Ripple walked slowly along the winding gravel paths through the towering trees of Central Park. The air was cool and thick with the salty ocean; the aroma of clams and land-stranded underwater life was strong. The moon was high in the clear and starry sky shining down on the crashing waves, and the wind that brought the waves continued past the shoreline to make the surrounding bushes and trees shiver. But each of Ripple's crunching hoofsteps were the only things that she heard.
The park was teeming with small critters and plant life; an ever-busy ecosystem of lively nature, but the familiar sounds of birds and bees that Ripple loved so much were dimmed to inaudible levels. Her head seemed to drown out everything but her steps and her somber thoughts. Even the other few ponies around at the nightly hour were mute when they strolled on by waving and mouthing a friendly 'hello'.
Any other day, Ripple would greet each and every pony back. She was well known in the area, and well-loved by all who met her. Many months of strolling through the park and singing her gleeful songs had gained her many friends-- who all seemed to pass on by without notice of her newfound misery.
A voice echoes within her mind "You shouldn't have ever left. We warned you about your ambitions, but you were too caught up in your foolishness." It was the soft and caring voice of her mother, though it was stripped of its warm and welcoming appeal. "I don't know what to think, Ripple. I am very disappointed in you."
Ripple choked on a sob as springing tears began to accumulate in her eyes. She could not think of a response for the hollow sound of her mother; Ripple feared what she would say if she did respond, and what she would if she didn't. Ripple wanted to run away from her mother more than anything, but what was the point in running from her own thoughts?
Before she could make a decision, another voice rang in Ripple's head. It was strong and booming; the voice of a great leader, her father. The hearty laughter was not heard, and she knew he would not be smiling. "Never before have I been this disappointed in anyone, Ripple. You abandoned your responsibilities and your family for nothing more than a glimmer of a dream. You should have foreseen these consequences, but now you have to live with them."
"I-I didn't mean to--!" Ripple cut herself short, realizing that she was shouting out to nopony. Tears were streaming down her face uncontrollably now, and her sobs began to hurt. "It wasn't my fault..." she whimpered to herself.
It had only been a few hours since she received the news that changed her life, and only a few hours more since she made that one wrong decision. Everything before had been going perfectly, and if it wasn't for that single choice, Ripple knew that her dreams would have come true. But that was gone now, as well as her best friend.
Ripple never sang one of her joyful melodies that night; nothing but a lonely and spiritless dirge when her sobbing subsided enough to breathe properly again. She spent the rest of the night beside the ocean upon green, mossy rocks. The tide slowly came in until she could see the dim and distorted reflection of herself with bright waving patches of the moon.
"Please, forgive me..." The young mare choked one last time as a lonely tear fell into the water with a small drip and ripple.
