2, 5
"New Sprouts"

A few months passed along with a birthday, and Derpy fell into a new routine.

At eleven years old, the little pegasus had the swing she wanted, but she also had a baby sister named Dinky. Dinky was a unicorn, which was funny, but it didn't seem like a big deal to anypony. Dinky was just there. Always there... and very loud. Mommy spent a lot of time with her and she cried a lot. When Mommy wasn't holding Dinky she was at the Horte Cuisine, working as a cook. These two things made Derpy very sad, but it wasn't all bad. The filly counted her blessings, even if she didn't completely understand why she was being excused from certain tasks:

"Hey... Derpy?" Applejack would sometimes say on their way to school. "Gotta watch Apple Bloom today. Won't be able to play at least 'til tomorrow. Sorry."

"It's okee!" Derpy always replied. "Tomorrow's fine."

Today, tomorrow, it didn't matter... Applejack would be able to play eventually, and Derpy was used to playing alone.

She was never left in charge of Dinky for some reason, but that was okay. Mommy had said "you're busy enough with schoolwork and your friends" the one time Derpy had actually thought to ask about it. What she meant by that, Derpy didn't pick up, but with the swing the little pegasus also got a small cactus from Mommy... which she forgot about because it only needed water once a week and that wasn't' enough for her to remember. It was dying and she never noticed.

All the same, at first Dinky had a lot of babysitters. Usually older mares, some like Mommy... some even older. Granny Smith babysat a few times, but she quite was a busy mare for seventy-one. They all made Derpy dinner, some even showed her games to play with bits of string and cards. Games that would help her with dexterity, but she couldn't get the hang of most of them. Babysitters were in and out, whoever was available at the time, and usually very nice. The few times Derpy was unable to care for herself they would help her... and because they were like Mommy Derpy wasn't too embarrassed by whatever it was she needed them to do.

It took a couple months, but Mommy eventually found a regular babysitter. Derpy always remembered the first time she met her, because she had gotten the Feather Flu at one of the worst possible of times:

"I know you don't want Mommy to leave, but they really need her help tonight!" The older mare looked from their window to the dark sky, patting crying Dinky on her shoulder. "I'm sorry you have to miss your first Nightmare Night, sweetie. You and Applejack were really looking forward to it! I'll be home before ten and I'll have all the sweets leftover from the party I can carry to make it up to you... promise. I'm leaving a new babysitter tonight. She was the only one Mommy could get on such short notice."

Derpy expected an older mare, but was surprised when into their room walked a high school-aged unicorn she'd seen around town, Amethyst Star. She'd never really spoken to Amethyst because she was a pony with very loud, animated friends. Being around her circle was like being close to three Pinkie Pies all chattering at once. This made Derpy especially nervous... but it was the least of her concerns right now.

Mommy had let this filly into her room without telling her first.

She immediately covered up, clutching her teddy. The Feather Flu made pegasus ponies very tired and Derpy was diapered in her All-in-One just in case she fell asleep before Mommy got home with her candy. While most babysitters had seen her in her All-in-Ones before, they were all grown-ups. Amethyst Star was not a grown-up but she was a big pony... who socialized with other big ponies.

"It's okay, Derpy," Amethyst said, her voice soft, but loud enough to be heard. She briefly smiled at Dinky and the foal stopped crying. "Your mom told me you're not feeling well and you sometimes still wet the bed. It's nothing to be ashamed about. Lots of eight-year old fillies and colts still do it!"

"She just turned eleven," Mommy said, putting a hoof to her face. "Not helping yourself there, Amethyst."

The young mare blushed, nodding her head slowly.

"Well... that's still okay." She smiled broadly. "Your secret's safe with me, okay kid?"

Though Derpy was a bit hesitant there was something about Amethyst's deep purple eyes that she found very comforting. Looking into them for the first time, the confidence and kindness made her relax, but maybe being sick helped with that. Even in a fog Derpy realized something: Amethyst appeared nothing like her friends. The filly nodded, but still kept covered because it was autumn after all... though she would start to feel hot with blankets piled on her. She was too ill and achy to get bored at least, going in and out of being awake half the night. She didn't even know when Mommy had left. Amethyst mostly tended to Dinky anyway, which was okay. At least she kept her quiet.

When Mommy did finally return home, with a sizable amount of candy (as promised), she found Derpy asleep and soaked... with a cold, untouched dinner on their nightstand. After sending Amethyst home Derpy got changed while still asleep, then Dinky right beside her. She would have been so embarrassed had she been awake, but at least the little one was not crying anymore. Although Amethyst failed to fill Derpy's belly and change Dinky's wet diaper before she left, that was okay; Diamond was happy to hear silence in her small house for the first time in months... it was eerie to get a good night's sleep, especially considering it was Nightmare Night.

There were only two fillies who had seen Derpy diapered so far -- Applejack and Amethyst. Derpy would find out after a while that Amethyst was no different than any other babysitter, though the next time she visited Mommy wouldn't be too happy when she got home, but not for the same reason as last time. Derpy needed help in the bathroom but didn't want to call Amethyst because of her age... she found out the hard way that too much toilet paper usually clogs toilets. At least it was nothing to yell about.

This would take some getting used to but after a while none of this would matter. Having a babysitter was still fairly new to Derpy, so was being out of the city; suddenly having a screaming baby sister was also strange, but everything new would eventually feel old. There would be fixtures that Derpy expected and some she never saw coming.

Amethyst was a nicer pony than Derpy ever could have imagined. Like all the others she helped Derpy with her homework (which wasn't easy) and showed her fun little tricks with paper. While she watched more than one foal, she was nice enough to be around for years afterwards... her career started as a full-time babysitter. While Derpy lacked the coordination to compete in the Sister Hooves Social with Dinky when she was older (even as an adult), Amethyst was an agile unicorn. She had to keep up with foals, after all. As Dinky grew older they looked enough alike that some ponies thought they were sisters... not that it mattered in the Social. Dinky would have a lifelong friend and Derpy would have a surrogate in the places she never knew she needed it. It was enough that Dinky had a pony to compete along with, but like most ponies Derpy never stopped to consider what it might mean if Amethyst wasn't there.

Author's Note

The title of this one was going to be "New Sprouts" or "Unexpected Fixtures" ... think I made the right choice on that.

Anywho, I like the character design of Amethyst Star, but I find the name a little awkward to write over and over.