A prison cell has a funny way of making you look back on the choices you've made in life.

If you asked me now why I did it, I probably couldn't tell you.

Then again, hindsight being what it is, it seems like one long string of "it was a good idea at the time" moments.

But if ever there was one choice that marked a big, bright, red line in my life that divided everything that happened before and everything that happened after, it was that one moment, that one day, at the road leading out of Sweet Apple Acres, that I turned right, instead of left. It was as much of a literal fork in the road as well as my life.

"So why'd you do it?" she asked, sitting across from me on the train. She was a pegasus of rather plain appearance. Her fur was the color of dark charcoal, with a sheen to it that could make it look jet-black in the right lighting. Or lack there-of. Her mane and tail were a dull, grey-ish shade of blue, almost like the color of old, worn denim. Her eyes though! Her eyes were a piercing viridian hue. The were alight with the flame of an ambition I had never know myself. Her cutie mark was a simple fern. She called herself Sweet Leaf.

We were the only two still sitting up in the observation cab that late at night on the northbound Crystal Empire Express. The rest of the occupants were asleep either in their sleeper cabs or down in their coach seating. The barren wastelands of the Frozen North whisked by outside. But for the flurry of snow, the flat white land seemed motionless, unchanging in appearance as we passed.

"Don?"

"What?" I asked, shaken from my daydreaming.

"Why did you leave the farm?" she clarified. "From what you've been telling me, it sounded like you had a nice life there. Family. Friends. Three square meals and a roof over you. Why leave all that?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," I told her, as honest of an answer as I could offer. "I don't know. I'm just not a farmer. With Applejack and Big Macintosh getting older, Apple Bloom taking over the family business, I just-" I sighed. "I just wanted to do something more than heavy lifting and kicking trees. I just needed... something."

"What did you need?" she asked. I leaned back and put the back of my head against the window. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, admitting at last, out loud, what had been gnawing at me all these years.

"I needed to feel alive. I just wanted to do something outrageous. It's just that there is so much that I wanted to do with this life and it's like I haven't done any of it working on that damn farm. And I just wanted to be able to look back and say 'see!? I did that! I was reckless and I was wild and I bucking did it'!" I huffed, feeling myself sweat from the outburst. She leaned back in her seat, contemplating my words, seemingly satisfied with my answer.

"Is it because you were adopted?" She asked.

"I don't know. Maybe," I said. "The way Applejack tells it, I showed up on her doorstep one day at the hooves of somepony telling her to look after me. Telling her that I'm 'important'."

"Your father?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"The pony that delivered you to Applejack. Was it your father?"

"No. But whoever it was, they knew who my parents were. Or are."

"What do you mean?"

"I asked Applejack if she knew who my parents were. She said that she did, and that they are still alive, but she swore a promise to never tell me. That it would be 'revealed to me when the time was right'," I said, making grand gestures in the air with my hooves. "Well it's been over eighteen years. I've waited long enough."

"Is that why you agreed to this?" she asked. I shrugged.

"I always wanted to get enough bits to hire a private investigator to find out who my parents are. I figure I'll have enough bits from this to be able to do just that."

"Just that?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "Half of this take will be enough to buy an entire P.I. firm!"

"I'm not just in this for the money, Sweets. I'm not greedy. I just want to take what I need after we sell it and go my own way."

"Fair enough I suppose," she smiled. A sliver of light crested the window. It was not the sun. Spires of crystal and light rose from the horizon, shimmering in pale white, pink, and blue lights.

"The Crystal Empire," she breathed.

"Wow. I've never seen anything like it," I said. She gathered up her bag, opening it and putting on layers of clothing. I opened my bag and did the same, covering everything except my eyes, saving that for the goggles. The border of the empire neared. It was the point of no return.

"Are you ready? she asked. I nodded. She turned and kicked out the large window. Instantly the arctic air blasted into the warm cabin, screaming in icy fury. "GO!" I jumped out of the window. She jumped out right behind me. We both tumbled into the drifts of snow as the train sped away, leaving us out in the cold open.

"We better get moving. There are things out here that we really don't want to run into after dark," she warned.

"What kind of things?"

"I'd rather not find out. Come on!" She cantered toward the light of the Empire, running parallel to the train tracks. But the deep snow and the wind was not making it easy for either of us.

As we neared the magical barrier surrounding the city, she veered away from where the train tracks entered, opting for an entrance into an area less guarded, less well-lit. Jumping through, it was like a portal to another part of the world entirely. It was an instant change from stabbing-cold, sub-zero arctic winds, to a calm, temperate pasture. The deafening howl of the wind was muted by the barrier. Inside was silent but for the distant sound of the train arriving at the station and the labored breathing of Sweet Leaf and myself.

For all of the light that the city seemed to be emitting out into the frozen wastes, inside the barrier it was clearly night. The spire of the Crystal Palace gave off soft waves of ethereal color into the sky, helping light the way between the few street lights as we ran through the city.

"So what do we do once we steal it?" I asked, running beside her.

"Once we have the Crystal Heart, we can do whatever we want with it. Sell it on the black market, heck, even ransom it back to the Empire. In any case, we'll be set for life!" Beyond that, there wasn't much for conversation between us, neither wanting to spare our breath during the run. It was a long trek to the center of the empire on hoof. But time was on our side. The nights lasted a long time this far north. But eventually we arrived at our destination.

The Crystal Palace was a massive spire above the surrounding city, perched up on four supporting legs. We each huddled behind a house near the palace, surveying the area. The Crystal Heart spun, suspended in mid air, between spires above and below it, beneath the palace.

"If it's so valuable, why leave it out in the open like that?" I asked. Indeed, where it hovered and spun it was barely a pony's height off of the ground, where anypony could just grab it.

"Shh!" Sweet Leaf said nothing else, crouched, scanning the area methodically with her vivid-green eyes. No sign of any guards. No indication at all of any protective measures whatsoever. Just run up and grab it. It really looked as easy as that to us both. But you know what they say about something that seems too good to be true.

"Wait here," she said. I stayed put and watched as she casually strolled out into the open. Her eyes darted all around, looking for any sign of guards. Nothing. She casually walked beneath the palace, past the massive crystal legs supporting it. Nothing. No alarm. Nothing at all. She walked past the spinning Crystal Heart, making an 'oh, shoot' motion with her hoof, for any here-to-unseen suspecting guards looking on. She turned back around, passing even nearer to the Heart, reaching out, waving her hoof incredibly close, above and below it. Nothing still. She trotted back to my location.

"Looks like it's all clear," she said. "Now, just like we planned; grab it and we'll run back to the train station."

"Right." I walked out into the open area under the palace. It wasn't an overly complicated plan. Just a simple smash-and-grab. We'd both be out of there before anypony even knew it was gone. I walked past it a little ways and turned around, going into a sprint to grab it as I ran. I snatched it from between the two spires as I passed.

By the stars and stones! It was like somepony had pulled the plug on the entire city! The colors pulsing from the top of the palace blinked out and everything went dark. Which would have been helpful for our escape but for one little detail. The Crystal Heart was glowing brightly in my hooves. It shone out like a beacon as the blare of alarm horns began to rise up all around me. I peered into the darkness to find Sweet Leaf, but I was blinded by the light of the heart. I tried to run in what I took to be the right direction.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!" came the gruff voice of a crystal guardspony, punctuated by the thud of a very solid baton to the back of my head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJNHn4e2NiI