As Mosley felt the chicken walk up towards his face, he opened his eyes and stared Alice down, “Don’t even think about it.” He hadn’t been able to get back to sleep. Plans and problems kept boiling through his head keeping him up, but he felt that this had preemptively solved a few of their potential roadblocks.

As his wife was still snoozing, he got up to make the morning meal, waking her up by bringing her breakfast in bed.

“Good morning,” He said, gently nuzzling her, “Time to begin the day.”

Valencia reluctantly opened her eyes, “Good morning, Dearest,” Then she saw the bowl he had brought in for her and smiled, “Are you trying to butter me up for something?”

“Not at all, I just thought turnabout was fair. You deserve a nice morning, besides, we have the first of many busy days ahead of us,” His jaws cracked with a yawn, “I never got back to sleep, so I spent the night brainstorming about the steps we might want to look at for this new venture we are planning.”

He joined her on the bed, as she began to eat, “Let us get the obvious out of the way; are you still sure you want to pursue this . . . , well I can’t think of a diplomatic way of putting it, opening of a sex club?”

“First off, I think that ‘Couple’s Retreat’ would be the right term. Secondly, yes I do still think it is a good idea,” She said between delicate mouthfuls of her morning salad, “If there are a few Ponies who feel the need to go trespassing in the dead of night just to add a bit of spice, then there must be many others who want to add some variety to their lives, but are afraid to take the risk. If we can offer a safe place for them to explore their wild side, then I feel that they will seek us out.”

“Okay then, a Couple’s Retreat we will make,” He paused, “Just outside the hamlet of Ponyville, and bordering the venerable Sweet Apple Acres. I am confident that won’t have repercussions biting us in the haunches later.”

“I am sure that they will be understanding, and we will cross that bridge if we come to it,” She reassured him, “What do you think about Rodger and Thicket Blossom? I got a very good feeling from them last night. I really think that, with their help, we can create a lover’s maze that would be a wonderful attraction.”

“One of the things I was thinking about last night was how to make this happen with our limited budget. From their enthusiasm, I believe that they might trade their expertise for the promise of membership. However the hedges themselves are something that will certainly require bits. As will other privacy features.” He sighed, “If this is going to be an open air retreat, we will need something to camouflage it from the air or we will have non-paying pegasi peeping.”

They relocated to the dining table with some parchment and quills to start their planning. This outlining took them near to lunch.

“Oh my,” Valencia said with a start, as she caught the time, “I was going to the market today wasn’t I? Do you mind if I step out for a bit to do the shopping, I think my head could use some clearing anyway. I will finish the garden when I return”

“Sounds like a good idea, I need to clear out the cobwebs myself,” Deciding to try to be productive about it, “I’ll go walk the land. Try to get at least a rough idea of how many hedges we will need.”

As Valencia gathered her saddle bags and left to some shopping, he went over their notes. This was looking to be an ambitious project. Many of the ideas they would have to put on the back burner, simply because they lacked the capital, but it did look like they just might be able to pull this off.

Stretching out the stiffness acquired from sitting hunched over papers for too long, he set out to look at the land. It was still as empty and as full of promise as yesterday. He took his time, carefully counting his paces, and began to build a mental map of how a maze might be laid out. When he returned inside, he transferred his ideas into sketches, noting his carefully remembered measurements. It took a few tries and do-overs, but eventually he had a nice looking maze. Focused more on semi secluded alcoves, rather than being a puzzle, he was a little surprised on the amount of hedges that it would need in order to be completed. This might be more expensive than they had thought, but they could always find corners to cut, start off simpler and plan for expanding later perhaps.

While he was pondering, Valencia returned, saddlebags full, and a wide smile on her muzzle. “I have great news, sweetheart!”

“Oh,” He looked up, “What happened?”

“Well, while I was shopping, I met this lovely Unicorn wearing a Dah’ling little chapeau. After I complimented her on it, she said that she made it herself, and was the town’s local fashionista.”

“Okay?” He couldn’t really see where this was going.

“Well, not only does she have a shop here, but also in Canterlot, and Manehatten,” Her smile widened, “Because she designs her own fashions, she is always trying to keep up to date on the trends. I discreetly mentioned how we were worried about our privacy, one thing led to another, and she promised to put up an anti-peeping shield around our little valley, in exchange for my old dresses back in Manehatten! I will give her a letter to show the storage company, and the next time she goes to check on her outlet there, she will pick them up. However, she insisted on performing the spell first, and said she would come by tomorrow and cast it.”

“That is great news!” Once again Valencia had impressed him with her resourcefulness, “You are sure that you don’t mind losing your dresses?”

“Oh pish, it isn’t like I am going to miss them, honestly, it isn’t like they were all that comfortable,” She tried to hide a wince of small regret, but he saw it and loved her all the more for it, “Besides, one less expense for our little start up is what is important. From what she was saying, it isn’t as simple a spell as we might have thought, she said that she needed to consult with her friend, who is apparently quite the Spellsmith, in order to make sure it is done right. Who knows how much an unscrupulous Unicorn might have charged us to do it.”

“You are right, of course,” He waved her over to the table, “Let me know what you think of these:” He gestured at his various rough sketches for the maze.

They spent the next few hours tossing ideas back and forth, with a short break for lunch, when a knock at the door interrupted them. It was Rodger and Thicket Blossom, on time for their meeting.

After settling in around the table, Mosley chose to stand again, he opened things up, “I have to say we are glad to see you decided to come, we have a lot to go over,” And so saying, he laid out the rough plans for their ‘Couples Retreat’. Valencia taking notes as their guests offered input.

It turned out that the idea of trading membership for hedge work was something the pair was very enthusiastic about. The plants themselves, however, would have to be bits up front just as he had feared.

“The good news,” Rodger told them, “Is that with the number of plants you are talking about, I know I can get a bulk sale discount.”

So, after a little debate, Valencia and he decided upon the most that they would be able to allocate for the hedges. Thicket Blossom and Rodger taking the information, and their leave, to see about the purchasing of the maze to be. Valencia then went outside to see about finishing the garden that kept being put off, leaving Mosley alone with his thoughts.

‘I have to say,’ He ruminated, ‘That I never thought I would ever see this land head in this direction. Time will tell how it all turns out, but things just may be starting to go our way.’

Author's Note

Ah, the background 5