Lilia

Cherry was stunned.  Never, in her few short years, had she ever had anypony kiss her like Sherlock had.  She smiled slowly, words failing her for what had to have been the first time that evening.  She merely nodded, a pleased flush seeming to travel from the tip of her nose to the very end of her tail.  There was no doubt that her wings had decided to open on their own, the feeling of resistance against them the only clue to her that they had extended at all.  She laid her head on his shoulder, almost visibly relaxing against him.  It was good..."Mister Hooves...oh, how could you...?" One of the mares witnessing the event queried, a hurt look in her eyes as she stared at the pair.

Cherry was blushing as he spun her in close, his pause piquing her curiosity.  "If I want what, Sherlock...?  " She asked, genuinely confused at his hesitation.  She smiled reassuringly at him, hoping that he would finish his statement. ((sorry it's short! Brain decided to shut down...bedtime...work in the morning...))

Cherry laughed at the recollection of the day before.  Had it really only been a day?  She shook her head, taking his hoof to dance with him.  "As I recall, you told me no several times.  As for your filly friends that ran away...they weren't exactly kind to you then, were they?  I accept a degree of thoughtlessness in anypony, but honestly...it's not the deciding point as to why I'd ever leave.  You'd have to deliberately hurt one of my sisters to get me to leave you..." She explained softly,  a twinge of pain in her voice as the image of her sister Orange crossed her mind.  "You don't have to factor in my time in the halfway home, but you do need to consider that I'm far too stubborn to go away without being told to go explicitly..." She murmured, her head falling to his shoulder to dance in silence.

Cherry blushed at the compliments to her skill, shaking her head to deny it.  She danced before him, letting his words sink in before she uttered a thing.  "Sherlock...I..." She began, just as the song ended and he dipped her.  Her torso was arched almost fully backward, her heart hammering clearly visible in the awkward pose.  Slowly, she began to rise back up, his hat having fallen off from the dip.  "I'm glad I impressed you, Sherlock...in fact, I'm glad that you decided to accept me...even when I don't really deserve it.  After all...I'm the filly they keep sending to the Troublemaker's Home...and I'm the filly that tries incredibly hard to not let anypony down...especially the stallion I like..." She said softly, her eyes shining as she spoke.  She kissed him again, letting it linger a moment before blushing and looking anywhere but at him.  Dang it, why'd she have to go and make a foal of herself twice in one day?

Cherry watched as the mares assailed Sherlock, waiting as he backed away enough to begin laughing.  He went to the stage to sing and she froze.  If he sang, she'd be drawn to him.  She sighed, trotting into the corner and prepared to fly.  Just then, he started to sing.  She whimpered, her wings folding as she started to walk into the crowd.  When he walked onto the dance floor, she smiled.  Oh goodie, he would actually try to find her.  "Sherlock...clever, clever stallion..." She said softly, passing by him with a mare between them as she moved toward the other side of the dance floor.

Cherry inwardly cheered at the two mares intervention, gratefully using their distraction to go further into the crowd.  She finally reached a knot of mares standing near the edge and worked her way in.  "Oh, that Mister Hooves!  He's just ever so dreamy, right girls?" One gushed, leaving Cherry her opening.  "Oh, yes indeed.  He's everything a mare could ask for...but he's also got a hangeron of sorts...that pretty filly that was with him...did you see their kiss?  Clearly, she has a thing for him!" she said, making sure that her wings and cutie mark were outside of the grouping.  Her telltale red and pink mane was the only way they would be able to identify her, and at their distance, they might not have even seen that.

She trotted out of his reach just before he could grab his fedora back, shaking her head.  "Uh-uh.  You're gonna have to outsmart me, Sherlock.  Good luck." She laughed, going back to where the crowd was in attempt to blend in.  Worst case scenario, she had to fly.  Best case, he caught her and was laughing before she had to resort to that tactic.

Swamp Water.  It's the mix of all drink options in a restaurant!

Cherry grinned in victory as he followed her, leading him past the stage and closer to a doorway she had noticed when they entered.  She stopped, one wing opening as she used it to pivot and face him.  The dark was just deep enough to hide her as she refolded her wing and pulled the fedora over her eyes to obscure them.  "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all Equestria, he walks into mine..." She said clearly, the mischief in her eyes hidden by the fedora.

Cherry listened to Sherlock intently, her heart breaking for him as he told of his past.  "Oh Sherlock...I'm so sorry..." She murmured, nuzzling his forehoof before getting an idea to try to cheer him up.  She carefully picked up his hat and grinned, putting it on.  She stood and trotted out to the stage, waiting to see if he'd follow her.  'Come on, Sherlock...leave the drink...come get your hat back...' she mentally pleaded, knowing he'd never hear that ever escape her.

Cherry smiled slowly and nodded, picking up her own scotch before glancing at Sherlock.  "It's all my dad...he gave me a sip of his scotch growing up...in his words: 'Cherry, there are some things that you're just going to have to accept.  Scotch is one of them.  The other is that I'm not going to be around for you much longer...and I want you to know that you've been the best daughter a stallion could ask for...even if you do knock around your sister's bullies.' Dean Appletini is the only music that helped when...when father finally passed..." She admitted, surprised that the alcohol had yet to fully impair her speech.  She took a sip of her scotch, wondering what he would do knowing the truth about her.

"I really like Sherlock....he's cute...and his voice would make any mare melt...but he wouldn't bat an eye at a silly filly like me..." Cherry repeated, a little louder for Sherlock.  She then proceeded to lean forward and plant a kiss on Sherlock's muzzle, leaning back to contemplate that action.  Why had she just done that...?  She spied her empty glass and gave an internal cheer.  She was getting drunk and of course, that meant doing things that she wouldn't have otherwise.

Cherry reached the back of the crowd just as Sherlock called for applause for the band.  She shook her head slowly, smiling at him.  "It's fine...you sound amazing.  You...Dean Appletini is my favorite musician...." She blushed, her tail brushing his flank again as they reached the bar.  She controlled her hooves trembling slightly as she reached for her drink, suspicious.  "Better safe than not...could I have another, sir?  On the rocks this time...a single." She murmured, sliding her glass away from her.  "I really like Sherlock....he's cute...and his voice would make any mare melt...but he wouldn't bat an eye at a silly filly like me..." She whispered, a sigh of relief escaping her as her drink reached her once again.  "Thank you..." She told the barkeeper, realizing that she had voiced her thoughts around the pony she was thinking about...

Ditto for me!  And I love the Black Mage sprite...

Tenkan, that took me some time to spot....I wasn't big on the Mandalorians....but yes, SW FTW!

"The Opposite of War isn't Peace!" "What is?" "It's Creation!" -La Vie Boheme, Rent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAaXD9PscQs&feature=related

This always makes me cry.

Cherry pricked her ears at the sounds of the uptempo music.  Another Dean Appletini song.  She smiled.  That was good.  She picked up her scotch and turned to watch Sherlock sing, her eyes never once leaving him as she slowly savored the scotch that she had left.  It took her a few more sips to put it down and slowly rise to her hooves, the alcohol only barely affecting her judgement as she moved out to the dance floor.  She sighed to herself, wishing it were Sherlock she could dance with.  A colt approached her and smiled.  "Hi.  Care to join me for the rest of this song?" He asked Cherry, as she stood there contemplating the request of another pony just prior to him.  "No, no no.  I only dance with brown stallions with dark blue eyes and black manes." She said firmly, folding her wings tightly to her side as she realized that they had flared open as the persistent requests started to agitate her.

Cherry grinned as he allowed her to take the ice cube, quickly nabbing the top one before crunching on it a bit.  When her scotch came up, she beamed at the bartender and waited.  She was rewarded with her patience by the band leader recognizing Sherlock.  A surprise to her, but why not?  He was part of this world...she was just starting to learn it.  Taking a sip of the scotch, she nearly purred in delight.  Her father drank Scotch when he didn't have to work the next day, often allowing her to have a sip to acclimate her to the taste.  She was about half-way through before she realized the song Sherlock was singing.  How had he...no, he didn't know it was her personal favorite.  Dean Appletini was truly a musician to her, and Sherlock was a very close match.  "Learn something new every day, Cherry...that stallion has a voice!" She muttered more to herself, setting the scotch down to give her time to process the alcohol she had already taken in.  "Though how obvious you're being around him is....well, shameless..." She continued softly, not noticing the song had ended.  ((Dean Martin, yay!  Blame my youth for my love of older music!))

skipper

to get every episode in on a weekend off...

Cherry's eyes widened when they were let into the speakeasy, her eyes lingering on the unicorn stallion before falling back to Sherlock.  Nope...there was nopony she could compare against him fairly.  Well, for all that was done...she settled in next to him and pondered a her drink, deciding as quickly as she could to be bold.  "Same as him...double." She said, eyeing the scotch in Sherlock's hooves.  She leaned forward, closer to him.  "May I take an ice cube?" she whispered, hoping he'd agree to her request.

Welcome!  I'm gonna guess and say you're an AJ fan too?  I've got a few characters that are just itchin' for some new friends, so anytime you wanna play, plot or whatever, gimme a shout.

Cherry watched the two thugs get away, Sherlock's approval ringing in her ears.  She was going to have to explain quite a bit to him when the opportunity presented itself.  She followed beside him, catching his wink and blushing again.  She honestly had absolutely no idea how in the name of Celestia she wasn't turning a full pink like her twin by this point.  When he guided her to the building with the steel door, she paused and looked around, making sure that she had observed everything she could before coming up with two possible solutions.  "The door is either that of a secret group of mares or stallions or it's the entrance to a cabaret, which would explain the lack of a front entrance and signage..." She said, pacing as the answers came to her.

My theme would have to be Wait for You by Atreyu.

Or

Cherry smiled at the wink Sherlock gave her, her mind racing as she thought of a way to get the other pony away from the abused one.  She chuckled at her idea, giving it a shot.  She tapped the other pony on his flank, pointing behind him.  "I think the Princess is mad at you..." She murmured, watching as he whirled around to find...a brick wall? Cherry took advantage of his distraction to grab a nearby chunk of rock and smack the would-be attacker quickly to knock him out.  "Tha's wha' 'appens whe'...." she started to say, shaking her head before putting the rock down out of reach of the unconscious pony.  She started again.  "That's what happens when you mess with a defenseless pony, you brute!" She grumbled, trotting back to Sherlock's side.  She was surprised that she had been able to keep him off her mind long enough to attack at all.