"Aw, shoot." Lock Pick muttered, tossing his last cards to the mare in front of him. "If you tell me this game of 'War' wasn't rigged, you're lying."
Amulet gave him a pouting smile. "Sore loser." she said, then her smile faded slightly. "Well, at least I have somepony to lose to me, after all."
"Yeah, yeah." he groaned, leaning back in his seat precariously.
"This is only slightly surreal." she observed, shuffling the cards again.
"You tell me." the thief said.
"What?"
He raised an eyebrow, thoughtful. "What do you want from this?"
"You not throwing me away?" she asked, her face and voice flat.
"Kind of. More like . . . what do you want with life?" he asked, waving his hooves around grandly.
"Existing." she replied automatically.
"Yeah, but you need something to keep you going, y'know?" he said, shaking his head. He clearly wasn't getting the point he wanted across.
"Being here, having a body, talking with you - what makes you think I'm not happy?" she said, tapping her chin slowly.
"Long term. You know, what're we gonna do when wake up? Try and rob another bank?" he asked, rolling his eyes. "Because we both know of well that worked out for us last time."
"Well . . ." Amulet trailed off.
"Celestia'd be on us in moments." he stated firmly.
"I dunno, knock down old ladies as they cross the street?" he wondered aloud, disturbingly seriously.
He gave her a pointed look. "No."
She huffed. "Fine. I can't help it, you know."
"Being flippantly cruel?" he asked.
"Kind of. It's the whole reason I exist, remember?" she reminded him with a sigh. "I honestly don't care for it anymore, but it's like being sociable for ponies. It's just part of my nature."
"Knocking down old ladies?"
"I'm dark magic with a voice. My solutions are impulsively hurtful, but my conscious thinking's just fine." she said sadly.
He nodded. "I see . . ."
"So." She said, clearly uncomfortable with the direction their conversation was taking. "About these goals . . ."
He glanced outside the window at the shifting expanse of the dreamscape. After a few moments, he turned back to her with new resolve in his eyes. "Can you describe picking this up?" he asked, nudging a stack of playing cards over to her.
She lifted up the stack cautiously, and stared at him expectantly. "What, am I doing something wrong?"
"What do you feel?" he repeated.
"Uh . . ." she trailed off, awkwardly running a hoof through her mane.
"Even here," he picked up a card of his own, "I feel it. Everything! Every inch of my skin feels."
Amulet nodded slowly, then punched herself in the face. "I felt that." she deadpanned.
"Yeah, but . . ."
"But what?"
"I can't help but feel you're missing out on so much." he said in an almost confessional tone of voice. "Being a disembodied voice in my head, after all."
"I feel everything you feel." she said after a long pause. "I'm not hopelessly naive."
"Oh." Lock Pick said more than a little dejectedly. "Wait . . . though . . . augh, it's hopeless."
"Spit it out." Amulet ordered. "You've been beating around the bush so long there must be a mile-wide wasteland around it."
"I was going to help find you a body." he said.
Amulet's eyes actually widened at that bombshell. She opened her mouth, then closed it before she could speak.
"I know, pretty stupid right?" the thief sighed. "If we see an old lady on the street, then . . ."
"No. Nononono." she stammered. "That's really, really nice of you."
He raised an eyebrow.
Shaking her head, she continued, "I mean, why'd you want to do that for me? We just got acquainted a day ago."
"You say you fear not existing, and you can't move!" Lock Pick exclaimed, surprised at the vigor evident in his voice. "You can't do anything without others, and you're being hunted down because of something you had no control over!"
". . . and?"
"I- well, no thinking thing, pony or amulet, should have to go through that. I guess finding a way to give you a body was a pretty stupid solution, but I digress. I'm not the best planner." he explained.
That seemed kind of weak. He's hiding something.
When he gave her a pointed look, she blushed and turned away. "I guess mind-reading works both ways." she muttered.
"No, no." he said hurriedly. "So, what do you think?"
He's hiding something.
An uncomfortable silence passed between them, before Amulet slowly smiled and got up from her chair. "Murky motives aside, this is the nicest thing anypony's done for me."
"Even Sombra, for creating you?" Lock Pick asked, getting up as well.
She responded by suddenly rushing forwards and embracing the earth pony. Even in the hazy world of his dreamscape, it was a pleasant feeling. He hugged back, glad he wasn't an absolute fool for his efforts. This time. Oh, mom . . .
Amulet didn't seem to notice that last thought, though. "Sometimes I used to curse him for doing that." she whispered softly. "Well, not anymore."
~
In the clearing, the thief woke up, and sprung to his hooves immediately. He started for the city vaguely visible through the trees, with a tangible sense of purpose in his step.
A broad grin was on his face.