Twilight and Cooper stalked through the frozen sewer system as quietly as they could. It was made slightly more difficult by Twilight's hooves making a distinct clopping sound every time she stepped on the ice, but after over an hour of walking, it didn't seem as if anyone else was down there to hear her. They both breathed a small sigh of relief at the lack of a hostile presence nearby, and proceeded onward until they reached a four way intersection of sorts. Cooper held up a fist to halt their advance.

"What is it?" Twilight asked.

"Did you hear that?" He asked.

Twilight's ears flicked back and forth as she tried to listen for the sound, but after several seconds of trying, she shook her head in confusion.

"I don't hear anything." She said.

"I swear I heard a whistling sound." He replied, glancing back and forth in the dark sewer.

"Hmm... maybe a breeze?" Twilight suggested.

"Down here?"

"Well... I don't know what else could make that-" She began to reply, only to freeze as the whistling sound reached her ears.

Cooper and Twilight both turned their attention to the path to their left. He quickly raised his rifle and proceeded toward the source of noise while Twilight followed behind. The further along the path, the louder and more intense the whistling got, until it was blaring so loud that Twilight's ears splayed back against her skull. A harsh chill blew past them as they rounded another corner, finding a bright light just a hundred meters down the sewer-way.

The pair walked with a measured step until they arrived at the source of light, finding it to be a large hole in the sewer wall. Upon reaching the exit, they immediately squinted in the harsh light after being in near complete darkness for hours. Once their eyes adjusted, they saw the cause of the hole in the wall. A crater, nearly a hundred meters across, and filled with debris and snow that almost piled up the ten meters to the surface.

Twilight eyed the crater curiously while Cooper sighed quietly, and slung his rifle. He gave a small nod and led Twilight into the snow, pointedly using the debris as stepping stones to the surface. As she followed behind him, she glanced back and forth at the pieces of metal littering the hole in the ground, particularly the tubular shaped object that Cooper was leading her toward.

"What... what caused this?" She asked, tapping the metal quizzically, "Was... was this from one of those 'nukes' you mentioned?"

"No... at least not directly. This was just a side effect." He muttered as he clamored into the tube, offering a hand for Twilight.

Taking his hand with her hoof, and stepping into the strange metal cylinder, Twilight shook her head.

"This was just a side effect? How deadly are these 'nukes'?" She asked.

"Each one had a blast radius measured in miles... Basically, you could kill millions of people with just one if they were clustered together close enough..." Cooper explained, ducking under some wires hanging from the ceiling.

"Celestia..." Twilight whispered, "But... what even... is this thing?"

"This was an airplane. A seven forty seven from the looks of it." He replied.

Twilight looked through the porthole-like windows and frowned.

"What's an... airplane do?"

"Well..." Cooper paused, and looked back at her, "People can't fly. So we built machines to fly us around. Airplanes are what we called them."

"You... built flying machines? Like airships?" She asked, her curiosity growing.

"Yeah... Mostly used jets for the last few decades. Unfortunately, jets need electricity to fly. At least, as far as I know... and the thing about nukes is that they usually release an EMP blast when they detonate." Cooper elaborated, his expression downcast.

"What's an-" She began.

"It basically wipes out electronics... Electronics that were very important to this plane flying through the air." He explained, cutting her off.

"Oh... so... t-this airplane..." She trailed off, her eyes filling with dread.

"Lost power... and was full of people... This crater is what happens when an airplane hits the ground at five hundred miles an hour with over a hundred souls on board."

"Oh my gosh..." Twilight whispered, falling to her haunches.

"Yeah..." He sighed, "Come on, let's keep moving."

Twilight slowly rose to her hooves and followed Cooper's lead. Soon enough they emerged from the rear of the destroyed airplane and climbed the rest of the way out of the crater. They found themselves in an empty street, populated only by a few snow covered cars and debris from the crash. As his eyes scanned building to building, Cooper spotted something that made his spirits rise considerably.

"No way..." He said in disbelief.

"What is it?" Twilight inquired, looking in the same direction.

"Follow me."

Without further warning, Cooper broke into a sprint toward the building in question, prompting Twilight to attempt to gallop after him. She quickly lost ground, and fell behind. Just as she was about to shout to get his attention, he reached the building and turned around, waving her closer. Suppressing a sigh, she shakily trotted the rest of the way toward the man and arrived at the entrance beside him.

"Why're you in such a rush? What even is this place?" She asked, keeping her voice down as she noticed Cooper unslinging his rifle.

"This is a supermarket. There's a chance that there's still some food here. Also a good chance someone else is here too. Staying out in the street like that just makes us easy targets... When we've cleared this place out, you're gonna have to explain a few things to me." He replied, before shouldering his rifle and rushing in through the doorway, leaving no room for debate.

"Cooper, wait!" Twilight whisper-shouted as he moved inside.

After no response, and his words weighing on her mind every second, Twilight glanced back and forth at the buildings surrounding them. She bit her lip in thought for several seconds, before shaking her head and moving inside after him. She was immediately met with a large entrance way, and a series of strange machines just to the right of the doorway. Behind them, and filling the majority of what she could see, were a series of aisles stocked with shelves that seemed to be in multiple different states of disarray and decay.

She easily spotted Cooper as he swept from one aisle to the next, and trotted after him as best as she could with her slight limp. As she approached him, the clopping sound of her hooves on the tile floor echoed around the room, making her visibly wince with each step. Cooper shared her fears, and quickly turned around to face her, holding up a fist while he frowned disapprovingly.

Twilight froze mid step, and he continued searching the building. It took some time, but eventually, he was able to clear the entire structure of any possible threats or people. He returned to the aisles to find her exactly in the same spot and position, and rolled his eyes as he gestured for her to follow. Taking the hint, and with a feint blush forming on her cheeks the purple alicorn followed behind until they both arrived at an aisle still filled with boxes and cans.

"Here." Cooper said, tossing her one of the cans.

She caught it in her magical grasp, and turned it around to read the label.

"Spa...gettios? She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's like tomato soup, but with some noodles... You ever have either of those?" He asked, pausing in his searching of the other shelves.

"I... yes. I have. I've just never heard of it being called... that." She said, shaking her head slightly.

Cooper grabbed several boxes and cans of soup before nodding toward the end of the aisle. Twilight took the hint and followed behind him. They walked past several aisles once more, before Cooper stopped and glanced at the shelf closest to him. He looked at the bag on the shelf, and then back to Twilight as she caught up to him, and grabbed the bag.

"What's that?" She asked, eyeing the bag curiously.

"Medical supplies. For your leg." Cooper replied, holding up the side with the red cross.

"I... thanks." Twilight demurely responded.

"Come on. I think I know the place for us to rest for the day." He said, leading forward toward the back door.

Twilight obediently followed behind, soon finding herself at the base of a long staircase. Cooper quickly ascended and entered the doorway at the top of the stairs, leaving her to struggle all the way to the top. As she rounded the doorway, she found a smallish room, filled with broken or unlit screens, a few chairs, and several windows overlooking the store below. Cooper set his items on the floor next to the window and sat down, resting against the wall.

She quickly made her way over to him and sat down beside him, placing her can on the ground as her eyes darted over to watch him open his can. He pulled a can opener out of his cloak, and easily opened the tin can, allowing the feint smell of tomatoes and preservatives to fill her nose. She gagged slightly at the smell, earning a small chuckle from the man beside her.

"I don't suppose you've got a means to heat any of this stuff up." He said, more of a statement than a question.

"Well... I mean... I probably shouldn't." She admitted, her eyes flicking back to her hind leg for a brief second.

"Shouldn't? Or can't?" Cooper questioned, "'Cause otherwise you're gonna have to eat this stuff the way it is, and let me tell you... it doesn't taste any better than it smells."

"I... alright. Here." She relented, taking his can with her magic.

The lavender aura around the can slowly turned red, and glowed brighter, and more intensely. A few seconds passed, and she set the can down on the floor, steam now slowly wafting from the top. The smell was much better too.

"Well shit... Wish I could do that." Cooper said, some disbelief in his voice.

Twilight let out a small sigh.

"It... takes a bit out of me to do that right now... but I think I can heat mine up too." She replied, igniting her horn once more.

"No, here." Cooper cut her off, grabbing her can from her magic and sliding his over to her.

"You eat that. I'm used to this shit." He said, pulling out his can opener.

"Wha- but Cooper, I can-" She started.

"You need to save your energy. That limp of yours doesn't look like it's getting any better. Tell me I'm wrong." He cut her off, staring at her flatly.

"I...well... no... it's... it's gotten worse, actually." She deflated, her features saddening some.

"I understand... Look, we have some food here. Water is easy to come by. I think we'll rest here for a bit. Maybe a week or something... just so you can get that leg back to normal." He shrugged.

"I... that would be amazing... Celestia knows trying to heal it has been draining me this whole time." She gratefully replied.

"Celesita... Who's that? Like your God or something?" Cooper responded, opening his can.

"Well... she's an alicorn like me... but she's been one for waaaaaaaaaaay longer than me... heh... I actually, uh... haven't been an alicorn for very long." She admitted, her eyes falling to the soup can before her.

"I kinda figured. Well... not really. My guess was either those wings were for show, or you really just never learned to fly." He shrugged, taking a scoop of the cold spaghettios.

"Well... you're pretty much right... I've only been an alicorn for a few weeks." She explained.

"Only a few weeks? What were you before?"

"I was a unicorn... Kind of a shut in, to be honest. Celestia sent me to make some friends and... one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was ascended to an alicorn."

"I see... So the wings..." He trailed off, giving her a gesturing motion with his hand.

"Are real. They work and everything, I just... I'm not very good with them yet... I end up crashing more than actually flying." She dejectedly admitted.

"Ah, well... I suppose not all birds fly on their first try." He replied.

"Or their thirtieth..." She muttered.

"Heh, well... Maybe we'll get you flying once that leg heals up." Cooper offered.

"I don't think you'd be able to do much in the way of teaching... no offense." Twilight replied with a small smile.

"Eh, not really... I could watch and try to catch you if you fall I guess."

Twilight felt the tiniest twinge in her heart.

"You... you'd do that for me?" She asked, her hoof gently touching her chest.

Cooper looked back and forth in the nearly empty room.

"I mean... not like I've got plans." He shrugged.

"I... I don't know what to say... just... thank you, Cooper. Thank you so much." She said.

For a second, she leaned in for a hug, but at the sudden stiffening of Cooper's posture, she froze, and leaned back slowly.

"S-sorry." She whispered.

"It's... you're fine. No worries." He replied, letting out a silent sigh.

"Really... thank you though. I don't know how I can ever repay you for all you've done for me."

"Don't mention it... I do want to ask you about something though." He replied.

"Sure."

"You said earlier that the limp was 'draining' you... what does that mean?" He asked, using air quotes.

"Well... when I first got here I was hurt, badly... one of those people... hurt my leg. I was able to heal it, but the wound was just so bad that it took most of my magic to stop the bleeding... Combine that with the tissue damage and trying not to freeze or starve over the last month... I've been surviving purely on my magic for weeks. If you hadn't found me in that box... well I don't think I would have made it too much longer." She explained, a sad frown on her face.

"Someone shot you?" Cooper asked, a frown on his face as well.

"If that's what those things do, then yes." She replied, pointing at Cooper's AK-47.

"Shit... Yeah, that'd leave a nasty wound... Especially on something your size. Honestly, I'm surprised it didn't kill you, if it was seven six two." He shook his head, grabbing the magazine and pulling it out to examine the ammo.

"Whatever it was... it's made it hard to function." She sighed.

Cooper stared at the dejected pony to his left for almost a full minute before he slowly and deliberately moved his hand to her wither. She tensed slightly at the contact, but said nothing as her eyes darted over to his hand. He gently rested his palm on her soft, lavender fur and gave her a gentle stroke just down to her wing.

"Hey... It's... it's gonna be okay." He offered, doing his best to give a sympathetic smile.

Twilight's eyes widened some at the gesture before a small smile found its way onto her face.

"Thank you."

Author's Note

https://youtu.be/InyT9Gyoz_o

Typo's have been fixed. Editor came back