Cold

Cooper and Twilight huddled around a small fire in the center of the church. They kept their hands and hooves close to the flames in a small attempt to keep warm in the frigid air as blackness enveloped the world outside.

"Thanks for agreeing to the fire," Twilight mumbled, "It feels like it got even colder than usual tonight."

"S'long as it stays small... Since we're inside and the windows are all boarded up, it shouldn't draw any attention, but you never know." Cooper replied, absentmindedly.

Twilight gave a small nod of acknowledgment before returning her attention to the fire in front of her. The small flames licked at her hooves, giving small doses of warmth against the bitter cold that filled the room around them. She suppressed a shiver and scooted just a tiny bit closer to the heat. As she got more comfortable, her eyes flicked back up to Cooper to find him staring into the flames with his brow furrowed deep in thought.

Twilight cocked her head to the side, "Something on your mind?" She asked.

"Just thinking." Cooper muttered.

"What about?"

"Our next move." He answered, simply.

"Which is?" Twilight pressed.

"I don't know. Part of me thinks that we should find where those raiders are held up and give them some good fuckin' payback..." he trailed off.

"And the other part?" Twilight asked, an uneasy frown forming on her face.

"The other part," he sighed, "wants to just move on. Find somewhere else to settle down and try to live in whatever kind of peace we can find in this world." Cooper admitted, shaking his head.

A silence fell over the room as Twilight mulled over Cooper's words. Eventually, she found her gaze drifting down into the flames below as they crackled lightly, just a few inches from her fur. "Is there anywhere we can even go to find peace here anymore?" She asked, after some time.

"That's the thing; I don't know anymore," Cooper shook his head and chewed on his lip, "That group... that was the closest I've had to normal in four years... and it was taken away in a matter of hours." He sighed.

Twilight wilted slightly as the memories flashed through her mind, "All those people... how could they just do that to each other? That wasn't just killing over resources, it was killing just because they wanted to."

"People do fucked up shit when there aren't any consequences." Cooper replied.

"I don't understand... I don't think I'll ever understand the ability to just kill each other and not even care, or worse, to enjoy it." Twilight shivered in disgust.

Cooper looked into the flames with a distant stare as he spoke.

"People used to be civil... Used to be kind and generous. Hell, places like this were where people would go every Sunday and be a community. Going to church with your family was a staple of growing up, and we all thought it made us better people."

He sighed.

"I think the problem is that when we nuked ourselves, God stopped taking care of us. Left us to our own devices, and now look at us." He explained, his gaze never leaving the small fire.

"God? Who's that?" Twilight inquired, a curious look on her face.

Cooper raised an eyebrow before his gaze slowly moved up to the alicorn in front of him.

"You don't have a God where you're from?" He asked, puzzled.

"Not that I'm aware of." Twilight mused.

"Like, nothing at all? No higher power that you all know of and pray to?" Cooper pressed.

"I mean... We have Princess Celestia and Luna. They raise the sun and lower the moon, but I don't think anypony would use the term 'God' to describe them. They're just our diarchs. There's also my sister in law, Cadence. She's the princess of love, and me. I just became a princess before getting stuck here though, so I don't really have any duties or anything yet." Twilight explained, sticking her tongue out in thought.

Cooper just stared at her with a mix of disbelief and confusion on his face.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"That's a lot to unpack, but uh... I guess you would say that a God is some kind of being that has more power than you could ever imagine. As in, the ability to make everything and everyone just like that." Cooper explained, snapping his fingers to prove his point.

"Well... I guess with that logic then Princess Celestia and Luna are the closest we have to Gods where I come from." Twilight reasoned.

"Right, except for you, they're real people, er, ponies." Cooper commented

"Yes. They're very real, and very kind. Celestia has actually been my mentor ever since I was a foal." Twilight replied, a nostalgic smile finding its way onto her muzzle.

"Yeah, well here, there ain't no real Gods walking around and talking to the people here. The closest thing any of us have to meeting God is a few books that talk about his son from over two thousand years ago, and near death experiences where people sometimes claim to have seen him." Cooper elaborated.

"What? Wait, you mean none of you have ever seen your 'God', but you still have buildings and ceremonies to worship him?" Twilight asked, incredulously.

Cooper chuckled dryly. "Pretty much, yeah. No one's ever truly seen the guy, and to make it worse, there's like, a hundred different religions that say their version of God is the right one, and everyone else is wrong. 'Course, that only breeds a cycle of 'fuck you, I'm right' and 'no fuck you, I'm right'. Hell, we've probably had more wars over religion than anything else on the planet."

A deep frown formed on Twilight's face as Cooper's explanation rolled about in her head. Her mouth moved to speak a few times, but the words simply failed to come out, and she just stared down at the fire once more. After almost a minute, Cooper shrugged slightly and spoke up. "It wasn't all bad. Like I said, going to church was a big part of growing up, and everyone felt a little more like a part of the community when we went." He said.

"I... but, if you never even saw this 'God', then why do you believe in him? Especially after everything that's happened to your world. If Equestria was like this, Celestia and Luna would do everything in their power to stop the death and suffering."

Cooper sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know, Twilight. Maybe because that's all we had to believe in? Maybe God doesn't exist and we're all alone in the universe... well, maybe not all alone, but you get my point. I don't have the answers. All I know is that if God does exist, he either doesn't care anymore, or is so ashamed of us that he's left us to our own devices."

"It doesn't matter either way. All we can do is try to survive until we run out of luck." Cooper replied, a somewhat defeated tone in his voice.

Twilight frowned at Cooper's tone. As he sat in quiet thought, she found her gaze once more migrating down to the fire below. The strained silence made her ears splay flat against her head, and after a few moments, she let out a quiet sigh.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to sound so critical.. I just view things from a different scientific perspective, and killing each other over something you can't even be sure exists just seems so... alien to me." Twilight apologized, her violet eyes gently looking up at him.

Cooper looked over to the boarded up window behind him for a moment before looking back down to Twilight with a sad smile on his face.

"It's alright. Not your fault. To be honest, when you say it like that, it really does sound kinda dumb, doesn't it?" He chuckled softly.

Twilight allowed a small smile to form on her face before replying. "I wouldn't say that. It's just... different. It must be hard not having someone like Celestia or Luna to lead your people. It'd be like having to grow up without parents." She offered.

"Heh, I guess so. Guess we were set up for failure from the very start." Cooper chuckled mirthlessly.

Twilight frowned immediately. After a moment of contemplating, she shakily rose to her hooves, earning a curious look from Cooper. She slowly made her away around the fire until she was standing beside his good shoulder. Once there, she sat on her haunches and leaned against his shoulder, bringing her head to a rest against his neck.

She made sure to keep her horn from poking him in the face as she nuzzled softly against his jaw, eliciting a small sigh from the rugged man beside her.

"You're just a big cuddle bug, aren't you?" Cooper teased, wrapping his good arm around her withers and holding her close.

"Don't act like you don't enjoy it." Twilight teased him back.

Cooper snorted, but returned the gesture by resting his cheek on the top of her head and rubbing her foreleg with his hand.

"Eh, it's not the worst thing I've ever experienced."

Twilight smiled up at him before snuggling against his side just a smidge closer and letting out a small sigh of satisfaction. Together, they shared the warmth provided by the small fire, and each other's body heat.

As the shrill howl of the breeze outside echoed through the cold air, they huddled close together under an invisible blanket of comfort. Eventually, they both felt their eyelids grow heavy, and their posture slumped down as they found sleep hovering just a few moments away.

"Hey, Cooper? Twilight suddenly asked, earning a raised eyebrow from the man in question.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Can you tell me what their names were?" She continued.

"Whose?"

"Your wife and daughter."

Cooper pursed his lips as the flames flicked about in front of him. For a time, the dancing fire held his gaze as if it held all of the world's secrets. After some time, Twilight glanced up to ensure she hadn't caused any offense at the question, but just as she opened her mouth to speak, Cooper beat her to it.

"My wife's name was Mya. She was the most beautiful woman I've ever met in my entire life. God, I don't know what she was doing with a shaggy mop like me, but for whatever reason, she chose me." He recalled, a fond smile tugging at his lips.

Twilight instantly smiled at the short story, her tail swishing happily as he continued.

"We met... thirteen years ago, if I remember right. Fresh outta high school and working my last summer job as a waiter before heading to college, and in walks this gorgeous, stunning woman. Her soft brown hair fell down her shoulders like silk and bobbed with every step she took. Her eyes, somehow they were the color of the ocean."

Cooper paused, taking a moment to wistfully sigh as the memories flashed by. "I could get lost in those eyes for hours, if she'd let me. Heh, she'd always get annoyed if I stared for too long, though. Mya said it got weird after over a minute... me, I just couldn't believe someone could have eyes that seemed to see right into your soul, like hers." He trailed off with a small chuckle.

"And, your daughter?" Twilight pressed, an excited smile on her face.

"Sarah... her name was Sarah. She was a tiny little thing before all this happened. Loved to play sports and just be outside," Cooper smiled, "I remember the time I had to take her to her first day of baseball practice. She was the most adorable little kid, in her little baseball uniform, smiling up at me with those baby blues." He finished with a small laugh.

"Aww." Twilight cooed, clearly invested in the story.

Cooper smiled wide as he looked down at the lavender alicorn pressed closely against his side.

"I remember asking her if she was ready to go, and she just looked at me with the most energetic little smile kids seem to have and said, 'I'll do my best, daddy.'. God, I think she just about gave me diabetes that day, she was so sweet." Cooper mirthfully recalled.

"She sounds like the cutest little fil, er... little girl ever." Twilight smiled warmly up at Cooper.

"Yeah, yeah she was... I thought Mya was my reason for living right up until Sarah was born. I'd have given anything for that kid." Cooper sighed.

"I know you would, Cooper. I know it may be hard to believe... but I think she'd be proud of you for never giving up." Twilight offered, squeezing him just a smidge tighter.

Cooper fell silent. His gaze lingered on the fire for only a few moments before he finally tore his gaze away and looked down to Twilight once more.

"Thank you." He buried his face in Twilight's mane as they hugged each other close.