Pearl was stuck and this was an occurrence that rarely, well, occurred. Sure, you could say that she often got "stuck" to people, but this usually implied emotional attachment. She would lay her eyes upon a creature, whether it be aquatic, land-based or familiar, and fall immediately in platonic love. She would want to be their friend and by golly she would do everything she could to make sure that they wanted to be her friend too! She would stick by their side, no matter how tricky it was and turn her level of charm to FULL POWER. It often worked and if it didn't, she would lean out of her eatery bed until she could get her hooves around her occupant and hug her love into them. That always worked.
Unfortunately, she was not stuck on someone's front leg today, so much as stuck on the beach.
You see, Pearl was bored and so decided to make friends with the tiny horseshoe crabs that buried themselves in the sand along the shore. She was in a particularly interesting coversation about water bubbles versus sand bubbles (you know, the bubbles you see popping up along the wet sand closer to the water? Yup, those ones) when suddenly she was swept under a wave and tossed into the dry, sunny sand away from the water! She was properly stuck too, with her shell wedged deep in the sand. Despite her thrashing and rocking, she could not make it come loose! So, she set to leaning forward with a sigh and panting heavily. She would need to get back to water quick, before she dried out in the summer sun. Ugh.
It was then that she noticed a hermit crab skittering by. It paused for a moment, taking in the peculiar sight of a large shell-pony out of water and then it clicked its claws thoughtfully.
"If ye lean forward quite suddenly with a good bit of thrusting forward too, ye can skuttle back to the water. Tis what I do when I get stuck in the sand and when no amount of wiggling can help it. Come now, lean back, yes, good, good, now thrust forward with all that is in ye!"
Pearl leaned back, hoping the weight shift wouldn't cause her to sink further into the sand and then jerked herself forward. Something from behind her seemed to tear and pull, making her want to hide inside her shell instead of stretch out from it, but then something gave and she flopped onto her front hooves.
"Very good, very good! Took ta it like a fish ta water, and speaking of, we need ta get ye ta some water right quick! Hurry along now, one claw in front of the other! Mind the sand, ye lass, ye'r almost there!"
Her shell was impossibly heavy to drag through the sand, but Pearl went on until she lay atop the wet sand, gasping. A moment later, a wave swept her into the coziness of her home and she breathed in great relief. From inside a nook in her shell, a small voice also sighed.
"Good ta see ye safe n' sound, lass. Watch ye self, now!" and then the hermit crab jumped from the inside of her aching shell and was swept by a wave back onto the shore, leaving Pearl to do some deep breathing. She had had more than enough of the beach today.