//------------------------------//
// Helpless (Snails X Twist) 
// Story: Pretty Little Ditty 
// by Closer-To-The-Sun 
//------------------------------//

Helpless

“With dream comfort memory to spare/And in my mind I still need a place to go/All my changes were there.” –Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, “Helpless”

In the busy market section of Ponyville, a cream colored pony with a frizzy red mane was happily trotting along with her saddlebag. Her large purple glasses was the most notable feature that everypony knew Twist for. The filly seemed to not have a care in the world as she continued her shopping.

"Let'th thee…." Twist spoke to herself, recounting her shopping list in her mind, "I got thome appleth, and I got thome carrotth too. Now, am I mithing a few cupcaketh for lat-"

Twist's statement was cut short as she was bumped from behind. The sudden hit caused Twist to move forward and trip over her own hooves. Landing on her face, her glasses fell off and slid forward on the ground.

"Oh no, my glatheth….I can't thee without them…." Twist struggled to stand back up on her hooves with a few scratches on her body, "Can thomepony pleath help me find my glatheth?"

The pony's question fell on deaf ears as the crowd continued on their own way, ignoring the filly in need. Seeing she had to rely on herself, Twist took a few steps forward, waving a hoof before each step in hopes to find her glasses.

Among the bustling crowd's trotting and talking, Twist heard a loud crunch of glass and plastic. After that sound, Twist's ears flattened against her head as she continued to look for her glasses. 

A few moments passed before she heard a familiar voice, causing her ears to perk up, "Twist? Are you alright?"

Looking to where the voice came from, the filly saw an orange figure with green blotches, "Thnailth? Ith that you?"

"Yeah, it's me. Where are your glasses?" Snails asked, tilting his head to the side.

"My glatheth….I can't find them. Thomebody bumped me by accident and they fell and….I think they might be broken….at least my thaddlebag held everything and nothing fell," Twist explained.

"I'll help you find them, Twist, don't worry," Snails reassured his classmate.

An expression of relief washed over the filly's face, "Oh, thank you Thnailth…."
The two ponies slowly scanned the ground for the purple-framed glasses. Twist seemed to get more and more worried by the passing second. Not being able to see anything was a major fear of hers, and the longer she went without her glasses, the more her eyes hurt.

"I found them, Twist," Snails called out.

"You did?"

Using his magic, Snails levitated the broken glasses, "Yeah, but they are kind of broken."

"Oh no…. my glatheth…." crestfallen, Twist's ears were flattened again, "At leatht I thill have the thpare pair."

"Then let's get you home to get them," the colt suggested.

"But….I can't thee…."

"I can carry you, Twist," Snails offered.

"O-Okay…." Twist replied nervously.

"Alright, hold still," the colt said as he used his unicorn magic to levitate Twist a few inches of the ground. The filly waved her limbs wildly as she was in the air. Snails told her to relax or he might lose focus on the magic. He carefully placed the cream colored filly on his orange back. As soon as Twist landed on Snails' back, she wrapped her front hooves around his neck tightly for security.

"You okay back there?" Snails asked, levitating the broken glasses up again.

"Yeth….juth pleath be careful, Thnailth," there was a worried tone in Twist's voice.

"Of course."

Snails began to trot carefully with the filly on his back. Twist was clinging tightly to the orange unicorn's neck. Despite her fear of falling and her hurting eyes, she felt safe in Snails' care. The thought of her being safe with the colt caused her cheeks to turn pink.

Holding herself close to Snails, Twist whispered, "Thank you, Thnailth, for everything."

Smiling, Snails also blushed, "It's nothing, Twist. I always like doing what I can to help those who are close to me."

The unicorn's words caused the filly to smile brightly. Closing her eyes, she snuggled closer to Snails' neck.

END