned. "Say no more." Anthem mock-grimaced. "I'll leave you guys to your mushiness, and have me some fun on the beach." "Be back in time for lunch." Cadance instructed. "Will do." Anthem nodded. "Don't have too much fun out there." Shining smiled. "It's a long vacation. Don't wanna get funned out on the first day!" "Sure, dad." Anthem chuckled. Anthem made his way down to the beach. Once again, he felt stares and whispers of "The crystal prince!" headed his way. He had heard whispers like those since he was a foal, so he wasn't fazed by them anymore. Once he got to the beach, he indulged in some surfing, a hobby he didn't get enough practice in at the Crystal Empire. He had first learned it when his parents brought him on a diplomatic trip to the Buckhamas, and proved to have a knack for it. The waves looked particularly good that day. Renting a board, he jumped into the ocean. "Hey, princey!" One of the other surfers called. "What's up? Don't you have servants to surf for ya?" "Not really." Anthem shrugged. "Besides, most servants can't shred like me!" When the next wave came Anthem rode it all the way to the top, to the great shock of the obnoxious surfer pony. "Maybe you should get servants to do your surfing!" Anthem taunted. After thoroughly schooling the competition, Anthem returned to the beach. As he went to return the board, he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. It was a very pretty Earth Pony. Her coat was sunset-orange, her mane was ocean-blue (with eyes to match), and she had a Cutie Mark of a snow cloud over a stretch of beach. Just looking at her took Anthem's breath away. 'This vacation just got a whole lot more interesting...' Anthem thought as he walked towards her, ready to introduce himself.