First day on the job (Sherlock/Cherry Bloom)

[Lilia]

Cherry was relieved to see the builiding in which she would now be apprenticing, her wings taking her down to in front of the door.  She remembered much about the previous day, from the fight outside her sister's shop to nearly begging for this position from her new mentor.  Not that she minded begging...it was just really hard to keep doing when you were a bit more focused on the handsome...She shook her head, raising a hoof to knock on the door.

"C'mon, Sherlock...you have to be home..." She murmured, reminding herself that she might have misinterpreted the location...no, he had said this building, and she would wait.

[Sherlock Hooves]

Cherry's wait wasn't very long, somepony approached her from behind. "Excuse me dear can I help you?" Behind her was an older unicorn mare with a faded blond mane and tail, and grey blue fur. She walked closer, "Oh you must be Miss Cherry Bloom, Mr. Hooves' new assistant. I'm Miss Canter, Mr. Hooves' land mare, here I'll let you in." The mare walked up to the front door and unlocked it, "He let me know you would be coming by today, right this way love. I know he was expecting you but he never keeps regular hours so to speak, so its no surprise that he isn't at the door to great you." Miss Canter led Cherry up the stairs to a room and gave it a light knock, "Mr. Hooves, your new assistant is here." She waited for an answer, "Mr. Hooves?" From the other side of the door a faint sound was heard, snoring. Miss Canter rolled her eyes, "Oh well that shouldn't surprise me in the least. Come on then." She unlocked his door and she walked in bidding Cherry to follow. The room was lightly furnished, a kitchen, and eating area to the left. To the right the living area with a hall leading to presumably the bedroom, further right though was a desk and chair next to the window looking out over the city. What was on the desk though was an odd sight to say the least; rather than in his room or even on the couch, Sherlock was laying on top of his desk. Head hanging off the end and legs up in the air snoring away. Miss Canter sighed and walked up to him, she jabbed him with her horn, "Mr. Hooves!" His eyes flared open and he gasped awake, before promptly falling onto the floor. "Gah! Miss Canter, lovely to see you again. To what do I owe the intrusion?" He said with a hint of annoyance and sarcasm. "Your new assistant is here, I didn't want the poor filly waiting outside for you until she gave up. Besides its 4 in the afternoon, no since for you to be asleep." "Assistant?... Oh right, Cherry. I had almost forgotten." He got up and stretched a little before turning around to face Cherry. "Miss Bloom, a pleasure. Glad to see you're so prompt on your first day. Thank you Miss Canter, if you wouldn't mind bringing us some" "Tea yes Mr. Hooves, I can smell that you'll be needing some." She sighed in frustration at her tenant and started for the exit, stopping next to Cherry. "I wouldn't blame you if you were having second thoughts dear." Over hearing Sherlock gave an annoyed glare, "Thank you nanny just the tea if you please!" She rolled her eyes and left the room for the kitchen leaving Cherry with her new mentor. "My apologies, I have a habit of sleeping when I need to." He stopped and reflected on his land mare's words and turned to check his breath. It smelled heavy of scotch and tobacco, then bending down to give himself a whiff. "Hmm though she is right, sorry but I don't usually get actual visitors. Make yourself comfortable Cherry, I probably should wash up real quick." Trotting into the hall he disappeared into his bathroom, leaving the filly alone. The living area was open a couch and table, books of all kinds strewn about it, across from the couch was a pair of large bookshelves filled to capacity, save for the empty spaces where the books on the table where meant to go. Next to the desk was a large filing cabinet with a few files placed on top of it. In the other corner next to the desk was a large log, strange enough. It was standing up on end and was braced, around it was tied course hemp rope, the rope was frayed and worn in places. The sound of a shower starting were heard soon enough just as Miss Canter reappeared levitating a tray of fresh brewed tea and some tea crackers. "Here you are dear." Setting down the tray she heard the shower and smiled, "Well at least he's sensible enough to clean up a little before talking with you. He is actually a good hearted young stallion, just... odd is all. I've never gotten any real complaints from my other tenants or had to harass him for rent. Just be careful love, he has a knack for getting into trouble." She gave Cherry one last smile and left closing the door behind her.

[Lilia]

Cherry smiled at Miss Canter as she was led into Sherlock's apartment, her eyes widening in delight as she took in the sights before her.  She had to fight back a laugh as Sherlock woke, shaking her head at his reaction to his land mare.  She grasped Miss Canter's question almost immediately, and shook her head.  "Oh, no!  No second thoughts." She beamed, acknowledging that she was determined to do her job well.  At Sherlock's compliment, she blushed.  "No, it's ok...take your shower." She murmured, smiling at Miss Canter as she left the tea.  She was just as troublesome as he was, perhaps more for her determination to get whatever information was needed.

[Sherlock Hooves]

Soon enough the shower cut off and the sound of shaking was heard. A short time later Sherlock emerged from the hall with a clean vest and tightening a fresh tie, keeping it loose and casual. He was still a little damp but was clean and no longer smelled like a long night at a tavern. He poured himself a cup of tea and sipped it down with satisfaction. "Okay well that's much better, now to work." He trotted over to his desk and scanned through some of the papers along it. "As soon as I figure out what that is... Now I know I remember getting something today..." He sifted through his papers for a moment before finally finding what he wanted, "Ah here we go, today's mail. This is how the majority of my clients contact me. I receive a letter and if I find it worth a look I try to see what I can do. Now lets go through the list," He lay the letters on the table in front of Cherry and sat next to her on the couch. "Now lets see, runaway daughter... she'll be back the next day... probably. Uh missing bracelet... insurance fraud, most likely lost it on a race or something. Hmmm doesn't look like I got anything today." He chuckled and leaned back a little, "But I'm sure something will come around... so any questions so far Miss Cherry?"

[Lilia]

Cherry waited patiently while Sherlock spoke, taking a dainty sip of tea before looking over the letters he had placed in front of her.  She agreed with his statements, tapping the one involving the bracelet.  "How do we know it's not just fallen off her hoof somewhere she doesn't normally visit or doesn't think to look for?  She says she looked everywhere she could THINK of, not everywhere she had been." She inquired, pointing out a very clear point before leaning back.  She smiled at him, trying desperately to not let her mind run away with her again.  "How do you know you've found the right case?" She queried, her curiosity piqued as she watched the stallion in front of her.

[Sherlock Hooves]

Sherlock looked at Cherry confused then facehoofed himself, "Right sorry... I've lived here for quite a few years. I know a lot about this town and the ponies that live in it. Though most of them have no clue I do." He chuckled and picked up the letter about the missing bracelet, "The letter is from Mrs. Stargazer, Lord Stargazer is a well known gambler in town, Lord Stargazer likes fast fillies and slow race ponies. Weather she knows exactly HOW her bracelet went missing isn't really the issue. More than likely he's trying to cover up his gambling losses, and I don't much care to be a party to that." He leaned back and smiled at Cherry, "Its good that you're looking at every angle Miss Cherry, that's a very good start. But once you have gotten your hooves wet, you'll start to see patterns; social patterns, behavioral patterns. It all leaves clues to the bigger picture, and ultimately the case at hoof. Now as for finding the right case... I don't think that there is really a 'right' case, but the best way to answer that is, patients."

[Lilia]

Cherry blushed when Sherlock smiled at her, focusing her attention back on the letter of the missing bracelet.  "Fast fillies and slow ponies, huh?  Could he have hired someone to have it 'stolen', sold it and hid the gambling debt that way?  Sorry...it just intrigues me that she couldn't have noticed a debt of that many bits missing without some sort of track covering..." She mused, nodding at his advice for patience.  She could be as patient as she needed to be for this, though she was itching to get started.

[Sherlock Hooves]

Sherlock chuckled, "The higher society of Canterlot don't really have as much common sense as you or I. Though I'm glad they don't because I'd be out of a job." He laughed at himself and hopped up off the couch. "But its your first day, and I can tell you're getting a little antsy. So why not a lesson in street smarts?" He walked over to his desk and retrieved his fedora, as well as a few investigation tools, placing them in his vest pockets. He trotted over to the door and waited for Cherry.

[Lilia]

Cherry bounced up, his invitation to learn what he termed street-smarts more than enough for her.  She had to once again fight a blush at her own eagerness, refraining from flying at him as she trotted to his side.  "So...where to, Sherlock? Uhm...sorry..." She muttered, her apology coming from the way her tail was swishing over his flanks.  She had to learn to control herself, especially as she had to focus on the task at hand!

[Sherlock Hooves]

Sherlock blushed a little from Cherry's tail brushing his flank, but he shook it out of his mind thinking it was just an accident. He opened his door and headed down stairs to the building's exit. "Well my dear assistant I believe some of my underground contacts would be a good place. Now for today, seeing as we don't have an actual case to work. This will just be a walk around; just stay with me and don't do anything foolish." He led Cherry into some back alleys out near the edge of the city. "This is Canterlot's industrial district most of the city's corruption and underhoofed things go on here. Its popular because not to many ponies look very close at things around here, you'll almost never see a guard or patrol pony here, they don't see much of a point." He led them through some rather decrepit looking streets, unlike the streets in the inner city with the polished cobblestone, these were merely dirt. The buildings were dull in color and coated in soot from the mills and factories; around them were a few ponies, mostly workers leaving for the day or just clocking on for the late shift. "The first thing you need to keep in mind is to not show any weakness here, this place can pick up on that in an instance. I find that walking around like you own the place gives me the best results, though it can get you into a few fights but its pros outweigh its cons." He chuckled and kept walking into the district, "The second is to always stay observant, keep an eye on your surroundings and don't get distracted. Trust me the results are not pleasant."

[Lilia]

Cherry followed him closely, listening to his every word.  She focused on an alley briefly and grumbled under her breath, pausing to observe the abuse a poor pony was taking simply for showing their weakness.  "Sherlock...I know we probably shouldn't intervene, but that poor pony is getting beaten...I can't stand by and watch!" She stated, her eyes blazing with subtle anger as she began to trot toward the alley.  He had said to be observant and not show weakness...well, she wasn't going to show the latter and as to the former...well, it was better than being distracted with such a powerfully build stallion.  She shook her head to clear the thought, finding that it didn't want to simply dissipate.  She paused, hanging her head.  "I can't step in and fight distracted...not like this." She muttered, turning back to where her mentor stood.

[Sherlock Hooves]

When he took stock of what Cherry had seen his brow furrowed and he trotted into the alley as well, "Who ever said we shouldn't get involved?" He moved quickly but quietly, the two colts were to distracted with their victim to notice the two ponies behind them. He motioned to Cherry to stay as quite as possible, soon he was within hoof's reach of one. He winked at Cherry and attacked; he grabbed the thug under the chin and kicked his legs out from under him, making it much easier to toss him to the ground. Sherlock planted a hoof right into the thug's neck pinning him to the ground, "Stay down lad, I don't want to do anything more than I have to."

[Lilia]

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.

[Sherlock Hooves]

Sherlock looked back at Cherry fairly impressed, this little filly wasn't timid and acted fast without hesitation; he turned his attention to the victim, "You alright there?" The young colt nodded sheepishly, he seamed more frightened than hurt, "Well go on get home. We've got these two." The colt bolted out of the alley, thanking the two of them. Sherlock turned his attention to the thug still under hoof, "Now I really don't have the time to track down a patrol guard here, get your friend to a doctor and don't let us catch you trying this again! Now get!" He let the thug up and gave him a swift kick in the flank to emphasize his point, the colt picked up his unconscious friend and galloped off as fast as he could, leaving him and Cherry in the alley. He looked back to Cherry with a smile and started for the street again. "Not bad Miss Bloom, to be honest I was half expecting you to freeze up or merely distract him, no offense but I don't come across young ponies that know how to jump into a situation like that without some hesitation." He looked up at the sky seeing the sun starting to drift under the horizon, "Hmm... Its about that time... Anyway good job." He gave a sly grin and a wink to Cherry, "You past tests one and two. Now one to number three." He walked down another back alley until he came up to an unimpressive and blank building. It was simple brick, no windows save for the small ones at the top, and no real door to speak of. "Now spotting something out of the ordinary, this one should be pretty self explanatory, this building seams pretty unassuming doesn't it? No signage, no front door... well no visible door to speak of. One would think that this isn't something at all... But look closer and you find some little hints." He motioned her to follow down the building's alley and pointed to the only real feature on the building. A door, but not just any door; this door was made of steel and looked strong. Reinforced hinges and what looked like a slide port at eye level. "Now this is the question that you should ask yourself. 'What would a building with no front entrance, no sign, and nothing particularly amazing on the exterior need with a reinforced steel door like that?'"

[Lilia]

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.

[Sherlock Hooves]

Sherlock quirked an eye at her at the implication of it being a cabaret. "Close my dear, but not that close. Here come with me, I figured we have earned a little relaxation time." He walked up to the door and tapped on it lightly and waited, he looked back to Cherry for a moment. "... Yeah you should be old enough." After a moment's wait the slot opened and a voice was heard. "Mr. Hooves its been a while." He grinned, "Well you know how it goes, get thrown in jail one night, chase down an arsonist then next. Pretty soon you lose track of time." The voice chuckled a little then became serious, "Who's the kid?" Sherlock turned to Cherry and smiled, "She's with me, my new assistant actually. Don't worry she's fine, little thing can handle herself." "If you say so Hooves, she can come in." The door was unlocked and opened out, behind it was a very large unicorn stallion. Sherlock entered and motioned Cherry to follow. They walked through a dark hall, coming up to a pair of black curtains, he stopped and turned smiling at Cherry. "Well hope you enjoy yourself." He opened the curtain to revile a night club. But not just a simple night club this was amazing. Clean, high class, and big, very big. From a glance it looked like the whole first floor was the club; a large bar took up two walls of the room, with dozens of tables laid out near it. In the center was a medium sized dance floor, and to the back was a stage with a band playing soft jazz music. The club was fairly full, ponies filled the bar and many were sitting at the tables, a few were even dancing, the place was very high class. "Welcome to the Speakeasy Cherry. This place was built during the prohibition days, ended up becoming the most well known place in Equestria to get a drink back then. After the laws were appealed it stayed open as a invite only night club." Upon entering a few of the patrons looked to Sherlock and waved, and giving him warm greetings. He walked up to the bar and nodded to the bar tender. A scotch was slid over to him along with a quizzical look to Cherry.

[Lilia]

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.

[Sherlock Hooves]

He blinked at her choice of drink, surprised. To most scotch was a very acquired taste, so he was curious as to how she would react to it. But then her request, "May I take an ice cube?" it hit him hard. He started to blush and he fidget a little in his seat, not sure of how to proceed. The bar tender arrived with Cherry's drink and set it down; Sherlock sat there, confused. He nodded to Cherry's request holding his drink so she could retrieve what she needed. He was so preoccupied with the situation at hoof he didn't notice the band calling out to him. "Hooves! Hey, you awake down there?" He blinked and looked back at the dark blue stallion on stage with the rest of his band. "You've been gone to long, how about a song or two? I know this crowd would enjoy it!" The audience began to cheer him on, "Oh not tonight guys." He said shaking his head at the offer. The band leader furrowed his brow in annoyance and decided to make the situation worse. "Come on, what do you say foalks? Lets get him up here!" The crowd began to cheer louder almost dragging him up on stage. He sighed and finally complied, he looked back at Cherry. "Well wasn't planning on showing you this... at all really, but." He shrugged and walked up on stage to the thrilled cheers of the audience. He walked up to the blue stallion and the spoke for a moment before he turned around and got up to the mic. Nodding to the band they started to play; soft and slow jazz, after a couple of beats Sherlock started to sing. You're Nopony Until Somepony Loves You by Dean Appletini ((Reference to Dean Martian, his real Italian name was Martini))

[Lilia]

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!))

[Sherlock Hooves]

The song had ended and the crowd cheered, Sherlock ginned and bowed a little. He had forgotten what it was like to be up here, this was one of his little pleasures in life and he had neglected it for a bit too long. He smiled and looked back at the band and nodded, "Okay enough of the slow stuff, last I checked this was a swing club!" The band started again this time with faster paced music, Sherlock tapped his hoof and started again, "Gal is like a race horse, I play her to win..." Another one of Dean's songs, Who's Got the Action. This time the audience cheered and filled the dance floor, swinging to the music.

[Lilia]

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.

[Sherlock Hooves]

"... Bet ya ten to one, you. will. be. mine..." He finished up his song to the cheers of the crowd. He bowed and smiled at them, then turned to the band. "Thank you and how about a big hoof for the band?" The crowd cheered just as loud in response as the band's leader bowed followed by the rest. "Well that's enough for me tonight foalks, stage is all yours guys." He smiled and hopped off the stage and trotted over to Cherry, the band started to play another fast paced instrumental jazz piece. The majority of the audience stayed on the dance floor happily swinging; Sherlock had made his way to Cherry smiling happily then sighed a little. "Well wasn't planning on having you learn that about me so soon... but, there you go." He chuckled nervously and started to make his way back to the bar.

[Lilia]

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...

[Sherlock Hooves]

Sherlock smiled pleasantly surprised, "Really a young filly like you knows Dean's songs, and he's your favorite? You're surprising me more and more Miss Cherry." He grabbed his drink and finished it down, noticing Cherry's tail against his flank. He blushed again, this time he wasn't able to shake it off as an accident. Sipping down his drink quickly, quicker than he normally does, burring his throat a bit. "Oh... haaaa... Another one!" He fidgeted a little then heard Cherry mumble something, "You say something Cherry?"

[Lilia]

"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.