Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuSSHIa0piw

Hey all. So I'm not sure how many of you are going to take this chapter, but I think it turned out pretty nice. As per usual, if there are any spelling mistakes, please let me know in the comments.

Chapter 13

Cooper awoke to the sound of pounding on his door. He instinctively pushed himself to a sitting position and reached for his sidearm, only to pause as he picked it up. A frown creased his brow as he remembered that he had no more ammunition to speak of, and he gently set the pistol down on the nightstand with a sigh. After glancing about his room once more, and seeing nothing aside from his cloak, plate carrier, and boots, he rolled out of bed and got to his feet. He suppressed a groan at the stinging pain in his shoulder, but managed to make his way to the door just as another set of loud knocks reached his ears.

"Yeah?" He asked, upon opening the door.

"Just making sure you were up, friend." Adrian cordially replied.

"I am... what's up?" Cooper responded, raising an eyebrow as Adrian started walking away.

"Oh, just breakfast. Figured you were probably hungry, so I thought I'd make sure you didn't miss it. Some of the hunters brought back a deer last night, so we're fixing to have some venison before heading back out to search for more supplies." He answered.

"What am I supposed to do in the meantime while you guys are gone? Thought I was getting assigned to your scouting team or something." Cooper questioned, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly.

"Not with that shoulder you're not. Doc told you what, a week or so before you'd be good enough to be of any use?" Adrian shook his head.

"She said a few days."

"Well there you go. There's plenty to do around the camp, just go see Gabe and he'll point you in the right direction. 'Sides, if that shoulder gets hurt even worse back out there, you're gonna take even longer to be useful around here." He chuckled.

Cooper chewed his cheek in thought, "I suppose so..."

"Go ahead and get yourself some breakfast, then talk to Gabe. I'll be back by nightfall." Adrian replied, before waving goodbye and heading down the stairs.

With Adrian gone, and his stomach growling slightly, Cooper quietly sighed to himself and headed back to his bed. He slowly, and with several winces of pain, donned his plate carrier and cloak. With that done, he holstered his pistol and slipped on his boots. Much like the floor, they were cold to the touch, but after an hour or so of wearing them, they'd warm up. Lastly, he grabbed his rifle and slung it over his shoulder, before heading out the door and down the stairs.

Cooper soon found himself among the many denizens of the camp as they lined up for food. He suppressed a slight chuckle at how closely the scene resembled a soup kitchen before taking his place at the end of the line and waiting for his food. Despite being the newest face of the group, no one approached him, in fact, they barely seemed to notice him. They all seemed much more interested in getting a taste of the recently hunted deer meat that could be smelled from across the camp.

Soon enough, Cooper found himself at the front of the line, and receiving a portion of the meat. It was a small portion, just large enough to keep him satiated for a few hours, but nothing more. With a quick nod of thanks to the apparent cook, he made his way over to a nearby chair and took a seat. He glanced up at the early morning sky to find grey skies, and a distinct lack of the lavender color he'd become used to.

He sighed quietly to himself.

"Hope she found somewhere safe... Maybe her way back home if nothing else." He muttered, no louder than a whisper.

When only the sound of muted chatter all around him answered his words, he returned to his meal, and ate in silence.

Twilight stirred from her sleep with a heavy shiver. Her eyes blearily opened to the sight of white all around her, and it took a few moments for her to register just where she was. With a groan, she tiredly pushed herself up and out of the snow enough to free her withers and barrel, before glancing around to ensure no one had spotted her yet. Her ear quickly perked at the sound of multiple voices chattering away below her, and after a quick struggle to wade through the deep snow, she slowly peaked over the edge to look down on the camp grounds below.

The smell of meat quickly assaulted her nose, and she wrinkled her muzzle in distaste. The food line instantly caught her eyes, cluing her in as to the source of the smell that made her fur stand on edge.

"Never am going to get used to that smell... I know human's are omnivores, but eating another creature just seems so... wrong..." Twilight whispered to herself, her eyes squinting in deliberation.

Only a few more moments passed before another door opened, and Cooper stepped out into the world. Twilight breathed an audible sigh of relief upon seeing him head down the stairs and into the line.

"Thank Celestia you're still okay... Now I just need to figure out how we can communicate." Twilight muttered, sticking her tongue out in thought.

She attempted to cast a spell, but her horn merely fizzled and sparked, before dying out and leaving her with a wince of pain.

"Okay... Guess I used up the last of my magic last night... Ugh, it took forever to get that much strength back and I blew it all just trying to stay warm." She grumbled.

As Twilight deliberated over her magic, Cooper took his seat and quickly ate his breakfast. Within a couple minutes, he was finished, and staring aimlessly at his empty plate.

The sound of boots trudging through snow quickly caught his ears as they came to a stop beside him. He slowly looked over to see the boots in question, before looking up to see their owner.

"Adrian tells me you're searching for a purpose. I do believe I can provide several, unless of course, your wounds are too great at the moment." Gabe announced, looking down at him with a calm expression on his face.

"What do you need me to do?" Cooper replied, pushing himself to his feet.

"A man of action. Respectable," Gabe replied, nodding slightly, "We're in need of a man to go heat the ice and feed it into the water pipe just across the camp. The last man appointed to this position is heading the scouting party today, and his successor unfortunately died last week. Do you believe you'll be up to the task?"

"It's just heating water. Can't be too hard. Am I meeting someone over there? Or do I just have to figure it out myself?" He replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Unfortunately, I have other matters to attend to. One of the camp females can point you in the right direction and give you the necessary guidance. It truly is a simple affair."

With that, Gabe walked back into the massive capital building, leaving Cooper with a decidedly bewildered expression on his face.

"Jesus fuck that guy's weird." He muttered with a small shake of his head.

With that, Cooper turned and headed toward the nearest group of people still finishing their breakfast. Among the group were several women, all who eyed him with raised eyebrows upon his arrival.

"You're the one they found last night, aren't you?" One asked.

"Yeah... yeah, that's me. Gabe said one of you could point me in the right direction of the water pipe. Apparently he needs me to melt water and put it in the pipe, unless I'm misunderstanding something here." Cooper replied, flatly.

"Oh sure, I can take you there." One of the women answered, having finished her food.

She quickly got to her feet and led Cooper to the far side of the camp. Upon arriving, Cooper saw the contraption the camp was using as a source of water. A small fireplace was visible via the open door of an elevated cabin on top of a relatively large hill. A steel shovel was planted in the ground just outside the cabin, making Cooper frown as he glanced down at his shoulder. Finally, there was the long pipe itself, that appeared to be simply powered by gravity, allowing the melted ice and water to flow down to the camp.

"Alright, here we are. Just shovel the snow and ice into the pipe opening and use the fire to heat the pipe. It's tedious and boring work, but you get to keep warm, and it's not too hard, even with an injured shoulder." The women announced.

"Right. Thanks for the help." Cooper acknowledged.

"Any time." She replied.

With that, she headed off back into the camp, leaving Cooper all alone to tend to the pipe and ice. He slowly made his way up to the cabin and grabbed the shovel on his way in. A small sigh of relief escaped his lips as he felt the heat of the fire warm him against the frigid temperatures outside, but it only lasted a second before he set to work. He set his rifle down by the doorway and gripped the shaft of the shovel with his good hand. Slowly and steadily, he shoveled the snow and made his way inside to dump it into the pipe and heat it with a flaming log from the pile.

He continued like this for less than an hour before a harsh banging sound startled him out of his work, and he hastily looked around the inside of the cabin for the source of noise. A distinctly loud *thump* above his head made him duck, and he quickly dove for his rifle. He grabbed the pistol grip and shouldered the rifle as he pushed outside into the cold. He quickly turned around to see what was causing the noise and brought his finger to the trigger. As soon as he laid eyes on the roof, he froze, and dropped his rifle.

"Cooper!" Twilight tiredly exclaimed from the roof.

"Twilight?" He replied, incredulously, "What are you doing here? No, never mind, get down from there. Let's talk inside."

With that, Cooper picked up his rifle and rushed inside with Twilight coming in a mere second after him. Once they were both inside, he sat his rifle down again, and dropped to a knee just as she rushed at him.

Twilight quickly wrapped her forelegs around him and nuzzled her cheek against his. He warmly returned the gesture, pulling her in tight with his good arm and relishing in the feeling of her fur against him, even if it was cold to the touch.

"I followed you here as best as I could. I had to take a few detours to avoid being spotted, but I don't think anyone saw me." She explained, barely holding back a small squeak of happiness.

"Thank God... I thought you left and went off to fuck knows where." He sighed.

"I wouldn't leave you like that... You're too important to me." Twilight replied, pulling away enough to look him in his dark mocha eyes.

"Thanks... I was worried I'd never see you again for a second there." Cooper chuckled.

"I'm the one who was worried about never seeing you again." She countered.

"I suppose we have got a bit attached to each other, huh?"

"Looks like all that doom and gloom just doesn't suit you when I'm around." Twilight teased.

Cooper took a moment to respond, but when he did, he simply chuckled.

"Oh man, you really are just like her." He replied, shaking his head.

"Like who?"

"My daughter... You act and talk just like her... God, you even look like her somehow." He admitted, his eyes falling to the floor.

"You have a daughter?" Twilight pressed, her eyes lighting up in excitement.

"Had." He quietly answered.