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Prologue702 words
Rule 1: Don't Lose Your Foal2,267 words
Rule 2: Don't Tell Anypony3,088 words
Rule 3: Don't Get Distracted3,371 words
Rule 4: Don't Travel Abroad4,333 words

Rule 2: Don't Tell Anypony

To whomever it may concern,
I am currently out having lunch at the Crystal Café. I will try to be back as soon as I possibly can. If you need me, please be patient and wait until my return.
—Sunburst

Shining Armor’s mouth dropped open.

The Crystal Café?! he thought to himself, looking over the note on the stallion’s door multiple times to make sure he had read it right. He had. I ran all the way from the castle to to find him, and then he’s not even here?! No! What am I supposed to do now?

As Shining Armor climbed back down the stairs leading to Sunburst's house, he thought over his options. I need Sunburst’s help now. If I stay here and wait for him to come home, I will certainly be able to get his help. The problem with that is I have no idea when he’s coming back here. It could be hours, for all I know. If I go to the Crystal Café, though, I can find him and get his help immediately. However, there’s a chance he might’ve written this note a long time ago and has left the Café already, meaning going there would be pointless. Hmm...

Shining Armor scratched his head as he tried to pick a path to follow. After a few seconds, he finally made up his mind.

Let’s do this.

The Crystal Café was one of the most popular eateries in the Crystal Empire. While it was, for the most part, a brightly-colored standard fast food restaurant, the fact that Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor ate there almost everyday made the café a hot attraction for both the tourists and the Crystal Empire’s own residents. Whether they were looking for a good meal or a glance of royalty, the Crystal Café was the place to go.

When Shining Armor entered the restaurant, he found it nearly filled to the brim with ponies of all different sizes, shapes, and colors. Because there were only ten tables in the entire building, only about a dozen ponies got the luxury of sitting down, while all the others were forced to stand and wait. It was aggravating for some, but the possibility of seeing royalty keep them coming back for more.

On that particular day, due to the crowd, barely anypony noticed Shining Armor enter the building. To him, this was a relief, as he didn’t have the time to be smothered by adoring fans asking for his autograph. He just wanted to find Sunburst and be gone.

Unfortunately, Sunburst was nowhere to be seen.

Shining Armor scanned the sea of heads for the unicorn's unique manecut, but to no avail. Sunburst didn't appear to be in the restaurant at all.

Oh no, Shining thought to himself. First, Flurry Heart, and now Sunburst? Where is everypony going today?

As he sighed, Shining Armor and stared at the crowd in front of him. Okay, even if Sunburst isn't here right now, I know for a fact that he was in here at some point today. Somepony had to have seen him come and go. All I have to do is to find that pony, ask them which direction Sunburst went, then get out of here as quickly as possible so I can find him. Should be easy, right?

Shining Armor was about to step into the large mass of ponies, but stopped right before making contact with the first one.

This plan isn’t going to work, he thought, backing up against the door. This crowd is huge. It’s going to take forever if I ask every single pony in here if they know where Sunburst is. I need to find one specific pony that will know, for certain, where Sunburst went.

Shining scanned the crowd once more, searching for anypony that might potentially know where Sunburst was. At first, nopony stood out to him. However, after a few seconds, he realized—

The cashier! She’s the perfect one for this! She’s gotta have been working for a few hours, at least. She’s got to have seen him!

He started to walk back into the crowd, but once again stopped before anything could happen. I can’t have anypony noticing me and distracting me from my mission, he thought, bumping into a nearby window. If I’m going to go into this crowd, I’m going to need a disguise. But where am I going to find one of those?

He looked at the window he had bumped into. Hanging on it were two long, pink curtains with yellow fringes and red stripes.

Good enough.

When nopony was looking, Shining Armor used his magic to remove the curtains from the window, then proceeded to wrap them around himself, making sure to cover his entire body, save for his eyes, muzzle, and horn.

There, he thought to himself. I'm ready.

When he reached the cashier, Shining Armor removed the curtain from his head and smiled at the mare in front of him.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Armor,” the cashier said, giving the stallion a large smile. “You look quite handsome today. Shall I get you your usual order?”

“Uh, not today,” Shining replied, his eyes darting around the room. He could feel a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead. “You see, I’m kind of in a predicament right now.”

“Oh dear,” the mare gasped. “Are you in trouble?”

“No, not at all. But somepony else is. Tell me: have you seen a yellow-orange stallion with glasses and a blue cape around here? I need to find him.”

The cashier thought it over for a moment, then nodded her head slowly. “You mean Sunburst? Yeah, I’ve seen him. He just left the café a few minutes ago. Why? Is he the one in trouble?”

“Don’t worry about that. Did you hear him say anything about where he was going before he left?”

“Uh, maybe? All I heard come out of his mouth were his order and the words 'Crystal Market’, if that helps you any.”

The market? Shining Armor thought, putting his face in his hooves. Seriously? I don’t have time search the entire market for him! I need to find Flurry Heart as soon as possible!

“Um, thank you for your time, ma’am,” Shining Armor said, wrapping the curtain back around his head. “I’ll be sure to tell you if I find him.”

“Well, I certainly hope you do!”

Looks like I won’t be getting Sunburst’s help after all, he thought to himself as he walked away from the cashier, his head hanging low. Great. If I can't find him, then the only pony who will be helping me is Flash. There’s no way I’ll find Flurry Heart if it's just him and me.

Just at that moment, Shining Armor looked up from the ground and saw an orange mare with a yellow mane and a light brown cowboy hat, eating a small hayburger.

Do I know that mare?

The closer he got to her, the more familiar she looked. It was almost as if he had seen her multiple times before...

“Wait…” Shining Armor said, tapping the mare on the back to get her attention. “Applejack? Is that you?”

The mare turned around. Surely enough, it was Applejack.

“Shining Armor!” Applejack exclaimed. “Well, howdy. Didn’t expect to see you here! What’s with the, uh, fancy get-up?”

“Oh, this thing?” Shining asked, looking down at the curtains. “It’s just a… I’ll explain later. What are you doing here in the Crystal Empire?”

“I’m just hanging out with Rainbow Dash. There’s an important Wonderbolt meeting here in the Empire she has to go to, and she invited me to come along with her so we could do some fun stuff together.”

“Ah, ok. Sounds pretty nice. Any chance she’s here with you then?”

“Nah. She’s off selling Wonderbolt merchandise at the market with right now. Why? Do ya need her?”

“Kind of,” Shining replied, glancing around at the ponies around the room. A few of them had begun to stare at him and snicker. “Look, how about we continue this conversation outside? I’m kinda trying to keep my presence here on the down low, and I think some ponies are beginning to notice me.”

Applejack looked at the clock. It was 1:20pm.

“Yeah, I’ve got some time before Rainbow gets off shift,” she said, eating the last few bites of her burger. “I can talk.”

“Great! Then let’s go!”

With that, Shining Armor and Applejack worked their way through the crowd and left the restaurant, forgetting to return the curtain.

“Are you kiddin’ me?! You lost your foal?!”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” Shining Armor said, standing in the alleyway next to the Crystal Café. “She’s just flying around, carrying a spear, with she no way of knowing where she’s going and nopony to supervise her.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he cringed. “Oh, man, that really does sound bad, doesn’t it?”

“Uh, yeah,” Applejack replied, nodding her head. “You gave your baby a spear? What in the hay were you thinking?!”

“Hey, I didn't give it to her! She just took it! It’s like… her new favorite toy or something.”

“A spear is her favorite toy?” Applejack gasped. “Seriously? Shining, have you ever considered that your daughter might just be a serious threat to the community?”

“I have,” Shining Armor admitted. “But that’s not the point. I really need your help to find her, Applejack. She's my daughter, and I love her. I don't want her stuck alone in the world with nopony to help her. I want her safe.” He sighed. “Plus, Cadance will destroy me if I don't find her before she comes home.”

“Don't worry, Shining,” Applejack said, without hesitation. “I'm going to help you. I can’t just let a baby be out in the world on her own. I’ve gotta do somethin’ about that. Plus, even though you've made a mistake, you're still my friend. Friends help each other, right?”

“Oh, thank you so much!” Shining exclaimed, hugging the earth pony. “I promise, I will make it worth your while.”

“Ah, no need," Applejack replied. "My help costs nothin'. So, where are we gonna start lookin’ for this foal?”

“Um, the castle, I guess. Flash Sentry is already over there, looking for Flurry Heart. I figure we check in with him first and see if he's found her. If he hasn't, then we start looking around the city.”

“The entire city?” Applejack asked, confused. “That's going to take quite a while. Why don't you ask for more help so that we can cover more ground quicker?”

“The less ponies that know, the better,” Shining stated, turning away from Applejack. “I want to keep this as secret as possible. If I let too many ponies know, the story will spread. And if the story spreads to the general population, it's going to spread to my family. And if my family finds out, I'm a goner. Nopony will trust me, Cadance will divorce me, and Flurry Heart will be taken away from me forever!”

“Wow. That got intense fast.”

“And that's just assuming we even find her. If we don't, things could get a whole lot worse. Which is why we have to hurry and do this as soon as possible!”

Applejack sighed once more. “Alright then, let's get movin’. Flurry Heart needs us.”

The mare then proceeded to run out of the alley, heading in the direction of the castle. Shining, however, stayed behind a few seconds longer.

“We're going to find her,” Shining told himself as he took a deep breath. “We're going to find her.”

He wasn't really convinced.

When Applejack and Shining Armor returned to the castle, they found the royal guards all over the place.

While some of them were in their respective positions, others were in places Shining Armor would’ve never told them to go: on the ceiling, on the roof, under the couch, in his room. What was even stranger was the fact that all of them seemed to be searching for something. There were guards looking through windows, opening up kitchen cabinets, and even going through Princess Cadance’s closet. Not a single one was doing their actual job, however.

“Shining, why’re your guards actin’ like this?” Applejack asked, staring at the stallion up on the ceiling.

“I have absolutely no idea.”

As the two walked through the castle, they kept seeing guards acting weirdly. None of them greeted Shining Armor, looked at him, or frankly, even noticed that he was there at all.

“This is really weird,” Shining said to Applejack, his eyes darting around the room. “Look, I’m going to figure this out. You start looking for Flurry Heart without me.”

“Gotcha,” Applejack replied. “I used to foalsit little Apple Bloom all the time. This should be a breeze. Just come an’ find me when you’ve sorted this out, okay?”

“You got it.”

As Applejack ran in the opposite direction of Shining Armor, the stallion looked for somepony who could help him out. Most of the guards looked too busy, and Flash Sentry was nowhere in sight. There was one guard, though, who didn’t appear to be doing anything important, and that was the one in the downstairs bathroom. All he was doing was repeatedly tapping on a mirror with his spear.

Bingo.

“Hey you!” Shining Armor called out to the unsuspecting guard, causing him to jump up in surprise. “What are you doing?!”

“Uh, um, d-definitely not messing with your mirror, sir,” the guard lied, hiding the spear behind his back. Shining Armor rolled his eyes.

“No, I mean, why are all of the guards acting so strangely right now?”

“Oh, that,” the guard said, scratching his head. “Um, we’re just searching for Flurry Heart, like you told us to. Hey, are we getting paid overtime for this? Because I really don’t want to be—”

“Hold on,” Shining interrupted, confused by the guard’s words. “I never told you to look for Flurry Heart. In fact, I don’t recall giving any of you orders at all!”

“Oh, well, Flash Sentry told us that you had,” the guard said, shrugging. “Now, about that overtime—”

“Wait. Flash Sentry?!” Shining exclaimed. “Oh no. Um, thank you for your help, guard! I really appreciate it.”

With that, the prince ran away from the guard, leaving him alone in the bathroom with his spear. Right before he went up the staircase, however, Shining Armor heard one, last sentence:

“I still want that overtime!"

“Aha! I found you!”

Shining Armor had just walked onto one of the castle’s balconies, where he found Flash Sentry, flying along the side of the castle.

“Oh, hey, Shining!” Flash exclaimed, waving to the prince. “Welcome back! How was your trip?”

“Not that great,” the unicorn sighed as Flash landed next to him. “I went all the way to the Crystal Café, but I still couldn’t find Sunburst. Looks like we’re just gonna have to do this without his help.”

“Aww. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I really like your new look.”

“New look? What are you talking about?” Shining Armor asked, confused. He looked down at his body, only to find the curtain was still there. “What…? Why am I still wearing this?!”

“Probably because it looks great.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Shining said, ripping the curtains off his body and throwing them off the side of the balcony. “There. Now, Flash, I have something I really need to talk to you about.”

“Okay, sure. What is it!”

“The royal guards! Flash, why are they searching for Flurry Heart? I explicitly told you not to tell them what was going on!”

“I know, but I figured that, the more ponies we have on board, the higher chance we have at finding Flurry Heart!” Flash said, looking at the prince.

“Sure, but if too many ponies find out she’s missing, rumors will spread. And that’s only going to lead to trouble. You really shouldn’t have told them!”

“And I didn’t,” Flash corrected, shaking his head. “No, I just told them that you were playing a game of hide-and-seek with Flurry Heart and needed a little extra help. They have no idea she’s gone.”

“Oh, really? Wait, how’d you get the guards to play hide-and-seek, of all things? They can be pretty hard to work with, you know.”

“They weren't that difficult. I just told them you’d give them all a day off if they could find her. That got them searching in seconds.”

“Wow, that’s actually really smart,” Shining admitted. “Although I wish you hadn’t made a promise as big as that one. A day without royal guards could be tough. But, thank you anyway, Flash.”

“No problem. Although, this next part you won’t be so happy to hear. We’ve been searching all throughout the castle for a while now, and we’ve kind of come to the conclusion that she’s not here.”

“WHAT?” Shining gasped, beginning to hyperventilate. He could feel his heart racing in his chest. “My worst fears are coming true. She’s escaped into the city! I was not ready for this! Oh no-no-no-no-no!!”

“Hey, it’ll be okay, Shining,” Flash said, trying to calm the prince down. “Nothing’s changed. We’re still going to find her. The only difference now is that we’ll have to conduct our search in the city. Nothing’s stopping us from doing that, right?”

Just at that moment, a guard ran onto the balcony. He was panting and covered with sweat.

“Shining, we need to get you inside this castle immediately!” he yelled, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

“What? Why?” Shining asked, after taking a deep breath.

“Because we’re putting the castle on lockdown!”

Upon hearing this, Shining Armor and Flash Sentry’s mouths dropped open.

“WHAT?!”

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