Disposing of the Evidence

Twilight's shoes touched down on the dirt road ten kilometres from Whinnyapolis. She was unsure why Flurry wanted to meet her here, of all places. It looked to just be a small farm, run by a maximum of three ponies. There was a decently-sized farmhouse with a netted porch, a large shed with large farming equipment poking out of the door, and a big red barn. Surrounding the property on all four sides was an outline of fir trees mixed with a few mulberry trees, making it difficult to see the fields surrounding them.

"Are you sure this is the right address?" she asked her driver. "I think we may be at the wrong location."

"I think this is correct," answered the driver, pulling out a map. "I followed the instructions to the letter. The only way we're at the wrong location is if the map we were given is wrong."

Twilight glanced at the map. They'd taken the correct turns, in the correct order, at about the correct intervals. This should have been the right place. She flew up into the air, did a quick comparison, then returned to the carriage. "No, you're right. This is the place we were supposed to go." She looked around again. "But why would Flurry call me all the way out here?"

The porch door to the farmhouse swung open, and a stallion in a straw hat, flannel shirt, overalls and black boots approached. "Are you Princess Flurry Heart?" he asked. "Everything's ready for your visit with your aunt."

"No, no," corrected Twilight. "I'm Flurry's aunt, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I was supposed to be meeting her out here. By your confusion, I'm guessing she hasn't arrived yet. What exactly did she have you set up?"

The farmer looked from Twilight to her driver, then to the pair of armed guards. He began to sweat. "She told me that I wasn't supposed to tell anypony about it. Is it... Is it okay to talk with so many ears present?"

Twilight shook her head. "Just answer me one question: Is it safe, what she asked you to do?"

"As far as I know. I mean, she just wanted to use the house and barn, and the most dangerous thing in the barn is the pitchfork I use to feed the ox. As for the house, I suppose you could do some damage with the cast iron skillet, but unless you're misusing the stuff, it should all be safe." There was a brief pause, then he remembered to add a final warning. "Stay out of the machine shed, though. A lot of that stuff is dangerous if you don't use it properly. I should go lock that up real quick."

As he rushed off to the shed, Twilight returned to her carriage and saw Flurry's coming around the bend on its way down the dirt road. She took a deep breath as Flurry stepped out on arrival and hugged her aunt. "Good to see you again. Are you ready for our relaxing weekend retreat?"

Twilight was sure this weekend would not be nearly as relaxing as indicated, but decided to play along, regardless. "You bet I am. I can't wait to have a calm, quiet weekend with my favourite niece."

"Are you Princess Flurry Heart?" asked the farmer, rushing back to them after locking up the heavy equipment.

"I am," replied Flurry. "Is everything in order as I specified?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied, offering his keys. "I'll be back Sunday night. You have the house and the barn. Enjoy your time here at my farm."

"Thank you," smiled Flurry. "My carriage driver will take you wherever you need to go. You just enjoy a nice weekend off."

As the farmer took off in Flurry's carriage with a guard escort, Twilight sent her own away to return on Sunday night. Once they were alone, the two walked into the house.

"So, what do you think of the location, Twilight?" asked Flurry, spinning around to face her aunt.

"I'd like to know why you picked this spot."

"It's isolated. The nearest pony is more that two miles away. Nopony will hear a thing out here."

Twilight scowled. "We have soundproofing spells. We could have stayed at the castle and nopony would hear us."

"There are more reasons," answered Flurry. "Open skies, fresh air, nopony to come between us, just to name a few. Besides, it's rustic. I had the guy buy a set of sheets just for us that I'm going to bring back home with me as a souvenir."

Twilight sighed and looked around the house. It reminded her a lot of Applejack's house, if a bit more rough around the edges. It was only a single story in height, with a very easy to navigate layout. There was a kitchen, dining room, enclosed porch, bedroom, and a bathroom. It was all very open and simple. Twilight had always enjoyed this sort of home; there wasn't a lot to them, and you could make them whatever you needed them to be.

The bed was very well-used, and sagging in the middle. The sheets were new, as Flurry had indicated, but the mattress had probably been unmoved for years. "This is your idea of a relaxing hideaway?"

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't plan on ravaging you in the bed," offered Flurry. "Not unless you want to after your twelve hours are up."

Twilight turned around to face her niece. "You're going to start the timer right away?"

"Not right away," chuckled Flurry. "Let's go out to the barn and I'll show you my intentions."

Back through the house and into the yard, the duo made their way to the barn. It had been recently built, a common thing this far out. Every few decades, it was customary to pull the whole structure down and rebuild it to make sure it didn't come down on accident. The door slid open with a big push from Flurry, and they trotted inside.

Right in the middle of the barn was a device that Twilight had seen in books several times, but never in person. The front had a pillory with a few straps, clearly not from the original design, as the device seemed old, but the pillory section was brand new with shiny new bolts holding it in place.

In the next instant, Twilight was being bent over with magic and pushed into the pillory, where her head and hands were held in place. A ring slipped over and clamped down on her horn to restrict her magic. As Flurry flipped up Twilight's skirt, she whispered, "Twelve hours."