//------------------------------//
// 11 The Snuffed Flame 
// Story: Alternate Beginnings: Year Seven 
// by Doug Graves 
//------------------------------//

Fluttershy's hoof hovers between the two for a brief second. Applejack narrows her eyebrows while Rarity sits with a smug expression, both staring at Fluttershy. The pegasus gulps, her head looking to hide behind her mane again as she steels herself.

"Rarity." Fluttershy's hoof points at the unicorn, Applejack nodding along. Fluttershy gives her best glare at Rarity, slowly quailing as the unicorn stares back.

Rarity's glare at the pegasus hardens, an offended, "I'm afraid I'm going to need a little proof to justify this heinous accusation!" She flicks her mane to the side, turning and looking at the ceiling with closed eyes, a loud 'harumph' escaping her lips.

Fluttershy moves over to the bodies, taking Pinkie's hat with a wing and dropping it on her head. Pinkie Pie winks at Fluttershy before closing her eyes, her tongue lolling out of mouth once again. Fluttershy stops next to Pinkie Pie's head, pulling out a folded white piece of paper.

"You see, in the instructions Doug gave us, he said that the killer would have to do something to mark their victims, to clearly show everypony that something heinous has taken place!" Fluttershy replaces the paper without opening it, "But, his instructions didn't say how the killer would go about doing whatever it is killers do."

"Kill ponies?" Rainbow says, smirking from where she is laying on the floor.

"Yes, well," Fluttershy says as Applejack lightly kicks at the pretend corpse, "that might be the end result. But they, um..." she trails off, looking around the room, first at Applejack and then Pinkie Pie. "I... I don't suppose anypony else wants to keep going?" She walks back over to the punch bowl. She refills her glass, chugs the tomato juice, and refills it again.

"Nah, 'Shy, you're doing great." Applejack smiles encouragingly at the yellow pegasus, "Keep going, tell everypony how you know Rarity is the killer." Fluttershy smiles back at Applejack, walking over to the bodies.

"Alleged killer, dear," Rarity interjects, glancing up at the clock. "I still haven't heard any hard evidence, and there are only four minutes left until the lights go out, if the trend continues."

"Paying a lot of attention to the clock, are you?" Applejack says with a smirk, "Ah think Ah've got a pretty good idea of who the killer is, too!"

"Yes, well, welcome to three minutes ago." Rarity says with a huff. Applejack snorts, rolling her eyes and stomping a hoof on the ground. Rarity ignores the outburst, turning and saying, "Fluttershy, darling, would you like to continue?"

"Oh, um, are you two done?" The two nod, Fluttershy continuing, "Okay. So, after Doug was, um, killed, Rarity rushed to remove all the evidence of what she had done."

Rarity interrupts, "No, that's because a tomato juice stain is particularly horrendous to try to remove, especially if you let it get into the wood. At least without soap or some sort of detergent, but we weren't allowed to leave the room."

Doug coughs from his position on the floor, "It was all under the table, if you didn't notice." One arm raises, the chains clinking as he points towards the refreshment table.

Rarity peeks under the table, a forced grin as she notices. "Oh. Oops. Thank you, darling, but I would have preferred you to use some other substance."

"Well, it's what you had on hoof. Also, blegh!" Doug slumps back over, again pretending to be dead.

Fluttershy glances up at the clock, only one minute before 9:30. She stammers, "Okay. So, you see, with Doug's head, and Rainbow's throat, they weren't actually killed. Obviously."

A doll of Professor Flintheart pops out of Pinkie Pie's mane, the longest, most drawn out, dripping with derisive bile, "Oobvioussslyy..." coming out.

Pinkie Pie twists over, bashing the doll and hiding it back in her mane. "I'm sorry, it's been doing that. From time to time."

The doll pops out again, "Oobv-" before Pinkie Pie shoves it back in.

Rarity gives Fluttershy a soft smile, saying, "Please, Fluttershy, continue."

Fluttershy opens her mouth as the clock strikes 9:30. The lights flick off, followed by a wild stamp of hooves. Two ponies grunt as they are knocked to the floor, followed by somepony cursing under her breath.

The lights turn back on. Applejack and Fluttershy are massaging their rumps, sitting on the floor. Rarity is standing at the punch bowl, one hoof dipping her empty glass into the tomato juice. She nervous laughs, withdrawing her hoof and clearing her throat. "Well," she manages to say, looking around the room, "Who got, um, killed this round?"

"Well, it weren't me," says Applejack, getting to her hooves, an empty glass next to her. "Ah'm sorry, Fluttershy. If'n we weren't interrupting you so much, you would have been able to explain your reasoning before the time ran out."

"Oh, um, that's okay." Fluttershy kicks at the floor, a soft squelch as her hoof strikes a puddle. "Oh dear." A hoof slowly comes to her throat, pulling back with a red tint. "Oh dear."

Rarity glances from her unfilled glass to Fluttershy's empty glass. She had apparently knocked the pegasus' tomato juice into her when she bumped into her, in her mad dash to get another refill of her murder weapon. She grimaces, an almost apologetic, "I'm sorry, Fluttershy. I didn't quite mean for that to happen."

"But, that means you win, right?" Fluttershy glances towards Doug, the human getting to a sitting position. "I'm dead, and there's just the killer and one pony left."

"That ain't fair!" Applejack says, stamping a hoof. "Like Ah said, if we weren't interrupting her so much she would have given the proof of her accusation!"

"Well, that was somewhat intentional," Rarity says, putting her glass down. She stares at Applejack, "All part of the game."

Applejack shakes her head, her glare at Rarity getting stronger. "She had you, pardon the expression, dead to rights, Rarity."

"Well, I'm sorry if you think it was a little underhoofed, but I did nothing illegal." Rarity points at Fluttershy while glaring at Applejack, "You practically helped me just as much as she did."

Fluttershy quietly says, "Girls."

Applejack points at Doug, Rainbow, and Pinkie Pie, "Well, if'n they didn't break the rules Fluttershy would've had enough time to finish her accusation!"

Rainbow and Pinkie Pie trade awkward looks, neither wanting to involve themselves any more than they have to. Doug stands up, moving to the refreshment table and grabbing some of the paper towels.

Fluttershy says, slightly louder, "Please stop fighting."

Rarity shouts, "Well, I didn't ask them to break the rules, now did I?"

Applejack steps forward, shouting back, "Well, you sure benefited from it, now didn't ya?"

Rarity takes one step forward, "And I'm supposed to be the one to blame, am I? Well, Applejack, I'm sorry I won!" Rarity turns, walking towards the door to the her bedroom.

"And Ah'm sorry a dirty cheater won too!" Applejack shouts, walking towards the front door. "Ah hope you learn your lesson!"

Both Applejack and Rarity try their respective doors, finding them still locked. Both turn, glaring at Pinkie Pie and shouting, "Open this door!"

"No." Doug flings his stack of paper towels to Rarity's hooves, pointing at the tomato juice still on the floor and on Fluttershy. "Clean that up."

Rarity turns to stay something snappy, her voice catching in her throat as she sees Doug's forceful expression. Combine that with the effect of his costume and the terrified unicorn hunches down, her ears splaying back. Rarity's horn lights, beginning to levitate the towels.

"No." Doug's stern command breaks Rarity's concentration, a confused expression as she fearfully looks up at Doug. "No magic. Not yet." Rarity slowly nods, a cowed look on her muzzle as she gathers the towels with a hoof and begins to wipe up the liquid.

Doug turns to Applejack, walking towards her. Applejack stands firm, staring at him, "Doug, Ah've had enough. Ah'm going home, and Ah want you to join me."

"No." Doug holds up one of the chains, slowly letting it clink as it slips through his hand, "Do I need to tie you up?" Applejack snickers, about to say something before he gets to the end, holding up the sharp meat hook, "Or do I really need to tie you up?" The chain jingles as the hook sways back and forth, the light from the room barely glinting off the iron.

Applejack's ears flatten, the fight leaving her eyes. "Doug?" she hesitantly asks, "Ah... are you okay?"

Doug nods, cleaning a bit of the makeup off his teeth as he forces a smile to his mouth, "Never better. I'm just not letting my herd tear themselves up over a game." Applejack sinks down, watching Doug as he points the meat hook towards Rarity. Applejack barely shakes her head back and forth, an unsteady nicker and a light stomp of one hoof. After a few seconds Doug fingers the curved hook, "Now, do I need to drag you over there, or are you going to cooperate?"

"Ah'll be good," comes the quiet reply. Applejack gets to her hooves, walking over as Rarity dumps the last of the towels in the trash, the floor clean. Applejack lays down next to Rarity, the unicorn doing the same with a subdued expression.

"Now," Doug says, wiping the remaining black gunk from his teeth and giving them a pleasant smile, "I think you two had something to say to each other."

Applejack starts, "Rarity, Ah'm sorry Ah got so mad at you for using what Ah saw as an unfair method to win. It just got me so riled up, Ah could barely see straight."

Rarity nods, "And I'm sorry that I took advantage of what had happened. Even if I didn't cause it in the first place, I still benefited from it." She looks to Doug, the human returning a smile.

"Well, then, as the creator and unofficial referee of this game, I give Fluttershy thirty seconds to give her proof. If she can't, then Rarity wins, fair and square." Doug looks at Applejack, the earth pony nodding after a few seconds. Doug looks to Fluttershy, a high pitched whine coming from the pegasus as she stares back. After a few seconds Doug motions towards Fluttershy, "Go."

"Oh dear. Um, well, when you were killed, Doug, you had a puddle of tomato juice around you. And so did Rainbow Dash. And so did Pinkie Pie. And, um, I did too, but that was unintentional. Sort of." She pauses for a few seconds before a quiet 'eep' comes out and she continues, "And, so, the three of you, the dead ones, had full glasses next to you after you were killed, and Rarity had to refill her glass each time. So that means that Rarity was the killer, because nopony else had to refill their glass. Unless they just drank from it."

Rainbow says, "Twenty seven seconds. Cutting it awfully close there, 'Shy." She wipes her forehead, "Yeah, I knew Rarity would get really mad at me if I spilled my drink." Pinkie Pie and Doug both nod their heads at that.

Doug wrapping one arm around Applejack and Rarity as the two ponies beam over at the pegasus. Pinkie Pie pronks around and cheers, "Yay! My death was not in vain! Woohoo!"

Applejack sighs, "Again, Ah'm sorry Rarity. Friends?"

Rarity smiles, "Of course, darling." She leans over Doug, a quick nuzzle for her lead. Rarity relaxes into Doug, grinning as she says, "I can't believe I've never had you threaten to tie me up before. It must have felt good to be dominated, didn't it, Applejack?"

Applejack shrugs, staring at the chains. "Nah, Ah prefer to be in control. Ah don't believe what you said, though."

Rarity rolls her eyes, "Well, it's not like we've never used ropes before. But the spontaneity isn't there, not like this." She looks over at Doug, "How come you never threaten to tie me up without asking first?"

"Hey, I wear different masks for different ponies," Doug retorts, "You don't want me treating you all the same, do you?"

Rarity sighs, "I suppose not." She looks down at the floor, shaking her head. She groans, "I can't believe I used tomato juice as the weapon of choice!" She knocks her hoof against her head, "At least I didn't get any on my coat!"

Rainbow Dash smirks, holding up her own glass, "Don't worry, Rares, I got ya covered!"

Rarity's eyes widen, almost shouting, "No! Bad Rainbow Dash! No! Doug, help meeee!" as Rainbow looms over her.