Twist, the Filly Sitter.

I Can Do Thith!

Wasp

Twist, for her part, was having the same reaction as the two little ponies sitting in front of her, confused and unsure, but for her part, she was feeling nervous too. She wasn’t scared at all, unless all the stories of how little fillies really could be demons from Tarterus, it was more that she had never met the two before. They did look innocent enough though, one being a colt, the other a filly, both somewhat the same color to her, but the distinct difference being the shade of their fur. Without her own glasses, she would not have been able to tell them apart, if it wasn’t for the fact that they were at least wearing different clothes, or that their hair was really distinct between the two. Still, being a gray color was not uncommon in Ponyville, it was just odd to see another pair of twins again. Especially when she factored in the note that they were orphans that were both adopted. She heard somewhere that some parents would only adopt one child thinking that if they were to adopt both it would be to much of a hassle. Would it though? Twist would most likely not know at the time.
For now, the better question was what to do now. Since their parents left, they had all kind of just been sitting in the living room. A living room in a ‘house’ that, while not a bad living space, was in a more uncommon area that she had not even expected. Their home was located underground, in the old emergency shelter beneath the barn. Apparently, according to Babs, her cousins had at first made it to hide or be safe from a lot of the danger that came around in Ponyville. Since the elements of harmony came to be now, she thought it was safe enough to rent it to the new family that had arrived about a year and a half ago. Why she had not ever seen them around? Twist would never know, not wanting to invade in privacy or if they had a reason to do so.
Either way, she had gotten a letter from the parents yesterday, asking if she would be able to babysit for the next week. Apparently they were going on some trip with Spike and Princess Twilight’s Assitant, Starlight Glimmer. She didn’t need to have the details, not that they specifically told her anyways. She just found it odd that they would one, choose to leave the kids here, and two, choose her to babysit. Twist would have to ask them at a later date, for now, the two ponies were still staring up at here, waiting patiently.
“Tho…what are your nameth?” Twist asked, adjusting her glasses. She wanted to let them introduce themselves, so she could get some insight on who they were. She was told earlier, but this was her first time being a fillysitter, and she wanted to make sure they knew she was nice. The only thing she was really worried about was if they wouldn’t listen to her.
“I’m Sophistara! I like to be called Soph though!” Said the young filly pointed to herself and smiled brightly. She had fur that was gray, but a lighter tone than the one sitting next to her. Twist smiled back at her, analyzing her carefully. She appeared to have her hair in a twin set of long ponytails, which would almost drag on the ground if it had not been put in by hair ties. She seemed to be so bright and full of energy, both good and bad for her. Good, because that meant the filly would be nice and happy, bad because she would most likely be full of energy. As she was done taking quick mental notes, she turned her head to the colt. He was the same gray, just a darker tone, and seemed to just have his hair going wild, mostly spiky, but going wherever it wanted it to be. Did he not care to comb it or something? She would have to find out later. For now, she waited for him to introduce himself.
The silence that grew in the air turned the moment awkward for Twist, as she continued to wait. She was not used to this kind of…situation were somepony would not at least introduce themselves. Usually, everypony in Ponyville was nice enough to say their name or greet each other. Yet he was just staring at her with eyes big and open. Was he perhaps a mute colt? It is rare for such a thing to be seen, in Twist’s eyes, as she had never encountered a mute pony before. She was unsure on how to approach the situation. She was about to voice a question when Soph leaned into her line of view and pointed towards the colt in question.
“This is Anubis, and don’t take it as an insult that he didn’t say his name. He doesn’t like to talk a whole lot, because he’s kinda shy. He likes to think more than speak, so I love to do the talking for the both of us!” Soph exclaimed. The look on the fillies face told all that she was proud to be the colts sister, as proven more by the smile that grew on Anubis’s face himself. Twist looked at the both of them with a smile of her own, thinking of how nice it was to grow up with a sibling that cared for you. She wished that she had grown up with a sister or brother, as it would have made the abuse she had to undergo a lot easier…or nonexistent at all. She was not at all going to complain though, as she now had a sister in the form of Dinky, when her mother and Derpy’s mother got married. It was nice now to have a sibling to look after you when you were at home, or to talk to when nopony else was around to do so. It was hard only having your mom being the one to talk to about everything, especially when she herself was busy trying to support Twist and make sure everything would be alright for her.
Twist’s thoughts were cut off when she saw that Anubis was pointing at her now. She was confused by such an action and merely tilted her head in the process of what he could be wanting. There was nothing behind her besides a door, and even then, it was to a closet.
“He trying to ask your name! Which you havn’t even told us yet! I mean sure, Mom and Mum told us, but you havn’t yet! I heard that’s very rude to do!” Soph said for her brother, making it dawn on Twist that she had been so collected in her thoughts that she had not even introduced herself. Luna, she should have read a filly sitting book or something to figure out how this actually went before she did this for the first time. That or she should pay a little more attention to things.
“I’m Thorry, that’th my bad. My name ith Twith” she said through her lisp. It aggravated her to no end how she tried to speak normally, and how because of her speech impediment, she was made fun of.
“I thought your name was Twist? Not Twith!” Soph questioned, leaning towards the mare.
“It ith,” Twist began, looking at the filly in question. “I have what you call a lithp.”
“A what?” Soph stared at the mare with confusion. She had never heard of such a thing before, or at least never heard of someone having such an issue. “Is it like being sick or something? I remember once I had a cold and had talked funny till I got all better!” The filly did shiver actions and mimicked being sick to show what she was meaning.
“No. No. Nothing like that. It juth meanth thath I have a hard time thpeaking.” Twist answered, only to be rewarded with a more confused filly.
“I…I don’t get it. You talk funny still. Like I know half what your saying, but the other half isn’t there in my head.” The filly, for her part, was really trying to understand what exactly was going on. She just didn’t quite get it with how her brain was processing it.
“It means she can’t speak normally like we do because of something that she was born with. A disability, if you will. Or in layman’s terms, she can’t speak without making funny sounds. By the way, she said it’s called a lisp.” A quiet voice said suddenly. It shocked Twist, as she looked around for where it could have come from. Her answer was received when she say Soph go and pounce Anubis to the ground.
“Thanks bro! You could have said it sooner though! My head was starting to hurt! To many big words!” Soph exclaimed, laughing while enjoying her brothers despair of being, once again, pounced by his sister. Twist, for her part, was surprised that someone their age could even understand what it meant. The twins had to at least be six, maybe seven. But even then, this colt just said words that even she wouldn’t know about by his age.
“Mmph!” was the only response given by Anubis, as he shoved his sister off of her and sat back down facing Twist. He only had a curious look on his face now, as if trying to read her.
“That wath ethplained perfectly. Good Job! How did you know that?” Twist asked. The colt, for his part, looked away after being complimented. It was cute, and Twist wanted to just squeal at how he was now getting embarrassed. When he did not answer though, she turned towards Soph for the answer.
“He likes to read a lot, and ever since we started taking lessons from Sunset, he likes to stay after and learn a lot more. I don’t though, I learn the basics and then go for freedom!” The response was not one she was expecting. Being taught by someone of Sunset Shimmer’s level was amazing, and for these two to even be considered for it, well, that was a whole different level.
“How did you two get Sthuthet to be your teacther?”
“I have no clue! When we were adopted, Mom went and talked to her, and now we are being teached!” The little fillies voice had no care in the world it seemed, only that she was happy. It made Twist smile, for she knew of another pony that was so full of energy like her, that baker pony, Pinkie pie. She was a hit with the whole town, and threw the biggest parties. “Can we eat by the way? I’m starving! I might just die! Oh my Celestia! What if I died from lack of food! Who would pounce ponies then!?” Soph, as Twist would learn fast, liked to over dramatize a lot of things. The filly went on to even make more drama by having actions showing she was dead. This was only solved by Anubis getting up, and poking her with a stick that, in Twist’s memory, came from no where. “Stop that! Ill Super pounce you!”
“Ill make thure you two eat. Justh give me a thecond!” The mare then went for the kitchen, finding a note on the fridge that detailed pre-made food. It was odd, not the pre-made meals being made for the three, but the amount of food that had been premade. There was more than enough to feed an army in the fridge and cabinet! Still, there were some meals on the note that, apparently by Wasp, said that she could have some fun cooking, as long as she didn’t blow the kitchen up of course. She went to work, wanting to create a meal that the two little ponies would enjoy, and hoped that she would not mess it up. She wanted to learn how to cook, but she was still not getting the hang of certain things. One of those was timing. It would be her luck that sometimes she would either burn something, or not let something cook long enough, resulting in somepony getting sick. She didn’t want that though, she wanted to be a cook. For the future! For when…If…She and Babs…
The blush that appeared on Twist’s face made her snout become the same color as her hair. She shook her thoughts away, and after readjusting her glasses, went to work. It took the better part of the hour, finding were pots and pans were, ingredients that needed to be chopped, and making sure to follow the recipe she had found to the tablespoon. The recipe itself was simple, but it was the ingredients that made it more…difficult for Twist to manage. The food she was attempting to make was a simple pasta dish, but it involved using herbs and other items that she had never even heard of. It was even harder when she couldn’t read some of the writing of whoever put the labels on the bottles; which after looking further into turned out to be Wasp’s writing just more lazily.
When Twist had finished the actual dish, she turned around and saw the mess she had made, leaving her with a sheepish grin. She was sure to be cleaning this up for the best part of the next hour after dinner, but if she had done this right, it would be worth it. Calling the twins to the kitchen was no problem, as they had been running around with little plastic swords in their hands, fighting each other as pirates or ninjas. It was hard to tell with one being quieter than the other. She had finished setting the table when the two had cleaned up, making sure to wash their hands like their Mum told them to do always.
“I hope you two like it! I thaw your mother’ths recipe and tried to follow it to the note.” The mare said to the twins. They only stared at her, curious by what she meant by that, as everything they usually ate tasted great here.
“How could you mess it up? It’s easy to do I’m sure!” Soph said, like there was nothing to it. This made Twist feel nervous, as if something was wrong with it, they would know, and she only hoped that they did like it.
“I’m thure it will be fine. Letths dig in!” Twist only said this as reassurance to herself. She was sure it would be fine. With a nod as her only response from the other two, the three took their forks and dug in….only for the two twins to spit it out while she herself tried to mange it.
“UGH! This taste so awfu-“ Soph started, only to be shut up by her brother, who was trying to get the taste of whatever he just ate out of his mouth. The look on his face told her that he too wanted to voice that opinion, but she saw that other look that said not to do so.
“I…I…” Twist for her part didn’t know what to think, as she was for sure that she had followed the recipe! How could she have messed it up this badly! Sure she wasn’t used to making such a dish with all the ingredients that Wasp put on there, but how could this have happen. She looked at the twins who had only started to stare at her, and Twist could only look away, feeling like a failure.
“So…what are we going to eat now?” Soph stated, quieter than her normal tone and obviously note wanting to say anything else. Twist, for her part said nothing, only standing up and removing the dishes from the table. She then got a premade meal from the fridge and gave it to the twins, who ate it happily, while she went and cleaned up all of her mess. She would have eaten with them, but all of a sudden Twist just did not have an appetite.
Her only thoughts now resulted on the present and past failures she has ever had. Going from not being able to make good friends, to trying so hard to pass certain classes or activities, to even just trying to fit in with anyone. How could someone like her even exist in such a world as this? She failed so many times in her life, and yet couldn’t count the number of times she felt proud of herself. Half way through a dish, Twist turned around, seeing that Anubis and Soph were gone, and that she was half way through the dishes. This made her only sigh, as she realized they wouldn’t want to trust her with such activities without screwing it up. Who was to say she wouldn’t screw up helping them if they got hurt, or helping them to bed, or anything! This was only the first day, her first time trying something new, and she couldn’t even handle it. She had let the twins down…their parents down…Babs down…and most certainly her own family down. Perhaps she should just call Wasp and Flake to come back, or look for someone more qualified to do so.
She knew that she was probably overdoing it with her own thoughts, but after trying so many times, she just felt like life was not going anywhere lately. Sure, this job was recommended by Babs herself, which made Twist feel good inside, but she mainly took the job to get some extra bits to go see Babs. It was difficult to be in a long term relationship, and it hurt her so much knowing that her marefriend was so far away. She missed the warmth that Babs gave to her, either from the protection she felt within her arms, or the kind gentle movements she made on her and only her. Yes, her Mom and new additions to the family gave her love and care, but it was obviously a different love then what Babs gave. It left her still a little empty inside, and because of how hard she tried to do everything right now, or to get along with others, it just hurt with all the fails that kept happening. With each one adding up and digging a deeper hole in her self-esteem.
It was when Twist finished cleaning the last dish and part of the mess from dinner that she noticed the twins had been super quiet. It was an odd behavior, knowing that earlier before dinner they had been really excited and playful. Perhaps they fell asleep, or passed out somewhere inside? She went to investigate, and then afterwards she would think about what to do for the next of the week.
“Soph? Anubis? Are you two okay? Where are you two?” she asked, going room to room. The home wasn’t that big or huge, but many doors seemed to line the place. She made sure not to venture into the rooms that she was told not to go into, but she would knock on each one to make sure they had not ventured into one of them. “Where are you two…They…They didn’t leave did they?” panic quickly set in as each word was said, and Twist hastened her pace in the search. It wasn’t until she returned to the kitchen that she heard a small noise coming from underneath the table. “What are you two..”
Twist had began to speak when she suddenly stopped and went silent. Apparently Anubis and Sophistara had both hidden under the table while she was cleaning and in thought, and fell asleep while doing whatever they were doing. It was cute, to see in dreamland. Twist was happy she found them, and let the breath she had been holding go. She would have to move them and put them to bed without waking either of them. Twist wasn’t the strongest mare, but she believed that the two were light enough to move both of them at the same time. So she moved some of the chairs, and got them up in her arms. Carrying them to their room was not the hard part of the ordeal, getting them to stop hugging her while they slept was the worst. She had tried to put them on the bed, but found both were tightly gripped to her arms, and wouldn’t let go. Sighing, she decided to wake them up slowly.
“Soph…Anubis…You two need to let go.” Twist whispered. The two only seemed to tighten their grip on her, while shifting sleepily awake.
“Twist?” Both mumbled, looking at her.
“Yea, you two theemed to pasth out, and ith bed time now.” The mare sat both of them down on Soph’s bed, holding the two because they wouldn’t let go still. “What were you two doing down there?”
“We..we were watching…you” Soph started mumbling. She rubbed her eyes to get more awake, but couldn’t fight off the yawn that came. “We…we were worried..”
“You two were worried, about what?” Twist only kept looking at the two in more confusion, what could have kept them like this?
“You…we didn’t want you to go away. You…” Anubis started, surprising Twist with his voice. “You looked so sad…we didn’t want you to go…you seem fun…and nice..” This was the statement that caused Twist to go wide eye, and only stare in shock at the two. She let them go and sat them in front of her, so she could get a good look at them.
“What…what are you two talking about? What..” Twist couldn’t think properly, what were they getting at, what could they be thinking.
“We saw you crying and looking so depressed when we came back to apologize about the food. It wasn’t so terrible, but we just didn’t like it was all. Mumma Wasp cooks weird, so it was nothing to be sad about.” Soph started, giving Twist a big hug to the silent Twist.
“We also don’t want you to go away, as we don’t meet that many people who just want to make us happy, versus just trying to keep our mum and mom happy. A lot of other people only see us as a way to get to them, and don’t see us. Your such a nice Pony, and we want you to be our friend!” Anubis continued Soph’s statement, and hugged her too. The both looked up though, and got scared for a second at what they saw now. “Twist..Why are you crying? Did we say something-
“You..You two are the besth!” Twist scared the two greatly but calmed them down as she hugged them tightly with tears in her eyes. It felt so good to her, to know that they cared enough to make sure that she was okay, and that they wanted to be her friend. Even after what seemed like a terrible moment, she felt so happy now. “Im sthorry for making you worry. I won’t be leaving, and we will be friendths”
They were silent for the rest of the night, and actually passed out on Sophs bed. Twist lay against the pillow, with one filly cuddling her left side, and the other colt cuddling her right. Of course, Twist was way too big for the bed, and was dangling off, but for this, she would not trade it for the world.

It was at the end of the week when Wasp and Flake returned, opening the door and being greeted by Twist. They were confused, as they would normally be greeted by a pouncing Soph, and then a smiling Anubis.
“Hey Twist, were back, how did it go? Where are the twins? Did they give any problems?” Wasp and Flake said. They only gained a confused expression when Twist made a big smile to the two.
“They were…perfect little angelths!” Twist exclaimed. “They are athleep at the moment, and are had a great week. They will be happy to thee you too.” This statement caught them a little by surprise, as everyone else that had every watched them would have complained or left earlier, calling them and making them come back. So of course, Wasp and Flake had been worried before they came back, but were now happy.
“That’s wonderful Twist. Thanks so much again, we can’t thank you enough. I will be sure to give you extra bits.” Started Wasp, digging for a bag, and then giving her a bigger bag then she thought she would get. The giddy happy Twist excitingly accepted it and thanked them, already seeing that it was enough to get a train ticket to go see Babs or for her to come see her. “By the by, did anything happen? I didn’t think anything would go wrong, but…Let’s just say it is hard to find a good fillysitter around here.” The way Wasp asked it wasn’t meant to be said as an insult, but she had a suspicion. After so many hours of trying to not kill certain ponies, it was a relief to finally find somepony who knew what they were doing, and that Anubis and Sophistara liked. Of course Flake would have had Setsuna look after them, but Flake had sent her on a vacation, and Wasp knew Setsuna needed one after working herself to death and taking her duty as bodyguard to seriously. Besides, they were her kids, and she wanted them to be happy always. Besides, Wasp knew Flake would kill her if something did happen.
“Nope, nothing bad happened at all.” Twist started, after being thanked with a hug again from Flake, who went to go check on the kids. “It wath odd though…” she continued, being led to the door by Wasp, who now gave Twist a questioning look.
“What was odd Twist?” The buzzing bug asked, wondering what could have come up.
“You didn’t thay that Soph waths a unicorn, or that Anubis waths part pegasthus. It theemed odd for twinths to be born like that. Havn’t heard a cathse like that thince the Cakeths.” Twist commented, giving a puzzled look to Wasp. “They are thure good at hiding it, you have to look hard for the horn or wingths underneath.” Wasp only stared at her blankly though, as if Twist had grown another head and had gone crazy.
“Twist…What are you talking about…they are normal ponies…”