//------------------------------//
// chapter 4 forgiveness 
// Story: Once Upon a Youth and Beauty 
// by jenna131 
//------------------------------//

	After a long search for Chime Tuner, Twilight was about to give up when all of the sudden, she heard a sniff. She looked in the bushes to see Chime Tuner covered in moss and sap, crying.
“I’m sorry little sis I’m so sorry,” he cried. 
There was a silence. Before Twilight spoke, she heard Chime Tuner sing a little song:
Beautiful girl, 
How I love my pretty 
Beautiful girl 
Love my little flutters
I’m in a whirl 
Over my beautiful girl.
After the song, Twilight cleared her throat.
“So, you do love your little sister,” Twilight broke the silence.
Chime Tuner didn’t even flinch, but just nodded.
“Then why the whole ‘mean colt’ act?”
Chime tuner sat up.
“Because I was scared,” He answered.
“Scared of what? I want the whole story.”
“I was once a weak and vulnerable colt,” He began, “I didn’t know how to stand up for myself. But I did stand up for my little sister. I told her that whatever they said is just not true. I even convinced myself of that. That one day, the very day that still haunts me… I believed them… I believed that if I stood up for fillies, then I was just a weak and venerable colt. I wanted to be strong, so I bulled and teased every girl that I could; even my little sister, one of the only friends I knew from birth.”
Chime tuner cried, making his story difficult to continue. 
“I moved to my uncle’s house to become a music apprentice. I was still 10, almost 11, but that’s not the point.” 
Chime Tuner began to wail very loudly. 
“I could not stand to see my little sister in pain and agony, so I moved away… After the years went by, I missed her,” 
He began to smile a bit at the words. 
“I wanted to see her. I wanted to hug her. I wanted her to love her big brother… But I was so scared that if she found out the truth about our past she would be upset with me. So I kept the ‘bad colt’ act…” 
He frowned. 
“But now I see I caused her pain and misery… again.” 
After the story, Chime Tuner began to sing the song Fluttershy sang, but differently:
“When Fluttershy loved me
Everything was beautiful
Every hour we spent together
Lives within my heart
And when she was sad
I was there to dry her tears
And when she was happy, so was I
When she loved me
Through the summer and the fall
We had each other, that was all
Just she and I together
Like it was meant to be
And when she was lonely
I was there to comfort her
And I knew that she loved me
So the years went by
She stayed the same
But I began to drift away
She was left alone
Then, I waited when I’d say
That I’d say
‘I will always love you’
Lonely and forgotten
Never thought she'd look my way
And she smiled at me and loved me
Just like she used to do
Like she loved me
When she loved me
When Fluttershy loved me
Everything was beautiful
Every hour, we spent together
Lives within my heart
When she loved me” 
Twilight was never expecting a story such like that. She smiled.
“You know what? I think she will do if you told her the truth…”
“What?” Chime Tuner said with astonishment.
“She will probably smack you first, but then she would hug you and to never leave her again.”
“But what if-”
“No excuses.” Twilight interrupted. 
Chime Tuner sighed.
“…Okay.”
“Good. Now shall we get going?” 
“Sure.”
~*~
“WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?!” Rarity exclaimed at the sight of Chime Tuner.
“Calm down, Rarity,” Twilight said softly.
“CALM DOWN?! HOW CAN WE CALM DOWN?! HE MADE FLUTTERSHY CRY!!” Apple Jack argued.
“Well maybe you didn’t hear Chime Tuner’s side of the story,” Twilight explained.
“We’re listening,” Rainbow Dash answered.
“Go ahead,” Twilight encouraged Chime Tuner.
~*~
Once hearing the story, there was a silence in the room. All of the ponies could not believe it.
“So…What now?” Apple Jack asked.
“I guess I need to face my fear,” Chime Tuner answered. “I guess I better talk to her.”
~*~
Fluttershy cried for what seemed hours. She thought to herself if he really meant what he said, not knowing if I could be true.
“Oh how I miss my real big brother,” Fluttershy whispered as she sobbed. 
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and she heard her brother’s voice.
“Fluttershy, can I come in?” He asked quietly.
Fluttershy was silent for a minute. 
“What do you want?” she asked.
Chime Tuner paused for a minute, not knowing what to say. He came up with idea.
“I want to tell you the truth,” Chime Tuner answered. 
There was nothing but silence. Finally, the door opened a crack.
“I’m listening.” 
Fluttershy was still unsure if she made the right choice or not.
~*~
“Is it her? Is it the one she spoke of?” A dark voice whispered.
“We will not know until she passes the test,” A squeaky voice answered.
“Shh!! Quiet!! I’m trying to listen!!” Another dark voice whispered sharply.
~*~
After the story, Fluttershy had quickly struck him on the cheek.
“What was that-!!!” Chime Tuner exclaimed.
He was interrupted to her embracing him in a hug.
“Oh Chime Tuner!!” She cried. “How much you’ve gown!! And yet… you have so much to learn…”
And from that moment on, he knew that she had not abandoned him; instead she tried to welcome him with open arms.
~*~
Out the window, there were the 3 dark shadows that was spying on the 2 ponies. They had seen them embracing one another. They had heard everything that was conversed.
The 3 shadows smiled wickedly.
“She is the one…Now we must tell the Mistress,” they said in unison.