Fluttershy pushes a fresh carrot over to Angel with her hoof. Angel turns his head away defiantly. “Come on, Angel. Eat your breakfast. We don’t have time for this.” Fluttershy says nervously peeking at the clock on the wall. Angel gags as if she were trying to poison him. “Just a few more bites. Pretty please with sugar lumps on top. I even cut it up for you.” Fluttershy says hoping she doesn’t have to use the stare on him. The stubborn rabbit twitches his nose in agitation. Fluttershy wishes her pet wasn’t such a picky eater. He refuses to eat just about everything.
“I promised Rainbow Dash that I’d wake up the hibernating animals for winter wrap up this year. Pinkie Pie has been planning Tank’s welcome home party for weeks. We’re going to be late if you keep this up.” Fluttershy says trying to reason with the pint sized terror. Angel kicks the food bowl into the air. Fluttershy gets startled by the clatter of the bowl. She covers her face with her wings.
“Um, I guess there will be other food at the party.” Fluttershy sighs letting Angel ride on her back. She flies out of the cottage door. All of the clouds are gone. Rainbow Dash must have cleared the skies already. Fluttershy’s measly 2.0 wing power is no match for the chilly wind. Something colorful soars over her head.
“There you are. Took ya long enough.” Rainbow Dash says somewhat harshly.
“I’m so sorry, Rainbow Dash. It’s all my fault. I didn’t mean to be this late.” Fluttershy says softly as she hovers into the air.
“Eh, it’s no big deal. Come on! Let’s go see Tank.” Rainbow Dash says enthusiastically dragging Fluttershy through the sky. Angel clings on to her light pink mane for dear life as they are pulled towards the ground.
“Hi, Fluttershy! Do you want to see the cake Mrs. Cake and I made? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?” Pinkie Pie asks bouncing up and down.
“Of course.” Fluttershy says.
“What is that in your mane, darling? Carrot chunks? You don’t strike me as the kind of mare who would ignore her personal hygiene. To each their own, I suppose.” Rarity says not realizing how snooty her remark sounded. Fluttershy quickly removes the food from her mane. Fluttershy is far too embarrassed to tell Rarity the truth about how she was abused by a bunny.
“There ain’t nothing’ wrong with savin’ a few morsels for later.” Applejack says after noticing Fluttershy lowering her head in shame.
“I think Winona is done digging up Tank’s hole. Would you like to ring the bell, Fluttershy?” Twilight Sparkle asks levitating the bell over to Fluttershy.
`
“I would love to, Twilight. Rise and shine, sleepy head.” Fluttershy says gently ringing the shell. Everypony waits for Tank to emerge from the ground, but to no avail. They’ve been standing out in the cold for so long that Opal fell asleep.
“What’s taking him so long?” Rainbow Dash asks tapping her hoof impatiently.
“I’m freezing my flank off.” Rarity says wrapping her hoof made scarf tighter around her neck.
“Is he dead in there?” Applejack asks.
“Remember, Rainbow Dash. He’s a tortoise. He can’t move as fast as you can.” Twilight Sparkle says pointing out the obvious.
“Maybe he’s still sleeping.” Pinkie Pie says leaning her ear against the ground.
Angel has just about enough of Tank getting everypony’s attention. Angel tugs Fluttershy’s mane.
“Oh, Angel. Would you be a good little bunny and go down there and checking on him?” Fluttershy asks. Angel folds his arms and twitches his ear in disapproval. For the first time in the past five minutes all the pony’s eyes were on him. Angel crawls down into the hole. Tank snores loudly. Angel waves his paw in front of Tank’s face. Angel impatiently kicks Tank stubbing his toe. He hops around on one foot out of the hole squeaking every swear word he knows. Angel falls onto Opal. Opal hisses and furiously swats her claws at Angel. “Oh my goodness. Angel, are you oka-“ Fluttershy says timidly.
“Hey! Look! Tank’s back! I missed you so much, little guy!” Rainbow Dash says scooping Tank up off the ground. Pinkie Pie shoots off a party cannon. Fluttershy hides under the picnic table. Opal chases Angel back down into the hole. Opal isn’t small enough to squeeze inside. Eventually, Opal gives up on her hunt and licks the dirt off of her white fur. Angel peeks out of the hole to see if the cost is clear. He sees Fluttershy petting Tank and giving him a slice of cake.
“What a sweet heart. He ate it all up without even fussing. I wish Angel would eat his food like you do.” Fluttershy coos. Angel’s envy grows stronger than before. Who would want a stupid tortoise as a pet anyway? He was much cuter than Tank. Why is his owner spending time with Tank and not him? No pony offered him a slice of cake yet. Fluttershy’s other animal friends hibernate all the time. Angel marches right past Gummy, who was too busy contemplating the meaning of life to notice. Seething in jealousy, he hops up on the table and spits on Tank’s cake. Everypony gasps.
“Angel! You have been a very bad bunny today, mister. Now apologize to poor little Tank.” Fluttershy says. Fluttershy has never scolded Angel quite that hard before. He could feel the smoke fuming out of his floppy ears. Angel didn’t take kindly to being yelled at in front of anypony, but negative attention is better than no attention at all. In one last act of rebelliousness, Angel tosses the cake at Tank. The cake splatters all over Tank and Fluttershy. Fluttershy narrows her blue eyes at Angel. He knew what was coming next. The stare. He swallows a lump in her throat.
“You went too far this time, buster. You just earned yourself a time out. You need to learn a lesson. You aughta be ashamed of yourself. Now sit down on that bench until you’re ready to tell Tank you’re sorry.” Fluttershy says in a decibel that would be considered yelling in Fluttershy’s standards. Angel scampers up on the bench without putting up any more of a fight.”
“That cake took such a long time to make.” Pinkie Pie says. Her once curly mane starts to deflate from exhaustion.
“Are you okay, Tank? Fluttershy, this is exactly why I said you shouldn’t let him get away with treating you like that. He thinks he could just walk all over everypony now. Angel’s is such a spoiled brat sometimes.” Rainbow Dash grumbles making sure Tank didn’t get any crumbs in his eyes.
“At least she punished him this time.” Twilight says petting her owl.
“I am so sorry, everypony. I just don’t know what’s gotten into him today. Do you think I was too hard on him?” Fluttershy asks. Rainbow Dash smacks her forehead with her hoof.
“He’ll be fine, Sugarcube. A little discipline never hurt nopony.” Applejack says.
Angel pouts on the bench. He doesn’t see why he should apologize to the lousy spotlight stealing reptile. He sees himself as a much better pet. First of all he is cute and fuzzy, second of all he’s fast, and furthermore he doesn’t have to sleep the entire winter. He came up with a brilliant plan. He would run away and find a new owner who would appreciate him. That would show Fluttershy. That would teach her not to give her pet a time out. When nopony is looking, Angel runs away up into the mountains. The earth ponies haven’t finished plowing the snow there. Angel starts to think that leaving his owner wasn’t the best idea. His paws are stinging from the cold, his buck teeth chatter, and his body shivers. The wind blows him in front of an icy cave. Desperate to find shelter, Angel enters the cave. He hopes that nothing dangerous lives inside.
The cave is darker than Angel had anticipated. He slips on the ice with every step he takes. Angel feels the ground tremble underneath him. A massive creature looms over him. Its fur blends in with the powdery snow. He was big enough to kill a pony just by stepping on it. Angel scurries behind a rock in the cave. The shadow of his big pointy ears show.
“Aw, a little bunny rabbit. I always wanted a little bunny rabbit.” The Abominable Snowman says in his low rumbly voice. Angel tries to get away, but slips on the ice again.
“Don’t worry, bunny rabbit. I won’t hurt you. I think I’ll keep him. And I will hug him, and squeeze him, and kiss him. And pet his little bunny head, and I will play with his little ears, and I will name him George.” The Abominable Snowman says picking up Angel and squeezing him like a pimple. Angel tries to squirm out of his grasp. He seems to be completely oblivious to Angel’s pain.
“Where do you think you’re going, George. You are my bunny rabbit now. I know! I will make you a nice soft bed to sleep in.” The Abominable Snowman says putting Angel back down. Angel quickly hops out of the entrance to the cave.
At this point in time, Fluttershy has everypony out searching for him. Pinkie Pie and Applejack follow the tiny paw prints in the snow. Winona tries to sniff for him. Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Owlicious, Tank, and Rainbow Dash search up from above. Rarity designs lost pet posters.
“Oh my. The poor little guy. He probably feels like I abandoned him,” Fluttershy sniffles.
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy. We’ll find him.” Twilight says.
“It’ll be like findin’ a needle in a haystack, but we’ll get him back before ya can say Apple Fritters.” Applejack says.
“I was hoping a search party would be more fun than this.” Pinkie Pie says keeping Gummy warm with her mane.
“We won’t stop until he’s found. Even if it means I’ll have to get my boots all wet.” Rarity adds. Opal groans loudly.
“He may be a pain in the flank, but I think Angel might actually care about you.” Rainbow Dash says. Winoina barks loudly. Angel feels a glimmer of hope. He leaps up and down with excitement.
“There you are, Angel. I was worried sick about you.” Fluttershy says galloping over to him. Their reunion is interrupted by the sound of the snowman’s voice. Angel runs as fast as his little feet could carry him.
“George! I was looking all over for you.” The Abominable Snowman says.
“George? Who’s George?” Twilight asks.
“My new pet bunny rabbit. He tends to wander off a lot. I named him George.” The Abominable Snowman in his deep dumb voice. Angel bites his hand. The Abominable Snowman drops Angel on the ice.
“Um, excuse me, but… He is my bunny.” Fluttershy stutters.
“But George likes me. I take good care of George. I will hug him, and pet him, and feed him, and give him baths, and gosh it’s hot out of
here.” He says looking up at the boiling sun. His body begins to melt away.
“You can’t have him.” Rainbow Dash says charging at him. He collapses onto the thin ice. As the ice breaks apart Angel falls into the frigid water and sinks to the bottom. Twilight tries to levitate him out of the water but the water is too murky for her to see him. Fluttershy jumps into the icy water. The water weighs down her wings.
“Fluttershy, don’t. It’s too dangerous.” Rarity says levitating her out of the water.
“Wait. Where’s Tank?” Rainbow Dash asks. Tank dives under the water using his propeller as a motor. Tank’s body goes numb from the cold. He picks up Angel and carries him back to shore. Angel coughs and sputters on the ice. “Tank! Somepony get him out of there.”
“He’ll be okay. He should be able to breathe underwater for a long time.” Twilight says levitating Tank out of the water. Angel crawls over to thank Tank. The docile reptile accepted Angel’s apology. He seeks shelter in his shell for warmth. The snowman is melted from the torso down. He is laying in a puddle of his own body.
“It’s so hot. I think I’m melting. George, do something.” The Abominable Snowman says.
“We’ll help ya, but only if ya let Fluttershy have her bunny back.” Applejack says.
“But I’ll miss George.” The Abominable Snowman sobs.
“If it makes you feel any better, I can find you your very own bunny rabbit.” Fluttershy offers.
“Can I name him George?” He asks.
“Sure! I love the name George!” Pinkie Pie says.
“We better move the snow clouds over to the cave before he melts completely.” Rarity says.
After they brought him winter and a new bunny, Fluttershy took everypony to the cottage to warm up. Everypony sits at the fireplace with their pets.
“Promise me you’ll never run away again.” Fluttershy says wrapping his favorite blanket around him. Angel nods as he eats a carrot. Fluttershy smiles. For once he didn’t give her a hard time about eating his food.
