Applejack: ...Well knowin' what Ah know, you got a Hell of a controversial chapter here!

ML54: It was...well I don't know, I'll let the audience decide whether they made the right choice or not. Applebloom!

Applebloom: *Tears up* Yeah, yeah, He don't own MLP.

Choices

Seven weeks after the Fall of Ponyville

No-one's POV

Sweet Apple Acres

Button, exhausted after finishing with his little episode, jumped up towards Lyra, who was on the guard tower by the gate, and she grabbed his hoof and hefted him up.

"Good job, kid, that's fifty three less trotters to deal with," She praised, motioning towards said zombies that he had put up against the wall, a message saying 'Keep out!' written across the gate in blood.

Button sighed and nodded at the praise, before leaving the guard tower without a word. Heading towards the barn. Lyra rose an eyebrow at him, but shrugged indifferently.

Once he was at the barn, he noticed Featherweight struggling to move a hay-bale over to the rows of beds. "Oh hey Button!" He said as he noticed the brown colt approach. "Mind giving me a hoof? This thing weighs more than it looks."

Button nodded, before looking down at himself, covered in blood, and looked back up. "Uh...Maybe I should clean up a bit."

Featherweight looked back, a little more thoroughly, before nodding and moving back. "Yeah, probably should," He said, motioning towards the back where they set up a row of shower stalls. "Last thing we need is infected blood getting everywhere."

As they were approaching the showers, Button rose an eyebrow at the Pegasus. "So, why are you moving hay-bales?"

"New beds in case we find anymore survivors," He explained, motioning to the other beds. "Scootaloo was supposed to be helping out, but she had to go comfort Applebloom."

Just as Button was about to enter a shower stall, he paused. "Comfort her with what? As far as I know, she didn't really talk to Rumble."

"It's not about Rumble. She's pregnant," Button blinked at the new information, before he took off, grabbing his saddlebags as he went.

Featherweight blinked, now suddenly on his own, before he looked over the blood tracks on the floor and sighed, grabbing a mop and bucket from the corner. "Just my luck..."

In an area on the farm, a lake was found with a little picnic area laid out, Blitzkrieg was looking over a map here, nodding to himself every now and again.

"Blitzkrieg!" The Bicorn blinked and turned to find Flash Sentry, laying the pedigree chart in front of him. "We need to scrap this."

"Vhat?" Blitzkrieg replied, looking back at his friend. "Vhy?"

"Why?! Well, one, because it's outdated now that we got four new ponies and one's died on us, two because this was a last resort anyway and three, a kid's gotten pregnant from it!" He vented, pointing towards the picture of Applebloom.

Blitzkrieg sighed, rubbing at his mane. "Flash, please understand zat vas not my-"

"I know you didn't want anyone following it yet, but the fact of the matter is that someone has. We aren't prepared for a kid! We can barely handle the Cake twins as it is, how are we supposed to deal with a pregnant pony?!"

"I don't pretend to know, mein friend, but ve mustn't just scrap ze whole thing because of it," The Bicorn tried to reason, but was getting nowhere.

Ditzy, who had been resting against a tree nearby the two as they were talking, decided to pipe in. "Flash has a point, but Blitzkrieg does as well."

The two blinked and looked up at her as she smiled down. "So how about a compromise? Make a new pedigree chart, but tell everyone else that you scrapped the idea. That way, if they want a new one in the future, you have one ready. As a bonus, ponies won't go procreating for no reason."

Flash glared at the ground for a second, before sighing in resignation. "That's probably the best option..."

"Keeping everypony in ze dark?" Blitzkrieg asked, almost as if to circle the idea in his head. "Yes, probably. But right now, I need to focus on zis."

"And what is 'this'?" Flash asked, putting air quotes around the word. Blitzkrieg waved to the map laid out on the picnic table.

"I am vorking on finding ze best route to get to ze Crystal Empire," He explained, pointing out a path that was being drawn up. "I believe zat if ve stick to ze mountain paths and away from ze more populated cities, ve can avoid ze majority of ze trotters-"

"It's not safe," Flash interrupted, causing him and Ditzy to look up/down at him respectively. "We have kids, foals, elderly, injured and pregnant with us, we'd never make it through without someone dying. It's too risky!"

"Zen vat are ve supposed to do?!" Blitzkrieg yelled, causing the other two to jump. "Ve can't have it both vays! Either ve try to get to ze Crystal Empire, or ve stay here and try to make a life for ourselves!"

"What you're suggesting could get ponies killed!" Flash exclaimed back, advancing on his fellow soldier. "I know things haven't been looking up, but we're safe here!"

"But for how long?! Ponyville's walls crumbled, and so could ours!" Blitzkrieg retaliated, butting his head against Flash's.

Ditzy jumped down from the tree and forced her way between them. "Enough! Both of you!"

The two flinched away from each other as the grey Pegasus glared down the two of them. "Things are stressful enough as it is without us fighting each other! You're supposed to be friends, aren't you?"

The two ponies nodded, and started to nervously look away. "Well then start acting like it!" She demanded, pointing to the map. "Come to some sort of agreement: Nicely!"

"Y-you're right, Ditzy," Flash answered, sighing in resignation. "I'm sorry Blitzkrieg. None of what's happening is your fault and I shouldn't take my stress out on you, that's not fair."

Blitzkrieg smiled and nodded. "I understand, but I must apologize as vell. You are correct zat my plan vould hurt us more zan anything. I'm just anxious, but zat is no excuse," He said, extending his hoof. "Friends?"

Flash grinned, grabbing the Bicorn's hoof and pulling him into a hug. "Til the end, buddy!"

Ditzy smiled to herself and nodded, turning to leave them be.

Applejack sighed, staring down at the ground in front of her, from the couch she was sitting on in the Apple household. "She hates me."

"I wouldn't say that," Soarin replied, keeping a wing wrapped securely around the Earth Pony's barrel. She turned to him, as if to question his intelligence.

"You saw her out there, she ran off as soon as Ah reached out ta her."

"She was just scared, AJ, heck most of us were," He answered, choosing his words as carefully as he could. "I've never seen you lose your cool like that."

Applejack sighed, pressing her face into the side of Soarin's neck, causing his face to flush. "Applebloom's mah baby sister and she's been through enough. Land's sake, Soarin, she already lost her eye! Now she's lost her innocence and she's going ta lose her childhood too!"

Soarin sighed, nuzzling Applejack's mane to try and calm her down. "Maybe...But then again, do you think the kids can afford to be kids?"

The Earth Pony blinked and looked up at him. "What do ya mean?"

"I mean that it's not exactly fun and games out there!" He answered, taking a deep breath to calm himself. "The only reason any of them have survived this far is because one of us has been there for them...The only two that haven't needed anyone there for them are Applebloom and Button..."

Applejack decided to stay quiet and let him continue. "And what do they have above the other kids?... They've grown up. They've realised how bad it is out there. Button doesn't give killing those things a second thought and can slice them to ribbons, while Applebloom is one of the best gun-ponies we have...So maybe, we should...We should get them to...mature faster."

"Soarin, they're kids-"

"And Rumble's dead because of it!" Soarin interrupted, but immediately shut up when he saw Applejack flinch. "I'm sorry-"

"No, yer right," Applejack sighed, taking off her hat to look at it. "Big Mac brought this up ta me when Ah told him about Applebloom goin' inta heat. Ah didn't agree an' we dropped tha matter altogether..."

She started to tear up and threw her hat away, wrapping her hooves around the stallion, causing him to wrap his hooves around her to keep her stable. "She's grown up, she's a big girl who don't need me ta look after her anymore but...Ah just wanted ta pretend...Pretend that tha World didn't end! That she'll be runnin' ta school ta learn math while Ah'm out workin'! Ah hate it! Ah hate those things! Ah hate what it's done ta us! Ah hate it all!"

Soarin wrapped both his wings around her, trying to comfort her to the best of his abilities while Granny was asleep on her rocking chair outside.

Applejack sniffed and sobbed a bit and pulled back to face him properly. "Ah just wanted somethin'... normal."

Soarin cringed as he suddenly became aware of Applejack's pheromones, but tried to keep his mind on track. "AJ...Now might be a bad time but-"

"Ah'm not in heat," She interrupted before she shot forward and kissed him, causing his eyes to bug open in shock.

With some effort, well a lot considering who he was struggling against, he pushed her away and gasped for breath. "Wait...AJ...I don't..."

"I have protection in mah room," She replied, pulling him up and off the couch, trying to force him towards the stairs.

He flinched and tried to stay away, as much as his mind was screaming in protest. True, this was something he wanted, but this was too sudden and was brought about because Applejack is vulnerable. "AJ, stop! Please stop!"

She did, thankfully, but her hurt look was more than he could take, so wrapped a wing around her to stop her from making a quick get away. "Look AJ, I do like you, a lot in fact, but now isn't the right time!"

"Like hay, it isn't," She growled at him, pushing her head under his as she removed her mane band to let her mane fall everywhere. Soarin gulped, not liking how hot it was getting in the room. "Ah like ya a lot too, Sugarcube, and Ah need somethin' normal!"

"Normal would be a date! A walk in the orchard! Not a random rut while you're feeling down!" He argued back. She pushed him away and sat where she was, folding her hooves.

"Fine, Ah get what yer-"

"I don't think you do," He answered, calming down enough to sit beside her, but at a comfortable distance. "I know you and I know you value what you have. Sex before marriage is a big no, right?"

"What does that matter now?" She replied, turning away. "World's dead an' there ain't no way ta get no marriage certificate-"

"Screw the bit of paper, AJ," He replied, shuffling closer, turning her head to face him. "It's your values, you need to hold onto them. If you give up in what you believe in then what are you living for?"

She paused, but looked down at the ground in front of her.

Soarin sighed and kissed her cheek. "If you want I can take you out by the lake, spend the day with you. I can talk about flying and you can pretend to know what I'm talking about, just like before. Something normal."

"Sounds...sounds good," She said, smiling a bit. She kissed him on the lips, though much more gently, a lot more meaning behind it, to show her appreciation. "Sounds...normal."

Applebloom had just sat down at the clearing, her two friends having gotten back to the main area as they had to help Featherweight make new hay-bale beds.

She felt better after getting her feelings off of her chest and she had a lot of fun playing with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

Laughing at Sweetie Belle because she had gotten her horn stuck in a tree, then when they got her out they got covered in tree sap just like the good old days...

...It's just too bad that it had been so fleeting.

Applebloom sighed as she heard some hoof-steps behind her, turning to find Button Mash there.

She blinked in surprise at his appearance, blood covered him all over the place, his mane plastered to his forehead and neck, tail sagged and slightly ruffled as if it had been grabbed a few times. "What in tarnation happened ta you?"

Button shrugged and sat down in front of her, dropping his saddlebags in between the pair. "The front gate's clear."

She rose an eyebrow as he put a bottle in front of her and looked up into his serious face. "Um..."

"I know you don't like me, but trust me that I'm not giving this to you because I think you should take it. I'm giving it to you for you to make a choice."

"What are you talkin' about?" She replied, not really in the mood to deal with him right now.

"...This is something called 'The Week After Heat'," He said, shrugging his saddlebags back on. "My mom always made me keep one on me, just in case. It's designed to safely destroy...an unwanted fetus."

Applebloom blinked, but before she could yell, he raised a hoof. "As I said, it's your choice if you want it or not, you have until two weeks into your pregnancy to decide."

"Ah...Ah don't know," She finally said, causing Button to smile, understandingly.

"Of course you don't, I don't think anyone in your position would. It's not a decision to take lightly. Just remember that it's your choice. Don't let anyone make it for you."

She looked up as Button started to walk away, before she picked up the potion, put it securely in her gun belt, and chased after him.

Once she did, he turned to see her looking at him in gratitude. "Thank you, Button."

Button smiled and nodded, letting the pair make their way back to the main area in silence.

"Help!" Lyra heard from the distance and looked out as far as she could. Rainbow jumping awake from beside her. "Please, someone! Help!"

They both soon spotted what was making the noise. It was a Pegasus, clutching her leg while she was being chased by three trotters, still as slow as ever, but persistent.

"You got a shot, Rainbow?" Lyra asked as she lined the sights of her rifle up on the trotter to the mare's right. Rainbow nodded, her own rifle's scope pointed right at one of the trotters.

"Got the one on the left, fire!" As she shouted this, both ponies fired, hitting the zombies. The one on the right falling over, dead, while the one on the left stumbled as part of its leg was shot off. "Dammit, missed!"

"Thank Celestia, please help me!" The mare cried, falling over as she couldn't keep going on her injured leg.

Rainbow managed to shoot out the one on the left, but just as Lyra was about to hit the last one, her gun jammed. "AH not now!"

Just as the trotter was about to pounce, Thunderlane sprung from above the gate, wings held out beside him, and shot forward to knock the trotter down, punching the zombie's head a couple of times, his other hoof staying under the thing's chin to pin its neck down.

After a couple more punches, he picked up a rock and smashed the thing's face in, blood and brain matter flying in several directions. He turned and helped the mare up.

She was, upon closer inspection, a red mare with a blonde mane and red eyes. "Th-thank you..."

"No problem," He answered, nodding for Lyra and Rainbow to open the gate, which the Unicorn was already doing.

As they walked in, he looked down at her wound, which was still bleeding profusely. "You bit?"

She shook her head, tiredly. "No, I got caught in a bear trap. I just about managed to...t-to..."

Before he could ask what was wrong, the mare passed out. "Fluttershy!"

Mac sighed as Fluttershy placed a sheet over the pony. "You did everythin' you could, Shy."

The yellow pony sniffed and nodded. Spike had woken up earlier and was with Twilight to get something to eat, so it was just the two of them in the barn. "It...It doesn't make it any easier...Did we get her name?"

"No, Ah'm sorry Flutters..." Mac said, wrapping a hoof around her. She smiled slightly, but couldn't really shake off the feeling of dread. It wasn't the time to indulge herself in her fantasies, not when a pony had just died.

But she couldn't stay silent forever! She was going to confess to him tonight, one way or the other, and their plans to hang out were obviously dashed. It may not quite be a romantic walk along the orchard under Luna's moon, so it was just going to have to be in the barn, under a light-bulb, next to a dead body.

...Life was weird, sometimes.

"Ah know...M-Mac...?" Mac blinked and let go of the yellow pony in front of him so that they could see, eye-to-eye. "Ah...Well...Ah know...With Rainbow...But..."

As she was mumbling this, trying very hard to get the words out, Mac waited patiently and gave her his full attention...

...neither noticing the sheet rustle.

"What is it Sugarcube?" Mac asked, laying a hoof on her shoulder.

"It's j-just...for the longes-AIIIIEEEEEEE!" She screamed as she was yanked out of his grip by a pair of red hooves, one a lot more injured then the other, a guttural hiss escaping the lips of the injured Pegasus as she tried to take a bite out of the yellow one.

"Fluttershy!" Mac cried, grabbing the zombie by its head and yanking Fluttershy out of its grasp, freeing her...

...but making himself the prime target.

The trotter shot forward and knocked Mac on his back, him trying his best to keep the thing's jaw away from him.

"Angel, go get help!" Fluttershy commanded, her bunny saluting and leaving in a panic, while she grabbed the mop from earlier, trying to smack the trotter off of him. "Get off o' him ya varmin!"

The zombie hissed back, its jaw opening and snapping shut to try and get a chunk of the hoof that's keeping it back.

Having enough of her stallion getting attacked, she actively tackled the trotter off of him jammed the mop into its throat...

...though it snapped its jaw and grabbed her shoulders, still trying to get a bite.

Fluttershy, now a lot more panicked, tried in vain to get away from her captor, until Mac came up, placed his gun to its head and shot it, putting the thing down for good.

Several ponies came by to find Fluttershy grab Mac into a massive bear hug and start sobbing into his shoulder. "M-Mac..."

"Shh...It's okay, Sugarcube, it's over now," He whispered to her, soothingly, glaring over at Thunderlane who was looking over the body. "Ah thought you said she wasn't bit!"

"She wasn't! Look her over, that leg wound was the only one any of us found!" Thunderlane retorted. Mac was going to continue until Fluttershy nuzzled into his neck, and he found it more pressing to tend to the fragile mare in his hooves.

Twilight looked over the body herself, tapping a hoof to her chin. "Well...I guess I could try and see what the problem was..."

"You mean you don't know?" Button spoke up from beside Sweetie Belle, who had come because she wanted to help as well.

"Know what?" Rainbow asked, giving curious glances at how affectionate Fluttershy's getting.

"Well...When my family and I were hiding, my brother found out his wife had died...He swallowed a lot of pills...He...wasn't bit, but he turned into...and killed my dad..." The others shivered, as if they knew where this was going.

"It doesn't matter whether you're bitten or not, you come back no matter how you die."

There was complete silence in the room for a few solid minutes, before Twilight sighed. "Well...buck."

Fluttershy looked up at Mac, who had tilted his head at her. "Are you okMPH!"

He was cut off when Fluttershy pressed her lips against his, much to everyone's shock.

Mac blinked a few times, trying to process what was going on, before looking over and noticing Rainbow tearing up and running off.

Fluttershy finally removed herself from him and smiled slightly at his face. "Uh...That's what Ah was tryin' ta tell ya."

Mac blinked, looking at the pony before him, before looking towards the door, to her again before he sighed. Well...buck.

Back outside the main farmhouse, where the group of ponies tend to sit around campfires and eat their rations, Spike was sitting alone since Twilight ran off to help with the emergency.

"Spike..." The purple dragon blinked, before turning to Applebloom who was rubbing one of her fore-hooves with the other. "Can Ah talk to you?"

"Y-you..." Spike gulped, before spitting his words out. "You actually want to talk to me?"

Applebloom tilted her head to the side in confusion, before taking a seat next to him. "Of course Ah do, ya ninny, what makes ya think Ah wouldn't?"

"...Well-" Spike started, glancing down at his sorta-fillyfriend's abdomen. "-I can think of one reason."

"Spike that was mah fault, not yers," She said, before knocking his arm playfully. "Though yer sweet talkin' weren't helpin'."

Spike let out a little chuckle, albeit a slightly guarded one, constantly glancing around. When she noticed it, she asked: "Are you worried about AJ?"

"Kinda..." He said, motioning to the reddish-purple hoof-print growing on his stomach. "She has a hell of a kick on her."

"Ah won't let her hurt you again," Applebloom said, laying her head on his shoulder, causing him to stiffen slightly, before he wrapped an arm around her. "No way, no how."

"...Thanks," Spike sighed, laying his head on top of hers. "So...What are we gonna do..."

"That's what Ah'm here ta talk to you about," She replied, quietly, taking the bottle and putting it in his free hand.

He looked at the label and immediately recognised it. After all, Twilight had a bottle of this in the library...She's never been in a situation she'd have to use it but hey. "Where'd you get this?"

"Button had one, but that doesn't matter," She explained, looking him in the eye. "Do you want this baby?"

Spike blinked, but sighed. "...It's not that I don't want it...But that we can't have it."

Applebloom tilted her head to the side again, hoping for an explanation.

Spike noticed and explained. "I always thought Kirins were myths, and for good reason, because one was never successfully born. Believe it or not, we're not the only dragon-pony couple in history. They've tried for children but..."

She noticed his eyes misting up and she quickly nuzzled her head under his. "Spike if it's too hard-"

"No, you need to know," Spike replied, gripping the bottle, and her, a little more tightly. "See dragons hatch from eggs, but a pony births the child alive, so when the dragon half feels the need to 'hatch' it...i-it."

Applebloom trembled, looking at the potion a little more gratefully now. "Ah think Ah get tha picture."

"If we had the medical care...If we had access to potions to strengthen your womb, the baby may have a chance...but in all those cases, the baby kills the mother and itself...The only choice we have..."

"Is if tha world hadn't gone ta Hell," Applebloom finished. Spike nodded and turned her to face him, putting the potion in her hoof.

"If that's too much baggage for you, Bloomy, I understand. I mean, giving up-"

Without a word, Applebloom took the top off the potion and took a mouthful, as the potion described, before flinching at the taste.

Spike blinked as Applebloom swallowed and grasped him into a tight hug, pressing her lips against him.

He pulled her into him as she did this, being careful with his teeth, rubbing her shoulders like he knew she liked.

Once she pulled back, she pressed her muzzle into the side of his neck. "If you think this'll stop me from likin' ya then you got another thin' comin'. Ah don't care if'n we can never have kids, or we end up with thousand's of tha damn things down tha line, Ah've picked you."

Spike blinked, before smiling and hugging back, though not without a hint of melancholy over the life that would never be. "Well...Guess you don't have much of a choice there, anyway."

Applebloom sobbed a bit, but couldn't help but giggle a little at his stupid joke. The ponies around them didn't catch their conversation, but were none-the-less happy that they worked something out.

They stayed in that position for a few more seconds before Spike said: "Ambrosia."

"Huh?" Applebloom replied, looking up at Spike's tearful eyes.

"I just...thought we should have a mark for it...For...The life that never was..."

Applebloom's eyes misted up, closing her eyes and resting against him, she could already feel the potion mixing with her, making her nethers start to feel uncomfortable.

"It's not your fault...It would've died anyway," Spike said, rubbing her back, soothingly.

"Ambrosia..." She said, letting her anguished tears fall. "...I'm sorry...Ambrosia..."

ML54: As I said, or as AJ said, controversial...But I felt it wouldn't be a true, zombie survival horror without a little bit of controversy. Being able to make a choice like that...well, as I said, I'll let you guys decide, whether or not, they made the right choice. Please don't flame, I'm actually against abortion (except in cases of rape), but I thought that since Dragons and Ponies are drastically different, and since they weren't prepared for a pregnancy, that they'd have made that choice.

I know it's dark, but that's just the nature of the Walking Dead.

Please R&R.