Author's Note

My apologies for the delay on my Sunset Shimmer fic, but I have the first chapter done and it there's anything wrong with it, or any errors, I welcome the constructive critisism and as always, thanks for your patience and support and remember to stay tuned and brony on.

A Meeting At The Park

Wealth and power, the two almost impossible traits to have are what your parents possess. Being the son and only child of a rich family may look and sound like a dream to other people who weren't in your shoes, but to you, the only thing it does to you is bring you nothing but boredom and sorrow. Your parents were the owners and co-owners of a couple of hotels and were always either too busy working in their office or they were going on these business trips that lasted every couple of weeks or so.

Back when you were still a student in Canterlot High School, your parents hardly only made time to listen to what went on in school once a week. At least they made an effort back then, and to make sure no one knew that your family was rich, you kept a low profile and blended in with the crowd. During the beginning of high school, it was a living hell, not because of the teachers, but because of a certain fiery haired girl who kept picking on you and the whole entire school.

But her bullying days came to an end later on at the Fall Formal thanks to this group of girls. Ever since then, she's been given a chance to turn her life around, and in turn, you developed a little bit of a crush on her, but you never pursued her because she might already have a boyfriend or she was too busy hanging out with the same girls who took her in and taught her about friendship. You told your parents about it, or at least tried to tell them, but they would keep telling you things like "Not now! We're in a meeting!"

Today was a pretty lazy day for you. You had nothing to do other than to stroll online for a few decent jobs, even if you were the son of a rich family. But living off easy money just didn't suit you. You wanted to live the hard-working, simple life and hang out with normal people. You were too busy looking for a job to get on your games and just too bored to play games because it was all the same thing.

Either make the most kills and lose a few round in Call of Duty or GTA Online, or make the most kills and win a rounds in said games. But you only played certain games on your PS4 and Xbox One. You were more accustomed to playing the PS4 because the Playstation was the system you grew up with. But on the other hand, there are some good things about the Xbox that pleased you. For instance, anytime there was a movie you saw on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Video that you didn't have, you'd buy it on Blu-Ray or DVD and watch it on the Xbox One, or on your Playstation in case your Xbox is overheated.

So far, not a lot of jobs were hiring, but you still put in applications online and hope you'd at least get called in for a job interview or two. After that, you turned off your laptop, set it aside and got off the couch and stared out the window, bored out of your mind. You wanted to find something better to do other than be stuck in your room for the entire day. Going to the amusement park would be pointless.

Mostly because it was mostly a couples attraction and it pained you to see happy couples strolling around the park, loving each other and having a good time. Going to the arcade wasn't much fun either, so the only place that seemed interesting to you was the Canterlot Park. You walked out of your room and locked the door before walking down the hall and taking the elevator down to the bottom floor. After reaching the ground floor, you walked over to the exit of the building and looked at the front desk.

"I'll be out by the park." you said to him.

"Right, of course. Be safe out there." the man says. Considering that he knows your parents own the hotel and are paying him good money to let you stay at the hotel without a fuss, he took his job more seriously because of the fear of getting on your parents' bad side if anything happened to you. Or at least, that's how he felt once when you were first brought to this hotel months ago after graduation. You told him to not to think of him as the son of the higher-ups but as his regular. At least now, his job was a bit easier.

Anyways, you arrived outside the hotel and walked down the path to the park, feeling the wind blow against your hair and enjoying the cool weather. The sky had a few clouds up in the air, but that was all that would be in the sky, according to the weather forecast.

To keep yourself occupied, you turned on your music on your phone and put on your headphones. You hummed in tune with the songs you were listening to, minding your own business. Listening to your music and walking over to the park made you feel relaxed and think less about the rich life. You checked your watch, seeing that it was only 3:30 P.M. It didn't really matter what time it was to you. Time just seems to pass by quicker when you've got a lot of things occupying your mind occasionally.

You got so distracted by your music that you almost missed the park. You turned the volume down low and walked into the park, still humming your favorite songs. The birds in the trees were chirping and the sun's rays were shining down on you. But unfortunately, the sight of couples in the park earned a groan of frustration from you and you turned up the volume on your phone.

Some people who see couples either think it's good to see people in love with each other, but for you, you're one of those people who can't stand seeing it every day, even though you choose to go out and stroll around Canterlot City by yourself. It was a much better hobby than staying at home, alone all the time. You kept walking deeper into the park and then came across a giant pond with a bunch of ducks swimming around, guiding their little ducklings around the pond. It was adorable to see that.

You walked over and sat down close to the edge of the pond, but not too close. You took off your headphones and stopped your music. You grabbed a few stones and started skipping them across the pond away from the ducks so they wouldn't get hurt by them. It always breaks your heart when people abuse animals so much and show no remorse for their actions. The next thing you knew, something tapped on your shoulder from behind, making you turn around and see a familiar face.

This familiar face was a girl with turqoise eyes, bright yellow skin and fiery red and yellow hair. She had on a black leather jacket and a light blue shirt underneath. She wore blue jeans and long black shoes that reach halfway towards her ankles. She gasps when she sees your face up close. She smiles. "I remember you, you're from Canterlot High School, right?" she asks you.

"Yeah, I graduated from that hellhole." you say before telling her your name.

"I'm Sunset Shimmer. It's nice to see you again. But... I can't exactly recall the last time we met."

"The last time we interracted with each other was up until the night of the Fall Formal." Just mentioning the Fall Formal was something that makes her smile disappear. "Umm... sorry. I guess I shouldn't have said that if it made you feel bad, Sunset."

"It's alright. I know you didn't mean to. You were just being honest. I'm not gonna lie, what I did back then at the Fall Formal was very wrong of me to do. I'm sorry if I ever hurt you back then, can you forgive me?" You were surprised when she asked you for forgiveness, but since she meant it, you smiled and nodded. "So what exactly brings you here to the park out of all places, is this your favorite place to visit with your girlfriend?"

Now you felt yourself cringe when she said that word. You hung your head low and turned around, throwing another stone in the lake, away from the ducks. "I don't have a girlfriend. I don't plan on having another one either for personal reasons."

"Oh... sorry if I offended you. I didn't know." Sunset feels her curiosity kick in and she sits down next to you, "wait, did you say you didn't want another one? Does this mean you had a previous relationship back in high school and it went downhill? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Thanks. At least you're more considerate of what I went through." you say genuinely.

"I do what I can to try and be a good friend. So do you always skip stones here in the pond all the time, or do you do it when there's nothing else to do?"

"The latter. I usually spend most of my time searching up jobs and putting out applications so I can earn a decent buck, but so far, no luck. In fact, just recently before I had walked all the way here, I had already put in some online job applications back at home."

"If you needed help, why didn't you just ask your parents? That's what they're for, right?" Sunset asks. You wanted to tell her that they're always busy with their work to even help you out, but she'd just get more curious of what kind of work they do and migh find out that your parents own a couple of hotels.

"I, uh... I just... want to prove I can make it in the real world without help. I like to challenge myself so I can improve myself as a person." you lied. Sunset quirked an eyebrow, not sure if she believes you.

"Are you sure that's it?" Sunset asks, placing her hand on your shoulder. Just then, she got this weird look on her face for a few seconds and then took her hand off of you. She looked at you with utter disbelief. You're not sure why she's looking at you like that, but something told you it wasn't good. Sunset sighed and patted you on the back, giving you a warm smile. "If that's how you feel, then I guess I can respect that. But in the meantime, I guess I should get home and make myself some dinner, I'm starving."

"Yeah, I'm gonna go home and whip myself up some grub." you and Sunset stood up and dusted yourselves off and looked at each other again. Up close, you always knew she was incredibly beautiful, but you never knew that she was also pretty cute to look at. Your face went red for a while, making her giggle.

"Is that a sun burn or are you blushing?" she asks, nudging you with her elbow. You laughed with her. "Anyways, I'd better get going now. See you later." Sunset walked away from your sight and out of the park while stood there, thinking about whether or not you should have just told her the truth. But you were too frightened about how she'd react if you told her about your family. You felt your heart racing for some reason and tried to ignore it, but it kept on persisting.

You groaned in frustration and slapped yourself on the cheek hard. "GAH!" you shouted in pain. Luckily, you came to your senses and walked away from the pond. You continued to walk down the path of the park and eventually made your way back into the city, making your way back to the hotel.

On your way back, your eyes caught the sight of a karaoke bar you wanted to go to, but you weren't in the mood to go and get wasted like other people do. All that was on your mind was to go home and get something to eat so you can kick back and relax. On the way back to the hotel, for some strange reason you couldn't get Sunset Shimmer out of your mind. And for some reason, you couldn't stop thinking how beautiful she was and whether or not she's taking a liking to you. But then you shook your head and still haven't forgotten the time you were betrayed in your very first relationship.

With that thought pushed aside for now, you picked up the pace and finally made it back to the hotel. You walked through the doors and were greeted by the front desk.

"Good afternoon. Did you have a nice walk?" he asked.

"It was alright, I guess." you shrugged.

The man behind the counter quirked an eyebrow when you said that. "What's the matter? You don't look so happy about your little walk. Did something happen?" he asked again.

Normally you don't talk about what you did when going out, but considering the front desk guy's the only one who seems to care, it only seemed fair to tell him about it. "Actually... I had a run in with a girl."

"A girl?" he asked again. You nodded, avoiding eye-contact. "Was she a really good friend of yours you met back in high school, or was she just a random passerby girl you never met? I can tell you're still thinking about her, even though you're trying not to. Is it because you're afraid she'll end up being like that one girl who tried to get to your money that one time?"

You didn't make eye contact with him, but you did respond with a nod. "I just don't know if it's a good idea for me to go out with anyone."

"You never know unless you try. You can't keep your real life a secret forever. Who knows, maybe this girl you met today is different from the others and might accept you for who you are. I'm not saying you should date her right now, but give it a little time and think it over. And if you have a little run in with her again, just do what any good friend would do and take her somewhere fun."

"How do you know she's different?" you ask out of curiosity.

"I don't. I'm just saying she might be different. You just gotta have a little faith. Not all relationships start off the way people want them, too." Whether you believe him or not, he seems to know a lot of relationships, so you responded with a nod and a smile before heading towards the elevator and going up until it finally came to a stop at the 7th floor. You exited the elevator and walked down the hallway.

You took out your room key from your pocket and unlocked the door at the end of the hall on your left and went inside, closing the door behind you. You walked over to your bed and slammed yourself on it, back first and did nothing else but stare at the ceiling.

It was a bit difficult to think straight when you were on an empty stomach. You reached out for the phone that was on your nightstand and called the kitchen. They picked up a few seconds later. "Hey, I'd like to order up some dinner, I'm getting a bit hungry. I'll have a medium rare steak with a baked potato and some carrot slices to go along with that, please." you said.

"..."

"Alright, cool, thanks."

"..."

"Yeah I can wait 30 minutes. Thank you." you then hung up and laid there on your bed. For a good 5 minutes, you just laid there, staring at the ceiling, suddenly thinking about Sunset. You tried to think about something else, but she just kept on popping up in your mind. It might have been the fact that she's been acting so kindly towards her peers and now you. And for some reason, anytime you kept picturing her beautiful turqoise eyes, your heart would start beating faster. It felt like you were falling in love, again.

But when you started thinking about love, you shook your head, suddenly thinking about your last "girlfriend" and the time you dumped her when she was after your money.

Later on, you heard a knock on your door. You wondered if it had already been 30 minutes, so you got up from your bed and checked to see who was knocking. You opened the door and saw that it was your parents, whom stepped inside and didn't bother asking to come in.

"Hey, what the hell's with you two barging into my room?" you asked, crossed with them.

"Watch your tone, young man. Your father and I came to tell you that there's going to be potluck at the office tomorrow at 9:30 P.M sharp. So be sure to have a nice suit on by the time it starts and remember not to keep us waiting for too long, do you understand?" your mom asked in a stern tone.

'She's really starting to tick me off.' you thought to yourself.

"Hey, Hey." you dad said, snapping his fingers in front of your face. You swatted his hand away.

"Don't go snapping those beefy hands in front of my face, dad, I'm not deaf." you replied, annoyed.

"Good, as long as we're clear. Now be sure to eat everything on your plate when your dinner arrives and then go straight to bed, afterwards. I won't have my son coming to the office tired and grumpy." she still gave you that annoyingly stern tone that you hated.

"I'm not a kid anymore, mom! I don't need anyone telling me how to run my life anymore." you retorted. Your dad looked like he was about to explode on you, but your mom stopped him just by placing her whole hand out in front of him, halting the big guy.

"Come along, dear. We should rest up, too." she said, guiding your dad out the door and closing it. You sighed in annoyance and slammed yourself back on your bed. They always kept making you do things their way whenever their special potlucks were taking place. You wanted to flip out right then and there, but the door knocked three times and to your relief, you did not hear the voices of your parents.

"We got your steak, baked potato and carrot slices." said a male voice. You got up from your bed and walked towards the front door and opened it, revealing a waiter with a meal wagon. You stepped out of the way to allow the guy to walk inside the room. The waiter set your dinner on the coffee table and you gave him a handshake and a $7 tip for his services before he headed out of the room.

With the waiter out of the room, you sat down on the couch and grabbed yourself a knife and fork and began to eat your dinner and started thinking to yourself. 'If they think I'm going with them to that lousy potluck, they've got another thing coming, because I got other plans. And those plans tomorrow are to stay the hell away from anything involving talks of business, after all, I never really promised my parents I'd show up at the potluck when I can obviously have more fun with just me, myself and I.'

You smirked, thinking up those plans in your thoughts while you continued eating. Whether your parents would approve of what you'd be doing or not, you didn't care. This was your life and you were going to choose how to live it your own way.