The Thief and the Amulet

by Imperaxum

Corporeal Form

Lock Pick the thief walked unsteadily through his dreamscape. He wasn't aware of this however; as most ponies are, he was ignorant to the incredible things that apparently happened to him there. His body flickered and warped from the lack of mental focus, as did the scenery around him.

He stared listlessly, plodding aimlessly ahead.

Then he saw it: a small log cabin in the distance. Impossible to miss, it was an island of tangible in the sea of formless. An anchor in his dream.

In his dream.

Dream.

He was dreaming.

That epiphany caused a wave of panic in his mind - and the dreamscape was his mind, after all. He glanced around in fear as the turbulent haze increased its convulsions in tempo, streaks of angry colors staining this way and that in impossible ways.

"Get in here!" a voice called. He whirled to the source, the figure of a pony standing in the doorway of the cabin barely visible through the maelstrom.

He wasted no time in sprinting for the cabin, his bodily features beginning to take solid form as he spared a brief look down at himself. Closing his eyes as the storm of his mind worsened, he tripped on the doorway and went sprawling inside. The other pony slammed the door shut a moment later, before helping him to his feet.

"Who are you?" he gasped, without looking up. "Is this really a dream?"

"The one and only." the mysterious pony said, doing a little curtsy. Lock Pick finally stopped wheezing long enough to take a look.

The unicorn mare was of almost oddly average build and height. Her coat was, as far as he could tell, completely white: yet there was something just out of his comprehension that stopped him from tacking a 'pure' before the color. It was . . . off. Like the rest of her palette.

Her light grey mane was mostly tied up into a knot, with two pins sticking out. The rest flopped lazily around her face, loosely combed to either side. Her tail hung down into curly tips, two distinct shapes separated by a small tie. Finally, a short black cape hung over her back and rear half, barely reaching down to her hind legs.

Her eyes were green.

". . . recognize me?" she asked with a soft smile.

"Let me think." he responded, putting a thoughtful hoof to his chin. "You're just some dream projection, but I can't remember ever seeing you before."

She laughed airily. "Oh, don't be so sure."

"Pardon?" he said, thoroughly confused by the whole situation by now.

"I wouldn't be surprised." she said in a comically deep voice, clearly mimicking somepony.

See you in your dreams!

I wouldn't be surprised . . .

Something clicked in the thief's mind. A bolt of thunder-less lightning flashed by the window. "Are you . . ."

The mare rolled her eyes. "I'm the amulet, dolt."

His eyes widened. "What, what? B-but you're a pony!" he stammered out, taking a step back.

She gave him a pointed look.

"This is weird," he began, before breaking out into a huge grin, "in an amazing way."

She nodded proudly. "Five-hundred years of work payed off."

Her voice was silvery, practically shimmering in the dreamscape.

"So. This is a first." he observed, trading stares with the amulet. Was that the correct term now?

"Yeah. It's nice to have somepony to share this place with." she said, gesturing around at the rustic surroundings.

"Seat?" he asked, pointing a hoof at a small table just below the window. Two rugged wooden chairs rested on either side of it.

She bobbed her head affirmatively, and the two silently sat down, sparing occasional glances at each other.

"I didn't expect this." Lock Pick confessed, breaking the silence. "I've never remember my dreams."

"You'd better remember this dream." she growled seriously, then brightened up. "I do love having a body, even if it's not actually real. Almost as much as existing."

"Yeah." he said, shaking his head. Noticing the concerned expression on the amulet's face, he explained, "I'm still just trying to come to terms with this."

"Liberating an amulet, unwittingly robbing a bank, fighting a Royal Guard, making an enemy of Princess Celestia . . ." she guessed, trailing off when the thief shook his head vigorously.

"No, no. I was talking about finding out an amulet I stole is sentient, having a conversation with her, and meeting her in a dream." he said, staring at her. "Not bad for a day's work."

"Let me take a shot in the dark." she said, flicking her mane back. "You don't get out that often?"

"I'm a thief. Being sociable isn't exactly one of the perks of my job." he muttered. "Anyway, I get out very often."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Get out from shops when angry owners come chasing after me swinging around the contents of their kitchen utensil cupboards." he said seriously.

The mare laughed heartily at that, and the thief's stoic expression broke quickly. The two laughed together, genuine smiles on their faces. A laugh of two creatures quite unused to laughing with another to share their joy.

"That's the first time I've laughed in a few hundred years." the amulet observed after their guffaws and quieted into mere giggles.

"I can't reme-" the thief stopped in mid-speech, his face frozen. The mare slowly turned to face where he was staring, the window.

Princess Celestia stood outside the window. She seemed just as surprised as the two criminals - other than her slightly disturbed expression.

Her horn glowed, and the alicorn disappeared.

Lock Pick blinked. "Did I just imagine that?" he asked, shaking slightly.

The mare waved away the memory breezily. "Probably just a mental projection of yours." she stated. "Cards?"

"Sure, Amulet." Lock Pick said, reaching over for the deck of cards lying on the shelf behind him.

"Amulet?" she asked with a bemused, yet not entirely displeased expression.

"You said it was a pretty name. I tend to agree." he said, shuffling the cards as best he could.

"That I did." Amulet admitted.

~

Celestia strolled out of the royal chambers, majestic and troubled.

Her sister trotted up excitedly. "Dearest sister! We managed to locate where the dark magician and Sombra's amulet went!" she exclaimed happily. "We're waiting for your word. Ohh, we haven't faced off with a villain in a thousand years!"

"No." the Princess of the Sun stated forcefully. "Not yet."

"Sister?" Luna asked, noticing Celestia's troubled face.

"Dark magic is not all that we think." Celestia said, turning to face her sister.

"Is it in our place to ask?" Luna said slowly.

"They were laughing. Laughing with not a trace of malice." Celestia said softly. "I have some thinking to do."

Author's Note:

Amulet:

Luna's not the only one that can enter dreams, if it's absolutely necessary. At least in my head-canon.

Comments

[Tehonepony]

The power of the comic relief shows itself! And they called me mad for my faith...

[metallusionsismagic]

". . . recognize me?"

Capitalize

"Five-hundred years of work payed off."

paid

"I've never remember my dreams."

remembered, or "I never remember"
Does Amulet visualize herself as a young or old mare?

[Raistlin]

So, in Equestria is mandatory true villains have evil laughs. The lack of them means something is off.

[djthomp]

Great take on the guard and on Celestia. It's always nice to see the guard not portrayed as complete incompetents, and I'm happy to see that Celestia is taking the time to think over the situation.

[Blackfoot]

I certainly hope this isn't dead, it was just getting interesting