A/N: Two prompts in one day as I'm in a very good mood after getting my exam results today! :D Enjoy!
"Guess what the girls at work got us as an early wedding present?" shrieked Molly excitedly, waving her phone in the air, having just received a text from Meena.
Stepping away from his microscope for a moment, Sherlock considered all the available information as he attempted to deduce what gift could possibly have excited Molly this much. "Tickets to some teenage boy-band?" he guessed, vaguely recalling the information he had stored on Molly's music tastes, for once hoping he was incorrect as the thought of suffering through hours of 'One Dimension' or whatever they were called entered his mind.
"No, it's even better!" Molly exclaimed, grinning. "You know those 'Red Letter Day' things? They got us a couple's horse riding experience! I used to ride when I was younger, but I never get the chance living in London."
"You used to ride when you were younger?" Sherlock asked, confused at how he could have not known this piece of information before.
With a sigh, Molly replied, "Yes Sherlock, I have told you this before, but clearly you deleted the information. Oh!"
"What?"
"Can you ride? I hadn't even though of it, but if you can't, a whole day of riding is going to be a problem."
"I haven't ridden before, but it can't be that difficult. You just sit there and give the creature a bit of a kick every now and then," Sherlock replied unfazed, confident that a little research on the matter would prepare him sufficiently.
"If you're sure," Molly said hesitantly, not convinced as a rider herself that Sherlock had fully grasped how much skill horse riding required.
And so it was that two weeks later, Molly and Sherlock were arriving at a quaint stables in the countryside outside of London, having gotten a train there.
"You're sure you're going to be ok?" Molly asked as they filled in the required forms.
"Yes, Molly," Sherlock replied exasperatedly, rolling his eyes. "Now, where are the animals?"
As he looked around, a young woman approached, smiling at the couple, Molly in full riding gear, Sherlock in denim jeans, a shirt and a borrowed riding hat.
"Hi, I'm Emily and I'm your guide and instructor for the day. We'll be doing a quick session in the school before we go out for a hack, so if you follow me, I'll introduce you to the horses," the woman greeted them.
As they approached the stables, a handsome black thoroughbred stuck it's head over the door, sniffing at the approaching people. "Oh, he's gorgeous!" Molly gushed, putting a hand out and stroking it's nose.
"This is Topthorn, who you will be riding today Sherlock," Emily said, gesturing for him to approach the horse.
His show of confidence failing for a moment, Sherlock hesitated to go near the horse. Stretching out a tentative hand, he went to stroke it, only for Topthorn to attempt to bite him.
"Oh dear, Topthorn is normally very friendly, I'm sure he'll be fine once you get going," Emily reassured him, then showed Molly the horse in the next stable. "You'll be riding Joey today."
To Sherlock's secret dismay, the horse seemed to warm to Molly instantly, whinnying softly and nuzzling her outstretched hand. "Hello sweetie," Molly gushed, making a fuss of the animal.
After tacking up and heading out to the school, the time came for them to get on. With one graceful movement, Molly swung herself up into the saddle, and began to adjust the stirrups and girth as if it hadn't been years since she had last ridden.
Meanwhile, Sherlock remained firmly on the ground, attempting to balance whilst getting his foot up high enough to put in the stirrup. He had finally managed to get his foot in the stirrup when Topthorn decided to move, forcing Sherlock to hop along behind him, before falling to the floor and being dragged around the school.
As Molly looked on and giggled, Emily managed to stop Topthorn, and give Sherlock a leg-up onto his back. Sherlock finally in place, the lesson began, and continued in much the same way as the rest of the morning had gone; Molly riding like a natural, controlling Joey with ease, and quickly ready to attempt some jumps, and Sherlock trying desperately to maintain his composure as Topthorn first refused to move, then began cantering, interspersed with the occasional buck.
Once Sherlock had finally gained some semblance of control over Topthorn, they made their way onto the track next to the stables, Sherlock being lulled into a false sense of security as Topthorn seemed to relax and begin to behave.
Then, after about an hour, the track opened up into a field, and Topthorn decided that it would be fun to go for a gallop, taking off, Sherlock losing all composure and yelling as he bounced about, disappearing into the distance.
"Oops!" Molly exclaimed, before bursting into laughter. "We should probably go and check he's ok."
As the two women rode forward, a very disgruntled Sherlock appeared, dragging a sheepish Topthorn behind him. Leaves and debris were stuck to him, and his front was covered in mud.
"Oh God, are you ok?" Emily cried, looking concerned.
"He's fine, it's only his pride that's hurt," Molly reassured her, fighting back a smirk as Sherlock attempted to remount Topthorn, clambering back on, and only narrowly avoiding falling off again.
Later, as the pair sat on the train home, Sherlock looking mildly less filthy, having used wet wipes provided by Emily to clean himself up once they returned to the stables, Molly spoke. "So, do you admit that riding isn't as easy as you thought?"
"I maintain my belief that riding is very simple. The problem was the beast of a horse," he muttered darkly, frowning.
"Ahh, what's the saying? A poor workman blames his tools? I think we may have found something that The Great Sherlock Holmes can't do. I think you're just jealous because I could do it and you couldn't," Molly teased, grinning at her fiance.
To Sherlock, it seemed there was only one way to end his humiliation. Leaning across the table, he planted a kiss on his fiancé's lips, silencing her mocking completely.
