//------------------------------//
// The Eye of Rarity 
// Story: Oh no, they're Goddesses now! 
// by James Pwyll 
//------------------------------//

"I swear, those mortals down there are getting more and more disrespectful by the day! Attendances at the festivals have been plummeting, the number of prayers I've had to answer have been totally lacking in any kind of proper etiquette, and don't even get me started on how many youths try to use our statues as just 'places to hang out'. Ugh! What a world!" Rarity was, as her tone probably gave away, rather upset right now, and not even sipping on her usual-calming tea was enough to get her out of it. Sitting there, at the edge of her cloud, looking down to the mortal world, the Goddess really was quite miffed, so it was something of a relief for her when, to her slight surprise, Fluttershy walked alongside her to sit and give her some company. She smiled, though it faded again as she looked to the Earth. "Don't you ever feel disappointed in them, Fluttershy? It really does feel like they just don't love us like they're supposed to."

Fluttershy smiled to her, reaching out and patting her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Rarity. These things come and go. I remember my Mother telling me about how she used to feel unappreciated in her time too. But then centuries passed and people eventually started respecting her again."

Rarity grimaced. "I don't want to have to wait centuries, Fluttershy! I want them to respect us now!" She set her cup aside, standing tall and pointing down to the mortal world in fury. "You know what? I should go down there right now and give those mortals a piece of my mind! Why, just the other day I saw one of them use one of our statues as a place to tie up one end of their clothes' lines! Can you believe it?!"

Fluttershy, still sitting, gestured to that same world. "We can't just go around causing problems for the mortals, Rarity. You heard Lady Celestia. There's been too much of our kind going down there and messing things up for people."

Rarity looked insulted by her words. "But...but...what about Spikey-Wikey?! Didn't he take down an entire ship of people only last week?!"

Fluttershy arched an eyebrow. "Rarity...they were pirates...who had just raided a whole town...and were planning on selling Spike. I'd say he was well within his rights to give them a strict talking to."

This time it was Rarity's turn to look incredulous. "A strict talking to? Is that what we're calling that kind of punishment now?"

Looking away, Fluttershy started twirling some of her long pink hair in one finger. "The point is that we can't just go down there and cause havoc because we're a little annoyed by them. And I'd say smiting because of a casual use of statues is going overboard, don't you?"

Folding her arms, Rarity let out a huff. "Hmph! I should've turned that woman into a spider while I had the chance!" Then she sighed, looking at least a little bit better. "I suppose...it would be rather excessive for me to just act vengeful right now." Then, after pausing for a good long while, the Goddess started to ponder her situation, tapping the end of her chin. "Fluttershy...the word is that we Goddesses aren't allowed to actively go against mortals, yes?"

Fluttershy glanced to her, her eyebrow still kept up high, just in case. "...Yes?"

Nodding slowly, a small smile formed on Rarity's lips. "Did Celestia ever say anything about us getting someone else to go against them?"

Fluttershy, upon hearing that, took a deep breath before sighing. "This is going to end badly, isn't it?"

Rarity looked to her. "No, it's perfect! We get some other person to convince mortals to respect us more, and we get to avoid accusations of having broken the rules!"

As before, Fluttershy looked unconvinced. "Sounds like a distinction without a difference."

Rarity waved her off. "Oh please, like I'd be the first person to get what I want on a technicality." Then she started to think again. "Now then...I can't ask other Gods to do this, because that would be breaking the rules again, and I can't ask anyone among the mortals to do it because, well, they're the ones we're trying to change. I could maybe ask one of the magical beasts, but they're not exactly in my pocket right now." After a while, she let out a sigh of her own. "Well, looks like there's no choice. I'll have to make one myself."

Fluttershy stared at her. "You're...going to make a beast?"

Standing tall, Rarity placed her hands upon her hips and nodded firmly. "It's the only option I've got! Now then..." She grimaced as one hand reached up top her own face. "If I remember the old lessons, this is going to take...some drastic measures."

Fluttershy winced as she saw what her friend was about to do, and with a loud "pop" she watched as Rarity pulled out her own right eye. As she looked to her fellow Goddess hold her now-dismembered body part in her own hand, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel queasy. "And people wonder why we divines seem so odd to mortals sometimes."

Then Rarity, with a snap of her free hand, immediately conjured a brand new eye in her empty socket, replacing the one she'd taken out. After blinking a couple of times to make sure it was in there properly, she looked down to Fluttershy, who looked back to her with confusion, prompting a shrug on Rarity's part. "What? You didn't think I was going to go without both of my beautiful eyes for the rest of my life, did you?" After seeing Fluttershy give a disapproving shake of her head, Rarity looked to her other eye, in her hand. "Okay, let's see if I can do this." Placing her other hand upon it, she began to channel her divine energies into it. Concentrating hard, she watched as the eye began to glow, floating out of her hand and some distance in front of her. "It's...it's working!"

Fluttershy sighed again. "Yes...that's what I'm afraid of."

The glow on the eye grew brighter and brighter, and within moments there was a massive flash, prompting both Goddesses to shield their eyes. When the light faded, and they looked on at where the eye had been, they instead saw a very memorable sight. At first glance, the figure before them had the shape of a human, a woman specifically, clad in garb similar to the two of them. But upon closer inspection, it was clear that her features were closer to that of a cat than a human. A tail, pointed ears, claws, and most importantly, a pair of piercing green eyes, which narrowed with fury. "I am Opalescence! Brought forth to the world to enact punishment upon those who would dare show disrespect to my creator and her ilk!"

Blinking in disbelief a couple of times, Rarity soon clapped her hands together merrily. "Oh, how delightful! Now then, go on down there and tell the humans as clearly as you can that they need to start showing us our due deference."

Opalescence's claws grew sharper, and she grinned wickedly. "With...pleasure."

The two Goddesses watched as she darted downwards, straight for the mortal world, and after seeing her go, Rarity took on a satisfied smile. "Well then, I'd say it won't be long now before those silly mortals start behaving properly."

Fluttershy looked to her with her incredulity growing by the moment. "Rarity...you don't see anything potentially, um, dangerous about what you just unleashed down there, do you?"

Like before, Rarity waved her off. "Oh pish, darling. There's nothing at all controversial about my choice here. As soon as the mortals see how serious we are about their recent poor attitudes, I'm sure they'll turn things around immediately." Then, to the shock of both of them, they began to hear a number of screams from down below, causing them both to look down to the mortal realm yet again. "What's going on down there?!" Rarity demanded to know.

Fluttershy, looking down herself, gulped. "If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say it's the mortals realising how 'serious' you're being?"

Slowly, and after watching more of what was going on down there, Rarity's eyes widened. "...I've made a huge mistake, haven't I?"

A firm nod from Fluttershy. "Oh yeah."

With a quick snap of her fingers, Rarity magically called Opalescence back to her, and naturally the latter looked a little irritated at being back here so quickly. "...What?" She asked with an annoyed tone.

Sighing, Rarity put on her most calm and reasoned voice. "Opal, dearest...I think you might be going a touch too far."

Folding her arms, Opalescence arched an eyebrow. "What? You wanted respect, so I made it clear that bad thing were gonna happen to them if they didn't give you that."

Rarity nodded. "Yes, yes, you did do that...but I couldn't help but notice that your methods included setting fire to one of their houses, and then grabbing onto a random mortal as they ran to escape before lifting him up in preparation to eat him!"

Opalescence frowned. "Yeah...and you brought me here before I could do that." She grumbled afterwards. "And I was hungry too."

Seeing this, Rarity slowly looked to Fluttershy. "Okay...you can say it."

Folding her own arms, Fluttershy took on a look of satisfaction. "You dun goofed."

Rarity groaned. "Yep, there it is." Rubbing her temples, she sighed again. "You know what, this was a bad call. I need to fix this."

Seeing her raise her fingers a second time, Opalescence started to look worried. "Wait, what?"

Then the snap came, and after a bright flash of light, the once-imposing feline lady was now nothing more than a small and fluffy white cat, with no unusual traits whatsoever, save for the look of perpetual irritation she now had. Rarity, picking her up, smiled to her. "Oh, don't you worry, Opal. Rarity's going to take good care of you."

Opal hissed, prompting a sceptical look on Fluttershy's part. "I think you'll need to keep an eye on her, just in case."

Rarity nodded. "Oh, certainly. I just hope Lady Celestia doesn't find out about this."

"Do you honestly believe there was a chance I wouldn't?" a familiar voice said to the two of them from behind.

If possible, Rarity's face turned even whiter, and after gulping with nervousness, she let her shoulders slump. "Well...let it never be said she's got a slow response time."