Diamond in Her Eye

Opalescence hopped onto the floor of the boutique she lived in, she found herself needing to sneak through the window again but the jump wasn’t that big. Though it did irritate her claws, as did walking, sitting, sleeping, just about anything. Those overgrown, extremely sharp talons just wouldn’t go away and leave her in peace.

Rarity would get them trimmed, buy her things to scratch that would keep them dull, and they would come right back. The trimming also had the side effect of being UNBEARABLE for the small white cat, and the toys unbelievably BORING to play with.

It had been a long boring night of meowing at Vendors for free food and scratching anything she could find. Nothing seemed to satisfy her claws anymore and it was beginning to affect her mood towards others.

‘I used to be such a lovely, kind kitty’ she mused, glancing at one of the many mirrors in the boutique. All she was now was an annoyed cat who felt nothing but dread when near others.

Suddenly something caught her dull green-yellow eyes in the mirror.

A giant....thing? Just sitting behind her in the reflection. It almost looked like a rock, but much larger than the ones she’d seen in town.

She turned to find that it was, in fact, a medium sized boulder. Just sitting there, in the boutique. ‘How in the?’ the small cat thought as she approached the rock, her claws began to dig into her paws with each step, begging for attention.

Reaching a paw out tentatively, curious to the sensations such an object could bring her sharp talons, she tested the waters.

And the water was GLORIOUS!

As her paw traced its way down the rock she found herself letting out a long mew in pleasure. ‘Oh my!’ she thought, embarrassed to her physical response.

But she couldn’t stop. Her paws wouldn’t let her.

The rock’s rugged exterior felt exquisite on her overgrown claws, each stroke gnawing them down and sending waves of joy and pleasure through the small feline.

Opalescence was so lost in the moment that she hadn’t noticed the hoofsteps behind her. “Opal, what are you doing to Tom, *Ahem*, I mean, that rock?”

‘So Tom is this glorious thing’s name?’ she thought as she relaxed from the minor fright of hearing her master’s voice.

“Come dear, you’ll grow dirty playing with such a thing. Let’s throw it out before it leaves a puddle of dirt on the floor.” Rarity said beginning the arduous task of pushing the boulder to the exit.

Opalescence reluctantly followed. She felt something she wasn’t familiar with as she followed her master. It was sadness, but much more pronounced, a longing of sorts? Slowly she began to realize that this ‘Tom’ had somehow stolen her ‘soft’ heart with his ‘rugged’, ‘rough’, downright ‘callous’ ways. The way he didn’t react to her marks, and the way his, unique physique felt to her. It was dreamy. He was truly the kind of man she wanted, and never knew she was interested in. The small white cat would not have this new feeling of love be removed so forcefully!

Opal jumped on the seamstress pony and began digging her dulled claws into her, leaving barely a scratch.

As the pony stopped her shrieks and realized the true extent of the damage being done to her she spoke, “Opal? Did you trim your claws?” she said as she stopped pushing the love of the feline’s life. She stared at the angry cat for a moment, then turned to ‘Tom’, then back before she put her idea of two and two together.

“So you finally found a toy you enjoy! Oh joy Opal, this is certainly good news! Fluttershy always said you might become more ‘pleasant’ with a toy you enjoyed... but why this rock?” she asked in vain as Opal simply resumed her ‘grooming’ on the rock’s surface.

Rarity sighed in defeat, “Well I might not understand but you may keep it if you like, but it stays in the back of the shop closet, are we understood?” Realizing the feline couldn’t possibly move the boulder she shrugged off a chuckle and began pushing it to its new residence.

As ‘Tom’ was placed in the closet, Opal found herself alone with him again. Approaching with a quiet, seductive mew she ran her bare paw down his surface before climbing up on the rock and laying down. She fell asleep happier than she had been in years, with a constant, small screeching sound from her claws unconsciously digging into her love.