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// Foraging 
// Story: CSF: Celestian Special Forces 
// by XeRom 
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    Several years later from the events of CSF: Beginnings, after the Nightmare Moon Incursion and the Discord Incident, Aces and Shadow will be forces to go up against one of the toughest enemies they've ever faced, with help from an unlikely ally they will have to take on this new enemy head on, while the fate of Equestria hangs in the balance.  

I was out in the Ever Free forest, walking along the same game trail I've been using for the past few months. Foraging without magic on the ground is a lot more difficult than in the air with magic. Today I was up for a challenge though. The past year had been pretty dull for Shadow and I. With Discord safely locked away in the statue, we've had nothing at all to do except settle the odd border dispute or calm a rampaging dragon. Nothing like the stuff we used to do. Although I'm not saying I'd like anything to happen, because I don't, but something is better than nothing.
Foraging wasn't my specialty, Shadow was much better at it than I was. But if there was one thing I was good at, it was identifying which plants were safe to eat and which ones weren't. That actually saved us once when Shadow had picked some berries out near a lake, thinking they were normal blueberries. Good thing I stopped her from putting them in her mouth, otherwise I would have been hard pressed to save her with my magic.
Although I wasn't good at foraging, I had a few good spots I liked that were ripe with plants and picking a few, I wound my way back up the trail, keeping an eye out for any animal trails leading through the forest. If anyone knew a good berry, it was the wild animals. Soon enough, I was walking back through the door to Shadow and I's little cottage.
When we graduated from the CSF academy, Princess Celestia made us the protectors of Ponyville and the surrounding area including Canterlot and Cloudsdale, the largest region to protect out of all the other members. We were settled into this cottage near the Ever Free Forest so nopony would disturb us on a day to day basis, it also provided a means to hide our true presence here.
Anytime we went into town it was always in disguise, I was under the guise of Lance Quills, an exotic quill and ink maker like my father. While Shadow was under the guise of Gemstone Blue, acting as a rare gem finder like my mother. No matter how hard I tried though, she would never talk about her parents much. I quietly accepted this as I knew her fillyhood was harsh.
My hoofs clacking on the porch I call out, "Shadow I'm home! And I got some really good stuff for dinner tonight." She met me at the door with a smirk and a quick kiss. That's something else, she and I have been trying to start a family for the past month. No luck so far but we can try, if you know what I mean.
Our house is modest enough, your average outdoor cabin. A separate bedroom, a small guest room, a kitchen and a living room. What guests we do have, which are few and far between, don't see is that we have an underground armory under our roof. As well as the lockers that are built into the wall to house with combat ready equipment.
I walked over to the kitchen table and dumped what I had collected, a bowlful of berries, a few assorted fruits and a fireflower, Shadow's favorite. She smiled big at me when seeing it, "Oh you know just what I like." I grinned back at her. This has been a routine we've been getting into. One week I go out foraging, while she stays home and tends to the household chores. Whilst the next week, we change roles and she's the one who's foraging. It's worked out for us well enough so far, although we always seem to be arguing about who got more each week.
Nuzzling her I say, "Always for you my dear," I smirk, moving over to where our lockers are, I hit a button on the chimney, causing our lockers to appear. Storing my foraging gear in the bottom half of my locker, I turn to see Shadow already starting on the dinner. Grinning, I move in next to her, helping prepare the vegetables into a salad with some hay we have left over from the last time we were in town.
After fifteen minutes of that, we both sit down at the table, chowing down on the food we made. "So did you see anything interesting while you were out today?" She said, eager to find out any new trails I might of found.
"I followed a new deer trail off of the lake path today, it's where I found your flower." I said, winking at her.
Laughing she replied, "Alright alright, don't tell me. You use that excuse every time I ask. Where do you keep getting these flowers anyway? You manage to find one every week while I can't ever find a single one."
"Oh I have my ways," I grinned at her, "Anyway, if I brought you one everyday it wouldn't be special now would it?"
"Okay, okay I get your point," grinning back at me. "You do know just the kind of thing I like though, always perfect."
"Always for you," I winked. She got that mischievous look in her eye whenever she knows shes going to get something she wants. Suddenly she pulled me across the table, pulling me into a long kiss. Closing my eyes I relished it, whiling away the rest of the night with her.