Money Don't Buy Love

by Pony Professor

The Confession

“Is that another one?” Apple Bloom walked up to Sweetie Belle at her desk, where the little unicorn handled a small, intricately wrapped gift that must have been placed there sometime during recess.

Sweetie Belle nodded, “Yeah, and it’s the same as the other times. Fancy paper, perfume on the bow, and a tag that says nothing but ‘To Sweetie Belle’ with a heart next to it.”

“I’d say this was really sweet if whoever’s been leaving all these presents would just tell you who they are,” Apple Bloom said.

“You got a present again?” Scootaloo joined the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders after putting away the sports equipment she had been using at recess. “At this point, it’s getting kind of creepy.”

“Yeah, and no doubt whatever’s inside it is pretty pricey like the other five. It’s a shame they’re just wasting bits with all this,” Sweetie Belle said. The three fillies’ conversation was interrupted by their classmate, Diamond Tiara, giving an incredibly audible sigh after she sat at her desk and buried her head in her hooves.

“She’s… adjusting,” Scootaloo shrugged.

It wasn’t that long ago that Diamond Tiara was a constant source of stress for Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo. Ever since she got her cutie mark, she and her cohort, Silver Spoon, made it a point to hold the status of their flanks over those who had no cutie marks yet. The Crusaders were a favorite target of Diamond Tiara, but it was only during the most recent class election for student-pony president that she admitted she only picked on them because she was jealous that their future seemed to be open and bright while she was seemingly stuck in a destiny she never wanted.

Now that the Crusaders had their cutie marks and Diamond Tiara was working to become a better pony, the relationship between the two factions was growing more amicable. Diamond Tiara would still occasionally let out a snide remark or voice her displeasure at something one of the Crusaders did, but she was rather quick to retract such comments and apologize. The Crusaders understood, though, that it often takes a while for a pony to change because old habits tend to die hard.

Sweetie Belle kept her present levitated in front of her the entire way home from school. She was half-navigating, half-racking her brain as to who her mysterious admirer could be. Thanks to her divided attention, she smacked her face right into the door of Carousel Boutique, eliciting a small squeak of pain.

“Yes, I’m coming,” a voice came from the other side of the door. Sweetie Belle’s older sister and the owner of the fine clothing establishment, Rarity, opened the door. Her face quickly switched from disappointment that her sibling was not a customer to a pleasant welcoming smile.

“Oh, Sweetie, you’re home,” Rarity said. She was about to return to her business when Sweetie Belle’s present caught her eye. “Sweetie, darling, is that another gift from your paramour du mystique? They seem to be quite taken with you.”

Sweetie sighed, “Yeah, but I’m getting sort of worried. What if it’s not one of my classmates and is just some creepy Ponyville resident who’s a little too into little fillies?”

“Now, don’t talk like that, Sweetums. Ponyville is a very safe town—world-ending disasters notwithstanding—and I’m sure whatever filly or colt is leaving you these gifts is just a bit shy. Perhaps you should start asking around to clear all this up. Best case scenario, I get to cook for your first ever special somepony!”

“And worst case scenario I end up as the subject of next fall’s season premiere of ‘Pony Victims Unit.’” Rarity rolled her eyes,

“Little sister, you’re getting all worked up over nothing. The best way to approach these things is to take them head on. No beating around the bush. Be straightforward and ask each of your classmates if they are the one behind your presents. Even if they lie, love shows through all and you will find out who is after you soon enough. Er, after you romantically, of course.”

The next day, Sweetie Belle heeded Rarity’s advice.

“What? Do I look like I have the kind of bits to be dropping on gold necklaces and gourmet chocolate all the way from Trottingham?” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow, “Plus, we’re just friends, Sweetie Belle. I’m not into you like that.” Scootaloo was among the last of Sweetie’s classmates that she interrogated the next morning before school as to who was responsible for all her gifts. She figured she’d save the least obvious for last. She turned to Apple Bloom, who put a hoof up and gave her signature look of dismissive sass,

“No,” Apple Bloom’s country twang rang strong in that single word. Right, so it wasn’t Apple Bloom.

Sweetie Belle had gone through almost every single one of her classmates, but everypony vehemently denied being the one behind Sweetie Belle’s mysterious presents. The severity of some of the denials stung just a little bit. She surveyed the classroom to see if there was anypony she might have missed. She spotted Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon coming in. Sweetie’s stomach flipped. Nopony was absent today. They were the last two she had to ask. But… one of them? Could one of her former bullies really be her secret admirer? If it turned out Silver Spoon or Diamond Tiara had a crush on her that would mean… Well, Sweetie Belle didn’t know what it would mean, but she was nervous as all Tartarus about it.

She decided to ask the less antagonizing filly first,

“Hey, Silver Spoon, you know those presents I’ve been getting lately?” A slight, sly smile crept its way across Silver Spoon’s face,

“Yes, what about them?” she asked. Her voice was saccharine. It was the kind of tone Sweetie was used to hearing when Silver would sarcastically mock her and her friends. This off-put Sweetie a little bit. But Diamond Tiara wasn’t the only one who got a behavioral wake-up call back during the school election. Sweetie and the Crusaders learned that Silver Spoon’s sweetness could actually be genuine—it just took a little getting used to.

“You, uh, wouldn’t happen to be the one leaving them for me, would you?” The gray earth pony giggled and waved her hoof,

“Oh, I’m flattered that you think it might be me, but it’s not. Trust me, when I like somepony, they’re going to know they’ve got my attention,” she turned to her cohort, who was trying extra hard to stuff her saddlebags into her designated cubby for the ninth time. Her entire head seemed to be dyeing a deeper shade of pink than normal. “I can’t say the same for everypony, though,” Silver subtly pointed her hoof over her shoulder at her friend.

“You mean…” Sweetie wanted to ask Silver Spoon more, but she had already retreated to her desk, although she looked on as if she were about to watch a show. Sweetie Belle gulped. Her heart began pounding hard as she approached Diamond Tiara, who was still facing away from her—and still blushing intensely. She was mumbling something under her breath.

“Should’ve… sooner… dumb Crusader…” Diamond was grunting her sentences. Sweetie only heard some words.

“Um, Diamond Tiara?” Sweetie Belle tapped her on the shoulder. Diamond jerked with surprise, but didn’t turn around to face Sweetie. “I want to ask about those presents. I’ve gone to everypony in class, and they all say they’re not the ones leaving them. That just leaves you and, uh, you’re the only one who started acting suspicious the second I began talking to them.” Diamond Tiara turned around quickly, but kept her head down. She nudged Sweetie Belle with a hoof. Well, actually she punched her, but Diamond was so full of embarrassment that there wasn’t enough strength for it to feel like anything more than a nudge.

“So stupid,” Diamond was barely audible. There was not a foal in the classroom whose eyes weren’t glued on the pair of ponies by the saddle bag cubbies. Cheerilee had even come in, but was curtly shushed by a foal before she even had a chance to address what was going on.

“I’m… I’m sorry?” Sweetie said, slightly tilting her head, “Look, Diamond Tiara I don’t know why you’re acting like this. I just wanted to know about the gifts.” The little unicorn’s heart skipped a beat. She hadn’t meant to sound as annoyed as she did. Did she upset Diamond even further? Diamond answered by finally lifting her head and staring at Sweetie Belle with tears in her eyes. It was a sad expression with hints of anger and fear. She took a deep breath,

“Yes, it’s me, okay? I like you, Sweetie Belle! I like your dumb beautiful mane, and I like your dumb green eyes, and I like your dumb adorable laugh, and I like the dumb way you’re always so nice and helpful! I like you, like you, like you, like you! Gah!” Diamond Tiara stamped her hooves with every ‘like.’

A wave of whispers traveled through the classroom. They had never seen a confession like that before. At least, they had never seen a confession like that from Diamond Tiara. At least three colts and two fillies were guilty of similar emotional outpourings to one of Ponyville’s elite.

Obviously, this was uncharted territory for Diamond Tiara. A pony with her poise and sophistication—if not also a bit of a sharp side—simply wasn’t equipped to handle the stresses of love in early adolescence. Such was evidenced by Diamond Tiara running out of the schoolhouse all the way back home.

Sweetie Belle turned to face her class,

“She’s… adjusting.”

Author's Note:

Swootie Bloob and Dim Tim. This should be interesting.

Comments

[The Bricklayer]

Oh boy, this is either going to either end really good or really bad. Relationship wise I mean.

[MJP]

why cant ONE person write hetero ships, I don't care if you make up an oc to do it, i'm just tried of all the 2nd person/lesbian romance stories

[The Bricklayer]

7575866 Hey, if lifeofthe6 wants to write for this pairing they can go ahead. I'm actually interested to see where this goes.

[ThatRobotGuy]

I haven't shipped Sweetie Bloob and Dim Tim together, but after reading this first chapter...

Well...I'm...adjusting.

In all seriousness, this was a neat first chapter to the story. I am interested in seeing where this'll go next, how Sweetie Belle'll react, and the meal Rarity'll cook for the two.

[Mythic Night]

7575866 Well, if you're THAT desperate for some hetero love, then you can go check out my story "Small Town Life," which is OC focused but features straight relationships.

[MJP]

7575915 is this a developed oc, cause i find 2nd person or anon fics a bit lazy

[deadpansnarker]

Considering they have the same mane and coat colour scheme, only all mixed up, I'd say this particular romantic attachment has been in the cards for quite some time now. My best wishes to the new lovebirds.

[Mythic Night]

7575933 Very developed OCs, yes, and 3rd person perspective. I've never been one for the 2nd person.

[SudokuBrony]

[Anko]

7575866

If you're looking for hetero ship fics here is a group full of them.

[Mudpony]

7575866 People tend to be more interested in the characters the show focuses on, and those are almost exclusively female. So that's why all the lesbian stories. And you get the 2nd person self-insert stuff for the same reason most romance novel heroines have extremely modern views and why boy bands sing about generic girls.

But as Anko mentioned, there's a group for hetero-ships, so you should be able to find plenty of them there. Even a few for DT (mostly with Snips, Snails, or Spike).

[CloudRunner]

7576174 Snails is probably the most popular to ship with DT, but there aren't a lot of those, and one of them hasn't been updated in a few years.

[Mudpony]

7576185 Yeah. I keep telling that author to update the stupid thing. Sometimes he tells me he's made a little progress, but mostly he tells me to quit talking to myself. But I'll keep pestering him until he finally gets the story done.

[Mudpony]

And now to talk about the actual story ;)

Should be fun to see what just happened hit Sweetie Belle.

Structure-wise, I think the story could have used a little scene early on, say when DT first sighs, where one of the CMC says something like "You don't suppose it is DT/her or SS, do you?" and then the CMC dismissing it because of the recent past. Just seems a little bit strange for the CMC to not ponder that it is one of the rich girls when the gifts are expensive with fancy paper.

And that said, bring on the SweeTiara!

[Kind of Brony]

Money don't buy love? Uh, I beg to differ; I visit the red light district quite frequently and Krystal loves me plenty. I even get a loyal customer discount.

[Pony Professor]

7576346 Sorry, there were some formatting issues when I moved the story from MSWord to FiMfic. It's fixed now. As for the scene suggestion, I appreciate the feedback but I think I'll keep it the way it is for now.

[MJP]

7576174 yes, well I'm a memeber of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (mormon's a derogatory term) and I don't practice homosexuality, so it's hard to connect with most romance stories, plus I personally think that Homosexual relationships don't have the same effect as a traditional relationship

I'm not trying to be homophobic, It's what I beleive

[HoneyFeather]

will Sweetie's conflicted feelings put too much of a strain on the Cutie Mark Crusaders' friendship?

Maud: This is Boulder, my pet.
Boulder: THE boulder has conflicted feelings about his recent life choices.

[The Bricklayer]

7575950 So I wasn't the only one who thought of this!