The wall-eyed mare

by Andrew Stillnight

Chapter 3: Of Muffins and Shapes

Three weeks later
A kitten laid asleep on the windowsill. The sun gently caressed it with it’s warm rays, and it purred of contentment. Derpy sat in front of it, watching its belly gently rise up and fall with each rapid breath it took. She watched as its tiny cat nose wrinkled up every now and then. The kitten yawned, stretched and curled itself back up, tucking its fluffy little tail beneath its chin. Derpy watched the kitty. The soft creaking of a door slowly opening sounded through the room and a shadow crept onto the floor, up the walls. Derpy ignored it. She was looking at Muffin. Muffin the cat. A hoof gently touched her shoulder, and Derpy flinched.
“Sshh…” a soothing voice said.
“It’s okay, sweetie, it’s just mommy.” The sultry voice continued. Derpy calmed down.
“Hello mommy.” She said. Then she looked at Muffin again.
“Muffin looks pretty.” She said after a few moments. She heard mommy gasp, after which she went quiet for a moment.
“Yes… She does, doesn’t she?” mommy said.
“She’s very pretty.” Derpy said, after which Mommy gently pulled Derpy closer to her and into a warm embrace. Derpy smelled mommy’s scent and suddenly felt very tired. She looked up at mommy’s face and felt something wet fall on her forehead. Mommy’s cheek was shiny. Derpy felt her eyes slide shut, until she quietly fell asleep to mommy’s odd breaths.

***
“It’s incredible, Cloudwatcher! She talked to me and I didn’t even ask her anything!”
“Calm down, Midnight. What’d she say?”
“She said Muffin looks pretty. I didn’t ask her anything, she just said Muffin looks pretty! Ever since I let her have that kitten, she’s changed. She’s getting better at talking, she seems calmer, she even starts playing with it! She never did anything, other than just sitting around! And now she’s talking! She’s talking, Cloudwatcher! Like, actual conversation talking! ” Midnight Melody rambled.
Mommy was talking to the funny man. Her cheeks looked shiny again. Derpy sat on the floor with the box she had to put the shapes in. The funny man didn’t say anything for a while. Then, suddenly, he asked if Derpy wanted to play with the box.
“Yes.” Derpy said.
“Alright then.” The funny man answered. He sat down in front of Derpy and grabbed one of the shapes, holding it out.
“Can you tell me what this is, Derpy?” he asked. Derpy reached out and took the shape. She looked at it for a couple seconds.
“Square.” She said.
“That’s right! Good job! Now, how about this one?” the funny man said, as he chose another shape. Derpy took it again, and stared at it for a few moments. She touched the edges of the shape, and saw it in her head.
“Star.”
“You’re absolutely right, Derpy! Okay, one more, alright?” the funny man asked. Derpy thought for a moment. One… One wasn’t that much. She nodded. The funny man took another shape, and once again handed it to Derpy. She took it out of his hoof and looked at it for a moment. She touched the edges for a while, waiting for the shape in her head to finish. It had four lines, two long ones and two short ones. It kind of looked like a square, but it wasn’t.
“Not square.” She said. The funny man said it wasn’t a square indeed. Derpy played with the image in her mind for a bit longer, until she remembered.
“A rectangle.” She said. The funny man didn’t answer for a few moments.
“Well done, Derpy! Well done! Okay, you can go play again now.” He eventually said. The funny man stood up and walked back to mommy.
“This is remarkable. How long has she had that kitten?” he asked.
“About a month now.” Mommy answered.
“And when did you first notice her behavior starting to change?”
“Three weeks ago. I came into the room, and instead of sitting around, she was playing with Muffin.” Mommy said.
“Muffin is pretty.” Derpy said. Mommy and the funny man didn’t answer.
“It’s not unprecedented for autistic foals to improve once they get a companion pet, but this is remarkably fast. And I’m sorry, but I’ve got another appointment. But, your daughter is exceptional, Midnight. She really is.”

Author's Note:

Well then, a short, yet significant chapter. I didn't really know what to do with this, but I think it turned out quite nice. As you'll probably realise by now, Muffin will play a significant part in the story.

In other news, I apologise for how long this chapter took. I've been crazy busy lately. Also, sorry it's so short - I'd have made it longer, but I simply don't have the time.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to let me know what you think, and feel free to message me if you have any ideas or suggestions for the story!

Oh, one more thing - I'm looking for someone who can proofread new chapters when I write them. I only need ONE person for this, so if any of you feel like you'd like to contribute, send me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

-A.S.

Comments

[Firebolt123]

the more i read this the more i love it thank you for making it

[Andrew Stillnight]

3401078 Awh, thanks! I'm glad you like it ^^

[Princess LightningChaser]

i'm autistic and when i talk you can barely get me to shut up. once, i laughed for an hour, the other girls in my cabin (i was at camp) tried to get me to be quiet with: stuffing a pillow over my mouth, giving me a few stuffed animals, yelling at me to be quiet, yammering to our counselor Mampi (mumpy, she's from India) to help them get me to shut up, dragging me to the other part of the cabin and getting their counselor to get me to be quiet, which that last part actually worked.