A/N: If you see a ~ symbol, feel free to press play on the music. I'm always picky when music plays during my stories. It has to be the perfect moment, you know? At the end of the book, I will be posting the entire song list for this story (which I'm personally excited to do) and I will also be creating a schedule for posting new stories. Check out my bio in a few hours to find out what the days will be!

Cherry Blossom's POV

After tucking in Angel into bed in the cozy bed, I walked over and switched off the bedside lamp. Featherweight had already knocked out after the firework show outside the hotel. I sat up on the other side of the bed with Angel and rested my back against the headboard of the bed. As I was beginning to scroll through my Equestria Daily feed, there was faint tapping on the door.

Assuming it was my daughter, I immediately sprung to my feet and began walking to the door. Normally she would have just sent me a quick text message. I removed my glasses and rested them on top of my head and tied up my silvery pink hair up in a messy bun. The light tapping continued in little patterns before fading into silence.

"What's wrong, hon –"I opened the door worriedly, expecting to see Fluttershy, but instead found myself standing in front of Discord. My mouth fell open slightly in surprise. He stood in front of me with a faint blush in his cheeks. He was wearing a white dress shirt with black suspenders neatly tucked into his black cuffed jeans with a pair of ebony shoes. His messy black and white hair had been cut and was now styled back. His goatee was now trimmed and neat. In his hands, he held a bouquet of lovely crimson roses. "I... I... Hi."

"Hi," came his response – yet it wasn't exactly as confident as his prior sentences in the past. I straightened out my clothing. All I was wearing was an oversized blue flannel over my shorts. I cleared my throat, blushing furiously. My hands sheepishly reached out as Discord handed the bouquet to me.

"They're beautiful," I said to him, gently smelling the aroma of the flowers. Discord chuckled. "Thank you."

"I, um... Hope I'm not intruding, or interrupting anything –"

"Oh no, no, no! You're fine – I just finished putting my kids to sleep right now –"

"Oh! I'm sorry –"

"No, I promise you, it's fine –"

"If you're too busy, I can go –"

"No, please, stay," I said in a panicked tone. Discord's golden and crimson eyes widened slightly at my outburst. A gentle smile formed on his lips.

"I know it may be a bit of a... Inconvenience? But, I just drove all the way over here to take you out to dinner... I just wanted to see you again, Cherry. I know things went bad in the past, and I know I'm to blame for that happening, but... I just... Want to make it up to you – if it's all right with you, of course," he finished and averted his gaze to the floor. Instead of replying, I reached forward and wrapped him up in a tight embrace, holding the bouquet of roses firmly in my right hand. I had to tiptoe just to reach around his neck, and even that couldn't stop him from having to bend over slightly.

Wow... After all these years, and he still wears the same cologne I couldn't get enough of...

"Of course," I replied. Discord sighed in relief as he wrapped his arms around my waist delicately. He had always held me as if I was some sort of fragile porcelain doll. I adored it. "Give me a second to get dressed. Come on in and wait inside."

We quietly entered the hotel room together to avoid waking up the children. I carefully laid the bouquet on top of the wooden table at the far end of the room and began looking through the small closet of clothing. I instantly grabbed onto a lacy white dress with short sleeves. I hopped into the restroom and closed the door quietly behind me. I unbuttoned my flannel and tossed the shirt onto the floor and quickly slipped on the dress. The dress reached just halfway down my thighs, almost revealing the large owl tattoo on my left thigh.

I let my hair loose, and swept it all to the side, letting my long and wavy hair flow down the left side of my chest. I rushed out of the restroom and looked inside the closet for my white heels. Luckily, they were right at the corner. I slipped them on with ease and faced Discord. All the while, he had been staring at me with his jaw dropped.

"Sorry if I'm taking too long..." I said in a hush, dismissing his expression. He nodded his head in response. A smile fell on my lips, and I went over to the side of my bed where Angel was sleeping, and picked up my black handbag from the second drawer of the dresser. I pulled out my cell phone and sent a quick text message to Fluttershy.

Unexpected visit from your dad. If anything, text me. Call Featherweight on his cell phone so he can open the door for you. Love, your favorite person in the world.

I exhaled slowly and shoved the phone into my handbag and walked toward Discord, who was standing patiently with his hands in his front pockets. When he saw me standing and staring at him expectantly, he smirked, "Ready?"

As we were walking down the post-rainy streets of the Crystal Empire, Discord stood by my side the entire time. We were laughing away and reminiscing amongst each other and asking each other how life has been, and what we've been up to since we graduated college.

"And what about Celestia?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Discord laughed and scratched the back of his neck.

"After college, we dated for a couple years until she realized that my heart wasn't truly set on her... It was a mess, but we got over it pretty quick, and just went on with our normal lives..."

"I'm sorry," I apologized, unsure of what else to say. We walked together in silence for a few more minutes until we reached the street that led to downtown. This street was understandably crowded, and I no longer wanted to continue going down this path –

"Let's head back, I know this isn't really your scene," Discord said apologetically. I looked at him in surprise. Normally he'd have gone to the club and dragged me along with him. I grinned in return, and began walking down the same sidewalk – this time taking a different turn until we arrived in front of a vintage style black Volkswagen Beetle. I stared in awe as Discord laughed beside me.

"No way in Hell did you actually get your dream car..." I laughed along with him as he twirled the car keys in his fingers. I smiled brightly at him and hopped on inside as he unlocked the doors. Inside was cozy, and had white leather seats with black stripes running vertically. The back had a small space to fit in two more people. A paper dragon was slung around the rearview mirror by a piece of fishing line tied around.

"Oh that," Discord began with a chuckle as he put on his seatbelt. "You know, Fluttershy made that the day we went off for winter break..."

"Oh, did she? I can't believe she has the patience to make things like that... It's so intricate. If I had done that at her age, I would have barely made it after the second fold, and thrown it away," I said laughing. Discord smiled in response. He put the key in the ignition, and the car hummed to life beautifully. He switched on the radio before took off to an unknown destination, all the while we kept talking amongst each other. Together, we rolled down our windows to feel the breeze... Just like old times. ~

The drive itself only took a few minutes to arrive to. When we did, we were now at the parking lot at a public park. The center of the park had a beautiful pond surrounded by vegetation. To the right side of the park was a fenced in baseball diamond. The large lights around the 'stadium' were on brightly. Discord turned off the car, and he stepped out first quickly before rushing over to my side to open my door for me. I blushed lightly and smiled at his kind gesture.

Next, he walked over to the trunk, and pulled out... two baseballs, a wooden baseball bat, and a brown glove. He held them up in the air proudly and smiled widely at me. I laughed loudly and clapped my hands together.

"I cannot believe you still have the same baseball equipment when we were in high school... Ryott, you never fail to amaze me... Wait..." I paused, another smile flooding my lips. Discord laughed.

"When we were in our more... Youthful days, you always wanted to play some ball while wearing 'fancy clothes,'" Discord said, adding finger quotes. I bit lower lip and nodded in response. "I figured... why not surprise her tonight with it?"

"Are we even allowed to be here this late... I mean it's," I paused, looking at my phone, "One thirty in the morning."

Discord shrugged and closed the trunk with his elbow, "I have a few friends that hooked me up with some stuff. I pulled a few strings, and... I managed to convince them to let me be here for a couple hours late at night."

"You are unbelievable," I said with a raised eyebrow. Discord flashed me a smirk and joined my side as we began walking together toward the baseball field. I quickly grabbed the baseball bat from his hand and took off running, leaving him behind. I heard him call out my name behind me, followed by a few childish laughs from the both of us.

I couldn't get the little gate in front of me open in time, before Discord popped up behind closely pressed up against my back. I spun around and faced him, our bodies shaking together in laughter. I looked up at him, our laughter slowly fading. We were inches apart...

I gently pushed him away with my fingers and smirked at him. Discord shook his head, failing to suppress a smile. When we got to the home plate together, Discord squeezed my hand gently before running off to the pitcher's mound.

"Ladies first!" Discord shouted out to me. I rolled my eyes playfully and took my stance, holding the bat tightly in my hands. Discord eyed me carefully before gripping the baseball in his hand and throwing it toward me... His fastballs were always the trickiest to me.

But the impact came, and the loud crack from the wooden bat hitting the baseball echoed throughout the empty field. I stared in awe, at how far the baseball went flying. Discord himself was astonished. Without another word, I pulled off my heels and took off sprinting toward first plate. The orange dirt was a simple cloud of dust behind me.

At the corner of my eye, Discord was running after the ball. I didn't stop there. First plate, done. I was off to second plate with an energized start. The small pebbles slightly hurt my feet, but getting to home base was my goal. Second plate, done.

Discord had caught the ball, and he was running to me full speed. I bit my lower lip in concentration. I only needed one more plate left until I got to home. That's what matters here. My heavy breathing steadied, and my heart continuously pumped hard against my chest. Third plate, done.

Discord wasn't too far behind now. He was only a few yards away from me. My legs were starting to give out, and it was at this moment that I regretted not taking exercises seriously. I shook the thought away as I pushed myself to get to that final plate. Almost there...

He was just a hair from getting me until my feet touched down on home base successfully. I heard Discord curse under his ragged breath as I jumped up and cheered. When I looked over at him with a smile, he was panting and had has hands on hips as he was looking down to try to regain some breath. When he looked up, his hair was now messy... But I always liked it that way.

"I... Took it... Easy on... You," Discord breathed out before taking a seat on top of the home plate. I laughed and kneeled down in front of him, pushing the baseball bat out of my way.

"Sure you did," I exhaled with a small grin. He shook his head and wiped off the beads of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. With my black hair tie, I tied up my hair in a messy ponytail and looked over at Discord. He was so disoriented by all the running, I couldn't help but giggle.

He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. His breathing was going back to normal, but I couldn't even prepare myself for what happened next.

He cupped both of his bare hands around my face and pulled me toward him. Our lips crashed against one another abruptly. My eyes were open in utter shock, but every inch of my mind and soul was telling me to relax.

You'd been wanting this moment since you saw him. Just let it happen.

I fluttered my eyes closed and kissed the man in front of me back passionately. My hands rested on his broad shoulders as my lips moved in sync with his. The same familiar sparks returned, this time more intensely than all those years ago. An abrupt sound echoed throughout the park startling us both. We pulled apart, and found that we were now shrouded in darkness. The only thing that seemed to illuminate our figures was the stars and moon above us both. Discord chuckled lightly.

"Guess our time's up." Even in the darkness, I could tell he was trying his hardest not to smile. I giggled along with him.

"Maybe it is." Despite being in total darkness, we reached out to each other, and we were pulled into another kiss. Old times...

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this exclusive chapter of "Time-Bomb" everyone! Stay tuned for more (: If you haven't already, feel free to check out my newest story titled "Equestria Origins: Fallout." Check my published works -- I have a second book with a similar title, but that story will no longer be updated. (Apologies to those who enjoyed it.)