The sun, fresh in the new day's sky, beamed down upon a small rabbit, who was about to give his owner a rude awakening.
Angel sat atop a frizzled sea of pink, his tiny little bunny eyes squinting in the sun. It was time to wake up Fluttershy. They were burning daylight. The white bunny jumped and landed on the pink Pegasus's head. He repeated the act until Fluttershy was more wide awake then Rarity in a jewel mine. Every time Angel jumped on Fluttershy's head, the shy yellow mare let out a small squeak, much akin to a baby mouse.
"Oh, Angel dear, did I sleep late?" She yawned and listened for the cheerful birds that usually greeted her in the morning. They were absent. Yawning again, she opened the shutters on a window and peered outside. The sun was not even fully up yet, casting everything in Celestia's domain with a soft pink and orange aura.
"Umm.. Angel bunny, why did you have to wake me up this early?" Mildly surprised, Fluttershy was not mad, for she sometimes got up this early on her own accord to attend to the roosters.
Angel cast an exasperated look in her direction and scampered towards the door.
Fluttershy's door was perhaps one of the sturdiest structures in all of Equestria. Built to resist wild animals, and fortified to protect her from angry ponies and friends alike, only Fluttershy could open this door without having to force it. There was just one problem: many critters have had trouble opening the door, and this was the exact same door that Angel was struggling with.
As soon as Fluttershy opened the door for the tiny bunny, Angel bolted out the door. He skidded to a halt outside one of the bushes that adorned Fluttershy's cottage. Fluttershy, trotting up to said bush, had absolutely no idea what Angel was doing. Perhaps there was a nest of chicks inside the bush? It was Easter, after all.
Nopony knew what exactly they celebrated Easter for, but it was said that he holiday was over 1000 years old, dating back from the time before the princesses ruled. It was a time to celebrate spring, and it occurred a few weeks after Winter Wrap-Up. Fluttershy loved Easter; it was a time for baby animals to come out of their nests and frolic in the warm sun. Usually, the ponies had a small Easter egg hunt, but it was mostly for foals. Something about how the young ones would dive around obstacles, looking for the small plastics eggs so they could crack them open and eat whatever sweet treat was on the inside made the older ponies smile.
Angel reached inside the bush and pulled out an egg. It was fake, and Fluttershy knew it contained some sort of candy. She cracked it open, but candy didn't fall out. Carrots did. The vegetables fell at Fluttershy's hooves, and all she could do was stare at them. Fluttershy flipped over the egg. It had the name CARROT TOP in block-print letters.
"Angel... what is this?" The yellow Pegasus was confused. Why would somepony place an egg full of CARROTS in her bush? And why would it be only for Carrot Top? Unless... Fluttershy gazed around the yard. She saw a green egg on which DOCTOR WHOOVES written on it. Another, poorly disguised as a rock, bore the title of SCOOTALOO.
Fluttershy understood now. Somepony had hidden eggs all around Ponyville, hoping the townspeople could have fun searching for their very own egg. She wondered where her own egg was.
A small cough told Fluttershy that Angel was getting impatient. She looked down to see the small bunny motioning towards the bustling town. Clearly, he wanted to go there. Fluttershy let the little bunny scamper onto her back, and took off for twin, keeping a brisk pace and letting the gentle morning breeze caress her.
**************
On the contrary, Ponyville was in a state of complete chaos. Ponies were either shouting, arguing, fighting, or running around. Two Earth ponies were arguing about stolen candy, while one pair was debating over the theft of a pilfered lyre. Fluttershy, frightened by all of the noise, stared around the town square to find a familiar face. Angel covered his ears.
Fluttershy did not have to look far. In one corner, arguing with a dark blue and gold Pegasus, was Applejack, with out her hat. The two ponies' argument just added to the cacophony of noise in the square.
"Ah'm tellin' you, you took mah hat, Storm Sprinter!" Applejack looked furious at the stallion.
"No way!" Storm Sprinter argued just as loud as Applejack. "You took my hoofey stick!" Indeed, the picture on Storm Sprinter's flank was two hoofey sticks and a puck.
"TELL YA WHAT" Applejack fumed, face to face with her accuser. "IF YOU GIVE MAH HAT BACK RIGHT SOON, AH WON'T ...oh, hey, Fluttershy, good t'see ya...BUCK YOUR FACE OFF!!" The town square was ringing with similar threats.
"Umm.." Fluttershy's voice was nearly inaudible. "Excuse me...EXCUSE ME!" Fluttershy's voice rose in volume as her assertiveness training kicked in.
The two ponies fell silent, along with every other pony in the square. Fluttershy gulped. Everypony was STARING AT HER.
Thankfully, outta nowhere, Twilight Sparkle rushed in to inadvertently save her
"Attention, everypony!" The lavender unicorn shouted, drawing their attention from Fluttershy to her.
"As you may already know, all of you are missing various objects. These were not stolen by other ponies, but in fact, they ended up inside... these!" Twilight held up an egg, inscribed with the moniker APPLEJACK.
"Hey!" Applejack shouted. "Ah never wrote nah name on an egg! What's it doing there?"
"Well, " Twilight continued, "Your belongings that have gone missing might have ended up in the eggs, somehow." Twilight opened the egg, revealing to the masses of ponies Applejack's missing hat. As the orange cowmare dashed up to Twilight in order to retrieve her hat, Fluttershy leaned down to Angel.
"Angel, how did you know about this?" The small bunny motioned to himself. "You mean...YOU hid all of those eggs?" The little bunny nodded. Fluttershy was completely surprised. Angel slept with her last night, cuddled amonst the sheets. There was no way that he could have hid all of these eggs...
Up above, Twilight was finishing her address to the crowd.
"I repeat, your belongings were not stolen, ("Told ya" whispered Storm Sprinter, earning himself a punch in the leg from Applejack.) But instead they are hidden around Ponyville, in little eggs. So, Twilight shouted to the crowd, let the hunt begin! The citizens of Ponyville erupted in cheers as they dispersed to find their stuff.
***********
All around, Ponyvillians were finding their lost treasures. Fluttershy saw some of her friends open their own eggs. Rainbow Dash opened her egg to find her lost Wonderbolts action figures. Although she was quick to conceal the toy from sight, Fluttershy saw the joy in her eyes. As they passed the Carousel Boutique, she witnessed Ditzy Doo recover a lost batch of muffins. As happy that she was that her friends were finding their lost possessions, she still had yet to find her own.
Fluttershy looked everywhere she could think of. The library, Sugar Cube Corner, even a short venture in the Everfree Forest, but she could not find her egg. She pleaded with Angel to tell her where it was, eliciting a sly grin and a shake of the head from the small rabbit. While trotting down Mane Street, she was greeted by three fillies, infamously known to all as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Scootaloo had just found her egg, and the other fillies were urging her to open it. As Scootaloo cracked open the cheap plastic containers, the other two crusaders were silent for a moment. Finally, Sweetie Belle pulled Scootaloo's lost treasure and stared at it.
"Scootaloo, is this... a lock of Rainbow Dash's HAIR?"
*********
It was now almost sunset, and the majority of Ponyville had found their own eggs. All except Fluttershy. Trudging back to her quaint little cottage, she looked at Angel, disappointed, with tears in her eyes. She was the only one who hadn't found her egg yet.
As most people may know, nobody can resist feeling sorry for Fluttershy when she is crying. No one. Not even a sadistic little bunny. When he reached the cottage, he gave Fluttershy a look that said simply, "stay here". He scampered inside the house, returning a few moments later, carrying a large yellow egg. The name on the egg stated FLUTTERSHY.
"Oh, Angel, thank you! I wonder what it could be." Fluttershy hadn't been missing anything, but she figured it was because Angel would never steal from her. She opened the plastic egg, revealing her lost treasure to be...
Angel. Confused, Fluttershy looked from one Angel to another, and then again. They were both real, but as far as Fluttershy knew, only one could be her Angel Bunny.
The sleeping bunny in the egg finally awoke. When he saw Fluttershy, he frowned and kicked the egg over, splintering it in the process. Fluttershy was certain that he newly awakened bunny was Angel: no other living creature had that bad a temper.
"But... if this is Angel... then who are YOU?" She inquired towards the bunny that had been accompanying her all day.
The unknown bunny gave Fluttershy a salute, then quickly sprinted off into the sunset, leaving the laughter of Discord in its wake.
