The Next Morning

Cooper rolled out of bed as the morning light filtered in through the boarded up window to his right. He groggily rubbed his eyes as he sat upright, but paused as a twinge of pain shot across his chest. He looked down at his dirty plate carrier and sighed.

Slowly, he unstrapped his armor and lifted it off his shoulders, exposing his tan undershirt. With a small grunt of pain, he lifted his shirt up enough to see the black and blue bruise on his chest, just a couple inches to the right of his heart. He shook his head in disapproval before redressing himself in his clothes and equipment.

"Guess I'm just lucky he didn't crack a rib..."

Cooper pushed himself to his feet and made his way over to the door, picking up his rifle in the process. The handle jiggled slightly, and the door creaked as he pushed his way into the living room, waking Twilight in the process. She nearly jumped out of the couch before realizing it was him, and let out a quiet sigh.

"Sorry." He muttered, as he made his way to the kitchen.

"It's... it's fine. I'm just still getting used to being around another creature I guess..." She replied, a bit of shame in her tone.

"Try not to. You'll live longer, trust me." Cooper shrugged.

Twilight pursed her lips for a moment.

"Are... Are you saying I should leave?" She asked.

Cooper cocked an eyebrow back.

"No... I mean... I don't know... I didn't really expect you to be here anymore to be honest."

"Why wouldn't I be here?" Twilight tilted her head to the side.

"I don't know... Still having a hard time believing you're real, I guess."

"Well... I am... So..." Twilight trailed off.

Cooper chewed his cheek for a moment before glancing out the window at the world. The blizzard was gone, leaving a calm world outside, and relatively soft grey skies. Out in the distance, he could see the city, sticking out like a crown of thorns among the cold, dead snow.

"What were you thinking of doing today?" He asked, suddenly flicking his eyes back to Twilight.

"What?" She asked, slightly taken aback at the question.

"Were you planning on going somewhere? Maybe trying to get home? I'm heading to the city, but if you're home is somewhere out here, then maybe I can help you get there." He offered, glancing back out at the city.

"I... I don't know where my home is... Everything just looks the same out there." Twilight wilted, her eyes falling to the floor.

"Well, the city is pretty hard to miss... If we go there, we could kill two birds with one stone. Maybe get you to where you're trying to go." He suggested

Twilight returned his suggestion with a puzzled look instead of an answer.

"What?"

"Your metaphors are so dark..." She replied.

"Well it's just a metaphor." He shrugged.

"R-right... anyways... I suppose that makes the most sense. We can go there together so you can do... whatever it is that you want to do there, and I can try to find my bearings." She concluded, a smile slowly forming on her face.

"I'm going there for supplies. The big cities always have the most food, water, and ammo... and Houston's the biggest city for at least the next few weeks of travel." Cooper explained.

"I see... Well... I think I can walk better now. I'm not sure how far away this city is, but it sounds like a good opportunity." Twilight replied, pushing herself to her hooves and letting out a long stretch.

"Alright... Just try to keep up. I can usually cover twelve miles in a day, and from what I can tell, Houston's a full twelve miles away."

"Okay. I'll do my best. I'm ready whenever you are." Twilight replied with a determined smile which quickly faded as she noticed Cooper staring blankly at her.

He blinked a few times before realizing that he was staring and shook his head clear.

"Um... You okay?" Twilight asked, a worried look quickly appearing on her face.

"Uh... Yeah... Yeah, sorry about that. I just... Thought of something." Cooper replied, keeping his eyes pointed anywhere but in her direction.

"What was it?" She pressed as she stepped off the couch.

"Nothing, nothing... You just kinda... remind me of someone. Let's go." He cleared his throat before heading to the door.

Twilight cocked her head to the side but followed behind regardless. Quick enough, they were outside in the frigid world once more, and she felt a familiar pit form in her stomach as she eyed the white snow again. Cooper stepped into the world without hesitation, prompting her to quickly swallow back her reservations and follow after him.

Time dragged on as the man and pony walked through the white nothingness. Before either of them knew it, the sky was darkening once more, and the temperature slowly dropped. Twilight's eyes glanced back and forth for any signs of danger as she struggled to keep up with the man in front of her. Cooper eyed her curiously, but decided not to say anything, and scanned his eyes over the horizon as well. The far off skyscrapers of Houston slowly grew in size as they approached, and for a time, the only sound in the air was the crunch of their feet and hooves against the snow.

"Um... Cooper?" Twilight called, suddenly.

Cooper turned to look back at her, taking notice that she was slightly further away than before.

"Yeah?"

"Could... Could you maybe... slow down just a little? I'm... I can't really keep this pace right now." Twilight admitted, her eyes falling to the snow at her hooves.

"We don't have time to be out in the open like this. I told you earlier that we need to get to Houston before nightfall," He replied, glancing up at the sky, "-and from the looks of things, it's only a couple hours away at best."

"I... I get that... but I just can't keep this pace anymore... My leg..." Twilight pleaded.

"How bad is it?"

"It hurts to put any weight on it."

Cooper looked back at the imposing skyscrapers of the city, then back to Twilight.

"Look, we're sitting ducks out here. Either you push through it, or you die out here. Can't you use your wings to help distribute the weight or something?" He rebutted.

"I... I can't!" She cried, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Why not?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

Before she could respond, a sound akin to whizzing and a loud crack snapped between them, and kicked up the snow just inches away from Cooper's foot.

"Get down!" He shouted as he dove into a small berm to his left.

Twilight quickly followed suit, and they both scrambled to get deeper into the snow as another crack filled the air, and more snow kicked up next to them.

Cooper dug into the snow and buried himself and Twilight just as the sound of gunfire finally reached his ears.

"You still alive?" He asked, his voice muffled by the snow.

"Mmhmhmm" Twilight responded.

Cooper sighed and angrily bit his lip as he contemplated his next move. After a few minutes of deliberation, he slowly dug his way out of the snow until just his head peaked out on the opposite side of the berm from the gunshots. He took a few deep breaths before looking left and right for any escape route. Upon seeing no cover or even decent concealment for hundreds of meters in either direction, he let out a long sigh. He reached down with his hand and felt for Twilight. Soon enough, he was able to grab her mane, and pull her head out of the snow, much to her displeasure.

"Ow, ow, ouch!" She cried

"Shh!"

She shut her mouth almost instantly.

"Alright, we're kinda pinned down here. I don't think we could make it to decent cover even if you could keep up with me..." He admitted, shaking his head slightly, "So, you got any ideas? From the sound of it, those were seven six two rounds. Almost sounded like an AK..."

"What?" Twilight asked.

"An AK. The type of rifle he was shooting. If it's an AK, then he has to be somewhere under three hundred meters. Either that, or just a really good shot." He explained.

"Uh... I-" Twilight began.

"Right, right, you don't know how far that is. It's close. Way too close for comfort."

"I see... Um... I... I might have an idea though." She offered.

"And what's that?"

"Well... I may be able to make some fake copies of us to distract him." She suggested.

Cooper considered her idea for a few moments before an idea popped into his head as well.

"That... might just work... Can you make them do certain things?"

"To an extent, yes. What did you have in mind?"

Cooper and Twilight broke out of the snow bank and ran for the buildings directly in front of them. Almost immediately, gunfire broke out, kicking up snow all around them. They both only made it fifty meters before Twilight dropped to the ground, and Cooper fell beside her. The gunfire stopped immediately, and a deadly silence filled the air as their bodies stopped moving completely.

Several poised moments of silence passed before two more shots rang out, kicking up more snow, and then nothing. Minutes passed slowly, yet the only thing that moved was the red slowly pooling into the snow around the man and pony. Finally, the shooters moved. They quickly approached their bodies with their rifle at the ready.

Just as they reached the dead bodies, they faded, and vanished into thin air, startling them both. Not a moment later, Cooper fired from his position in the berm. The first round struck true, knocking the first man to the ground instantly. The second reacted by shooting wildly into the snow in Cooper's direction, but it was obvious he couldn't see him. With a slow, deliberate breath, Cooper fired his second shot, and hit the second shooter in the neck, dropping him to the ground almost instantly.

With the threat taken care of, Cooper surfaced from the snow. Twilight popped out a moment later, breathing heavily from the exertion.

"Celestia... that thing... is so loud..." She wheezed.

"Better being on this side of it than that one. Come on." Cooper said, nodding to the two downed men fifty meters in front of them.

He hoisted himself out of the berm and jogged over to the bodies while Twilight struggled to fall in line behind him. Once she managed to free herself from the icy concealment, she walked over to Cooper to find him searching the first man.

"Cooper... A-are they..." She began to ask, before a gurgling sound caught her ears.

They both glanced over to the second man to see him coughing up blood while clutching his throat. Twilight looked away instantly, swallowing back her dinner from the previous night. Cooper simply shook his head and resumed his looting, much to her displeasure.

"Cooper... Are you just... gonna let him die?" She asked, visibly cringing as the man struggled to move.

"They tried to kill us. Why should I care how they die?" He absentmindedly replied.

"Cooper... He's suffering." Twilight pressed, stepping over to his side, only to look away as she saw the face of the man Cooper was searching.

"Those were my last two rounds of seven six two, and I'm not wasting my nine mil on him." He said, flatly.

"Cooper, please! This is wrong! I know they were trying to kill us but... for the love of Celestia, listen to him!" Twilight shouted, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as the man desperately struggled for air against the blood filling his throat.

Cooper paused his actions and sighed. He glanced over to Twilight to see her red, teary eyes, then back to the dying man to his left. With a deep shake of his head, he pushed himself to his feet and walked over to his side. He pulled his knife out of his plate carrier and reached around to the back of his skull. After a moment of searching, he found his target, and pressed the tip of the knife against his neck. He quickly thrust the knife in, and the man stopped struggling.

Twilight looked away as the tears slowly leaked from her tightly shut eyes, and she choked back a sob as Cooper moved onto looting the second body.

"Guess I was right about one thing..." He muttered, "They were shooting AK's. Between the two of them, they have two and a half full mags. That's gonna get us far."

Cooper quickly removed his empty magazine and replaced it with the fully loaded one. He racked a round into the chamber and rose to his feet.

"You coming?" He asked.

Slowly, and almost begrudgingly, Twilight complied, and turned to walk with him.

The city grew closer.

Author's Note

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9HwiIuQW6Q

Any questions this chapter has raised shall be answered in due time. I assure you.