For the next few days, Anthem and Winter hung out together, both at the beach, and other locations. Winter was a lot of fun to be around, and, as his feelings for her grew, Anthem debated about whether or not he should ask her out.

Anthem had never had much experience at dating, and he worried if asking her so soon might be too forward. And then there the possibility that she would say "no"... He had thought about asking his parents, but didn't want them to know about Winter at this point. They would no doubt start fawning about him "finally getting a mare" (even though he wasn't actually with her at the moment).

Fortunately for Anthem, Shining and Cadance were too busy with their own little "project". They would enjoy romantic entanglements whenever Anthem wasn't around, in hopes of getting the foal they wanted.

One morning, as Anthem prepared to leave the hotel, he popped his head into his parents' room. He noted that they were still in bed, even though it was 10:00 a.m.

"Just headin' down to the beach." He announced.

"That's nice, son." Shining said, a little flustered.

"Be back for lunch." Cadance added, blushing a little.

"Can do." Anthem nodded, before leaving.

"We really should've gotten a room with a lock." Shining sighed.

"Maybe." Cadance admitted. "Maybe we should get out of bed, now."

"You read my mind." Shining kissed her. "Let's take this to the couch."

Once he arrived at the beach, it didn't take Anthem long to find Winter. Her mane (a flower tucked in one side) was flowing in the breeze, and she smiled a gorgeous smile as he approached. It seemed like she was getting more beautiful every time he saw her.

"Hi." He smiled.

"Hey." Winter smiled back. "What do you want to do today? Some surfing? A little volleyball, or just kicking back and catching some rays?"

"Well, the thing is..." Anthem muttered. "I... kinda wanted to ask you something..."

"What is it?" Winter asked.

"Well, you see..." Anthem said awkwardly. "Winter, would you like to-"

"HEY!!" A brutish colt walked towards them. He had a muscular frame, a gray coat, a short tan mane, green eyes, and surfboard Cutie mark. He wore a pukka shell necklace around his neck.

"Oh, no..." Winter buried her face in her hoof.

"Who's that?" Anthem asked.

"Wipeout." Winter cringed. "My ex-coltfriend."

"What do you think you're doing with my girl?" Wipeout growled at Anthem.

"Wipeout, we've been over this." Winter groaned. "I'm not your girl anymore. We broke up, remember?"

"You didn't answer my question." Wipeout glared at Anthem, ignoring Winter. "Answer me, ya- wait, aren't you that crystal prince kid?"

"Yes, I am." Anthem frowned. "And to answer your question, Winter and I were just hanging out. That's all."

"Oh, yeah?" Wipeout sneered. "What if I don't like the idea of you hanging out with my girl?"

"Again, not your girl." Winter snarled.

"Look, I don't want any trouble-" Anthem started.

"You royals are all the same." Wipeout snorted. "You think you can do whatever you want, just 'cuz. Well, guess what? You got yourself some trouble."

"Are you threatening me?" Anthem stared him down…although the guy was obviously taller than him. "Because I've faced far worse troublemakers in my time then some over-muscled beach jock."

Wipeout balked ever so slightly, but quickly regained his composure.

"You got guts, princey." He admitted. "So how about we try something else?"

"Like talking this out?" Anthem suggested.

"No!" Wipeout sniggered. "We'll have us a little contest; Three events of my choosing. You beat me two out of three, I'll step aside. But if I beat you, you have to stay away from Winter... for good."

"That's ridiculous." Winter rolled her eyes. "Why would anypony in their right mind-"

"I'm in." Anthem nodded.

"What?!" Winter gaped.

"Sweet." Wipeout grinned. "Then let's get started."

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Shining and Cadance were snuggled together on the couch. Shining repeatedly kissed Cadance's neck, just the way she liked it. In return, Cadance rubbed her hoof under his chin.

"Just like old times, huh?" Cadance purred.

"Mmm, yeah..." Shining shined.

There was a knock at the door.

"Room service!" A voice announced.

"I ordered some of your favourite chocolates." Shining told Cadance. "A little something to up the romance in here."

"Good thinking." Cadance grinned.

Shining opened the door, paid for the chocolates, then returned to the couch with Cadance.

Back at the beach, the first challenge was about to start.

"Anthem, you don't have to do this." Winter urged.

"If it gets Wipeout off our backs, then yes, I do." Anthem declared. "Relax. Like I said, I've handled worst than him."

"Okay, princey, let's start off small." Wipeout twirled a Frisbee. "A little Frisbee throwing contest. You do know what a Frisbee is, don't ya? Or have you spent too much time in your fancy castle to know?"

"I know what it is." Anthem growled.

"Good." Wipeout smirked. "The rules are simple. First to miss a catch loses. And no using magic, got that?"

"Like I need magic to beat you." Anthem muttered.

"Okay, let's go." Wipeout threw the Frisbee.

The Frisbee flew a great distance. Anthem acknowledged Wipeout's throwing leg as he raced to catch. He leapt into the air, catching the Frisbee just before it hit the ground. He then flung it right back. Wipeout ran further then he thought he'd have to, but caught the Frisbee easily.

"Not bad for a pampered prince." He taunted, throwing the Frisbee again.

Anthem caught the Frisbee (with a little more ease that time) and returned it. They went back and forth for a while, until Anthem flung the Frisbee at a curved angle. Wipeout was unable to catch it, and it fell to the sand below.

"Nice move, Ant!" Winter cheered.

"Lucky throw." Wipeout spat. "So you win round one. Next time, I won't go so easy on you."

"Whatever you say." Anthem said passively.

At the hotel, Shining and Cadance were taking turns feeding each other chocolates.

"Mmm." Shining smiled, as he savoured a hazelnut swirl. "Try this." He then placed an orange-flavoured chocolate into Cadance's mouth.

"Mmm." Cadance grinned. "Almost worth the tooth decay."

"Good thing we brought our toothbrushes, huh?" Shining grinned.

Round two was a volleyball match.

"Ready to get served, princey?" Wipeout jeered.

"Bring it." Anthem declared.

"Oh, I will." Wipeout smirked. "No more holding back."

Wipeout jumped up, and spiked the ball at Anthem, who was just barely able to return it.

'Whoa, he's good...' Anthem realized.

The match went on for a short while, before Wipeout succeeded in scoring.

"Ha!" He boasted. "In your face!"

"Well played." Anthem nodded. "Guess this makes us even."

"Not for long." Wipeout sneered. "I'm taking the final round."

"You don't have anything to prove, Anthem." Winter told him. "Just call it quits."

"Can't do that, Winter." Anthem shook his head. "When a member of my family does something, they see it through to the end."

Back in the hotel room, Shining and Cadance were groaning, having eaten too many chocolates.

"There's still a couple left." Shining noted, his face turning green. "You want them?"

"No thanks." Cadance cringed. "All I want right now is an antacid."

"Make it a double." Shining burped. "And maybe we should try something else next time."

"Something that doesn't involve eating." Cadance rubbed her stomach.

"Agreed." Shining nodded, as his own stomach gurgled.

The final round was a surfing contest.

"Boards, ready!" Wipeout yelled.

"Okay, this one, I have a good feeling about." Anthem smiled. "I'm pretty good with a board, you know."

"So's Wipeout." Winter declared. "He's won the local surfing contest three years in a row."

"Okay..." Anthem gulped. "Not so good feeling anymore."

"Let's go, princey!" Wipeout yelled, racing to sea.

"Right behind you." Anthem nodded, following him.

They mounted their boards as a wave came near.

"Eat my suds, princey!" Wipeout yelled.

"Not today!" Anthem declared.

They climbed the wave, Wipeout in the lead. Anthem tried to pull forward, but Wipeout kept blocking him. Anthem had a plan, tough. Shifting from one side to another, he tricked Wipeout into moving in the wrong direction, and took advantage of his confusion to move ahead of him.

"Why, you!" Wipeout roared.

In his haste to catch up to Anthem, Wipeout leaned too far forward, and his board tipped into the water, flinging into the sea.

"Aaah!" He yelped.

Anthem skidded smoothly back onto the beach.

"How about that?" He smiled. "I win."

"Yes, you did." Winter smiled.

Wipeout crawled back onto dry land.

"Okay, that's it." He spat. "I wanted to make this fair. But no more. You get away from her, now!"

"Now wait a second." Anthem frowned. "You said if I won your little contest, you'd leave me and Winter alone."

"I only said that because I never lose!" Wipeout spat.

"Until now." Winter smirked.

"If you won't leave, I'll make you leave." Wipeout snarled. "Put up your hooves, princey."

"Now there's no need to- whoa!" Anthem narrowly dodged a punch. "Look, I don't want to fight you."

"I don't care." Wipeout sneered. "I tried letting you off easy, but you forced me to do things the hard way!"

"Look, we don't have to do this." Anthem blocked another punch. "There's got to be a better way to settle this."

"You brought this on yourself." Wipeout growled. "For messing with my property!"

"...Excuse me?" Anthem said quietly.

"Winter." Wipeout clarified. "She belongs to me. I own her!"

"No. You. DON'T!" Anthem roared, striking Wipeout in the face.

"Urgh!" Wipeout stumbled back. "You little-"

Wipeout threw out more strikes. Anthem easily dodged, and retaliated with blows of his own, each one hitting home. With one last left hook, he knocked Wipeout to the ground.

"Winter is nopony's property." Anthem glared at the beaten and quivering Wipeout. "Leave her alone. Understand?"

"Y-yeah, sure." Wipeout gulped. "Just don't hurt me, 'kay?"

"Get outta here." Anthem snarled.

Wipeout clambered to his hooves and ran off.

"That was amazing!" Winter suddenly hugged Anthem. "Way to go, Ant! Thank you so much!"

"No problem." Anthem smiled. He then became serious. "Winter, I still have a question to ask you?"

"The one from this morning?" Winter asked. "What is it?"

"Will you... go out with me?" Anthem asked.

"Are you serious?" Winter chuckled. "You're totally my hero! Of course I'll go out with you!"

Winter kissed Anthem on the cheek.

"Wow..." Anthem smiled. "What a day..."

The two walked down the beach together, Winter nuzzling against Anthem.