One by One

by DreamWings

Seven.

Cherry Jubilee watched the scenery shoot past outside of the carriage window. She usually enjoyed this exhilirating sensation you got from riding on trains; this feeling like the whole world could go by beside you without having affected you at all, but today she was having a hard time finding it pleasurable. She was the last pony in her carriage. Everypony else had either got off at earlier stops or just blatantly had stayed in the carriages further up, away from her.

She almost hadn't got on the carriage herself, what with that odd looking pony in the large hat and duffel coat skulking in the corner. But Cherry was used to all kind of odd mares and colts by now so she showed no nervousness about being confronted by one on the train. They hadn't spoken for the whole journey and the other pony had got off the train at the last stop in the quaint little town of Ponyville.

One day, thought Cherry, one day she would have to visit there herself. One of her old workers had come from the peaceful town, a real sweetie she had been as well and a very hard and dependable worker. Her friends had tried to help as well but they clearly weren't up to living the farm lifestyle that the country ponies were used to. No, AppleJack had been a fine worker and shared many things in common with the red headed orchard owner. But she had left... Just like all of the other workers she had hired had eventually left to find something better. Nopony ever wanted to stay on at a simple cherry farm when there was so many other 'better' jobs out there.

Cherry sighed. She supposed it was only normal for ponies to seek the best for themselves, she just wished that for once the best could be working for her. She had never been an inconsiderate boss, every one of her workers had said that they'd loved working for her. But that hadn't stopped them leaving. It seemed her nice attitude was not something that could keep a pony loyal to her business.

The trouble was Cherry wanted somepony she could rely on to look after her cherries whilst she went on her long business ventures. It was up to her to travel around a bit; go to carnivals and rodeos, to see her wares and promote her little field out in Dodge Junction. Lots of visitors had come to visit her fields and buy her cherries just by these little trips. She needed that business. Nice as Dodge Junction was, and as great as it was cost wise for growing cherries, it was not a very large town. Certainly not large enough for her to sell her products and take enough bits to tide her over.

No, she had to move around which meant she had to trust quite a lot of perfect strangers who may have only been working for her a couple of hours. And then when she came back many of them would hand her their resignation along with the words 'It's not you. I love working here...but I've found something that may help me reach my dream.' Then they'd babble on about their new job and how it was going to help them so much, and each time a new line was said Cherry's confidence would deflate and deflate and deflate.

She was going to live old and alone in the future, she could just tell. It was not going to be nice but it would be true. Everyday she would have to sit there staring through her bedroom window and would never be able to get anypony to open it for her. She would call for help and nopony would come. It was going to be simply dreadful but that was her life and she'd have to deal with it because she wouldn't have a choice. She was too 'nice' for anypony to stay with her for long enough to care for her.

The train juddered on its tracks, forcing Cherry to fly upwards off her seat and onto the floor. 'Ouch! Why in the hay did that happen?'. She looked through the window to the carriage in front of her. 'Strange' she thought out loud 'The car in front seems to be okay...'

Sparks flew off the wheels underneath her seat, flying upwards at the windows. The break slammed on shut and a large crash sounded from the front where the door to the next compartment stood. A loud knock came onto the back door, startling Cherry and persuading her to run to the front. She tugged on the handle trying to escape the sparking carriage. Fire sperad over the windows and through the wooden flooring, creeping closer and closer to her as she pulled on the door handle. It wouldn't open. She was trapped.

How could she escape? There didn't seem to be anyway out of here. The heat clutched her hind legs, burning her hairs off of her body. Her mane caught the flickering flames; strand after strand fell to the floor in large clumps of smouldering ash. She clutched her sides in agony, her stomach beginning to boil inside of her crinkly, flaking skin. It was hot; so hot. The smoke clutched her lungs, choking her on the black smog of death that circled the area like a vulture capturing it's dying prey. She sighed one last breath, fell to the floor... and the ponies in front read their papers in silence, reading all about the latest murder in Equestria--How could somepony be murdered without any other pony realising?

Seven.

Comments

[DreamWings]

1535384 Oh? Do tell.

[Konics]

I still dont think its scoots