The Thief and the Amulet

by Imperaxum

Baby Steps

The thief jolted awake, stretching out his limbs. He felt good. Heck, he hadn't felt so refreshed from a few hours of sleep in years. What could have caused this?

He glanced down at the amulet hanging from his neck, the events of the previous night coming back to him. Or was it early morning? he thought whimsically. The stormy night hadn't given him any clues to the time.

For that matter, the storm was completely gone. Celestia's sun arched overhead, the pegasi shifting around a few wispy clouds for the perfect summer's sky. Canterlot itself seemed to gleam even brighter in the sun's glow, every last speck of grime washed off the alabaster walls and golden rooftops.

As he got to his hooves, he noticed he was standing a little crookedly. Belatedly he remembered spraining his ankle last night on a root. Shouldn't it be painful? No, it's not that bad.

Only somewhat reassured by the thought, he surveyed the lush clearing before turning his gaze back to Canterlot. What to do today? He doubted 'cloaked pony' was precise enough of a description for the Guard to find him - provided, of course, that the shop owner made good on his threat Unlikely. and the Guard cared enough to attempt a search for him. Even more unlikely, for a bunch of ceremonial warriors.

Then what? He couldn't just waltz into a shop in broad daylight and pluck something off the shelves, and he really didn't want to try and sell this amulet just yet . . .

He could rob a bank.

His eyes widened, and he stepped back involuntarily in horror at his own thought. Rob a bank? He was a thief, not a 'bank robber' in some Young Daring Do book. He stole things in the cover of darkness, ideally with no one the wiser; did he actually want to trot into a bank and demand money? At least, that was how the book robbers did it. Nopony had ever been mean enough to cause that much anguish in centuries, and he himself would be considered one of the darkest spectra of Equestrian society, a thief.

Really? another side of his mind asked. He wondered if he was imagining the shocked tone in that thought.

Hah, of course he was. It was a thought after all.

I mean, you don't even think of the coin? he realized, continuing the internal exclamation from earlier. Goodness, his mind had a mind of its own today!

Then he seriously considered what he was proposing to himself. A bank has an awful lot of bits...

But he might hurt somepony! This isn't breaking into an abandoned shop at midnight, this is walking in with a weapon and-

Just do it, you idiot!

He blinked.

Nopony will get hurt, I'm too nice for that.

Was he, though? And anyway, what if someone tries to stop me? What do I have, beside my experience in galloping away from a fight with an enraged shop owner?

I wish I had magic . . . he thought morosely, glancing down at a pebble on the ground.

Apparently flippantly, he imagined it levitating like he'd seen so many unicorns do easily.

To his complete and utter astonishment, the pebble was wreathed in an unnaturally solid purple haze, and rising off the ground. Levitation. The amulet made him magical. He grinned broadly.

If he'd seen a mirror at that instant, he would have been horrified at the sickly green glow in his eyes, and the purple mist flowing freely from them. All he really felt, though, was an abstract sense of accomplishment.

That was quickly exploited into overwhelming elation and dangerous confidence. And very little of it was actually his own . . .

He started back to the city.

~

East Bank was a relatively small establishment in the lowest level of Canterlot. Relative, of course, to the shining city it was in the shadow of. A few ponies milled about the entrance, but most with savings to alter trotted past it in favor of the Canterlot Royal Bank or another similarly prestigious place.

The thief walked inside, taking in the musty smell of parchments tacked on the walls, proud reminders of better times for East Bank. A happy earth pony mare stood behind the counter, talking with a unicorn stallion with some rather large saddlebags slung over his back. A couple of other tourists stood around, snapping pictures of the old documents.

See, it's not as bad as you imagined.

He nodded at his logic, and with a tiny seed of contentment morphing into a heady rush of brazen confidence, he stomped a hoof loudly on the ground.

When all eyes were turned to the cloaked pony, he yelled "This is a robbery! Get down!"

His confidence turned to very real anger when he realized nopony seemed especially concerned. A few disapproving looks were given, sure. That wasn't the same as cowering on the floor. What I'd give for a sword right now . . .

Before he could fully process that thought, the mare behind the counter sighed and said, "Alright, foal. Prank's over, go home."

"What?" he asked, before throwing back his hood and growling "You think this is some prank?"

His hooves moved before he could rationalize his anger, and he started stomping towards the clerk. Now ponies were backing away from him, wide-eyed. Finally, some fear.

"Dark magic!" the unicorn stallion hissed, reaching with practiced speed into his saddlebags - the thief was too focused to notice the purple mist flowing from his eyes.

"I'll show yo-" he began, before being knocked off his feet by a forceful shove and held down by a force too all-encompassing to be a pony.

The unicorn stallion, now clad in the Royal Guard armor that was in his saddlebags, stood protectively in front of the clerk. His horn glowed brightly, keeping the thief pinned to the ground with trained telekinesis. "Stay behind me." he told the mare reassuringly, who smiled at him lovingly. Huh, so that was why an off-duty warrior was in this small treasury . . .

All the confidence and anger evaporated in moments, leaving a panicked thief behind. He felt bits of rage nipping at the sides of his mind, but was too terrified at his horrible mistake to think of their origin.

You have magic!

With one trembling hoof, he pointed at a chair and thought very hard indeed. Sure enough, the chair was bathed in a purple mist. A second later he hurled it at the Guard, who raised a shield with commendable speed to bounce the projectile away.

A few of the spectators cheered.

The thief, however, had risen to his hooves in the absence of crushing magic, and now anger morphed into rage. He concentrated again, and again the purple mist appeared - right above the Guard and the clerk, in the ceiling. It cracked and buckled under the force, and finally gave way.

An avalanche of debris fell onto the two ponies, and the scene was obscured a moment later by choking dust.

For the second time in a minute, the thief's rage drained away. He gasped in horror at his deed, like every other pony in the room. What had he done? Run, you fool!

No! They might be hurt!

Why does it matter so much to you?!

Those thoughts came to a end as the dust cloud settled. Debris crumbled off of the shimmering magic bubble the unicorn had put up, and he and the clerk crouched safely inside. The ponies around the thief cheered again; he, for his part, felt a twang of relief.

The Guard then launched a large chunk of debris at him.

The thief became aware of his surroundings again when, shaking, he got to his hooves in the middle of the street. Searing pain in his midsection, he realized the force of the hit had blown him clear out of the bank.

To the protests of a part of his mind he was now extremely suspicious of, he took off down the street. Moments later, Princess Celestia gently landed in front of the bank, wondering, like half the city, what the great commotion was.

~

The thief stopped his gallop in the forests, bruised and cut from the fight. He was horrified, chastised, and scared - but all he considered was the accursed amulet around his neck. That was the thing that caused this.

That's not true.

His thoughts were not always his thoughts. Not since that amulet had gotten on him.

Lies.

Dark magic! How had he not appreciated the horror of what it is?

It's powerful, you knave!

Now the entire Guard would be after him! Searching for a pony with a ruby amulet and a cloak . . . he had to get rid of it.

You wouldn- I wouldn't dare. This is a mistake.

He reached for his neck, and froze a second later.

No! Please! Stop!

The voice was not his own.

Author's Note:

What's this, Imperaxum? An new chapter the day after your story goes online?

Yes. Written, proofread, and published today, no less.

In case you didn't know, readers, the deadline for the contest this fic is for is April 30th. Now, there'll probably be a small extension, but it'll be only a few more days at best. So, I've got to finish this pronto. All other pone work has been dropped in favor of speed-writing this, and lucky for you, it's Spring Vacation here in the USA for us students!

TL:DR, this fic is going to be updated very steadily, and perhaps a tad hastily.

Comments

[FashionablyHospitable]

Oooooh.

[metallusionsismagic]

Goodness, his mind had a mind of it's own today!

its
Get with the times, amulet! He knew it was a bad idea from the start, and turned out exactly that way.

[The Servant Archer]

Damn tools telling ponies what to do. This is why I like a revolver- it doesn't question, just point it and click the trigger and it goes boom...

[Imperaxum]

4290059 Shoot, I accidentally published that chapter in the middle of writing it. Unpublished a half-hour ago, though it seems followers can still access it :/

[TheNextGamer]

Can't wait for the romance part. How the heck is that gonna play out anyway? Dream sex? I wouldn't be surprised.