Only Human

Jacqueline Manzana grunted as she poured the slop in front of the eager hogs who surrounded her, her dirty hand wiping her sweat ridden brow colliding with a few strings of blonde hair pressed flat against her forehead. The brownish green sludge cascading like a mix between a magic eye poster and a waterfall into the simple wooden trough. Her grunt mixed with those of the hogs, and quite frankly she felt like they had more worthwhile things to say than she did anymore. In fact if she could give her ability to speak to the pigs, she was sure her life would be so much easier.

Unlike Applejack who was always prone to speaking her mind, sometimes to the point of insensitivity Jacqueline understood the value of silence. Silence kept her safe, kept her alive, it was the middle ground between lying which she'd never been good at and telling the truth which was no longer an option if she wanted to keep breathing. That was life, wake up, work breathe, really the only things she didn't seem to fail at. After the war, she found herself in an ESS camp 50 km north of Los Pegasus. At first she was overjoyed, surely they could help her, find a way to get her back to her old self without any of the... side effects that came with ponification. Yet instead of being met with cheers and pity she was met with shouts and aggression. None of the ponies believed her, at least none of the guards. She theorized the only reason they didn't kill or transform her on the spot was because one of the commanders thought must've realized that human hands were relatively useful in terms of labor. What was even worse is that while the guards did not believe her story about being the Element of Honesty, the prisoners very much did. Maybe it was because they weren't as blinded with ideology maybe it's because she sent several of them there herself and they recognized her voice. Either way the prisoners, those ponies said to prefer humans to their own foals didn't give her an ounce of sympathy or companionship. The first friendly faces was the U.N rescue team and even then they were only friendly because by then she had learned to shut her trap, and stick to yes or no answers. She only had to lie a couple times, but each time felt like a Rattlesnake bite on a filly's hoof.

After that she stayed in hostels, camps, shelters surrounded by other failures, screw ups and people and ponies too lazy to even try. She couldn't stay in them for long, taking hand outs from the enemy like that was threatening to crush what little pride she had retained. The least she could do was avoid becoming a fixture of one by constantly moving. Finding work wasn't too hard, thanks to the destruction of what humans called 'the third world' there was a major agricultural labor shortage so any person or pony with farm experience found themselves with no shortage of jobs. In terms of employment Jacqueline had the choice of every farm on earth or Equestria save for the only one she actually wanted to go back to. She knew she wasn't wanted there, not by Braeburn, not by Applebloom, not even by Granny Smith. She wouldn't even be surprised if Ma and Pa rose from the grave just to kick her out the minute she set foot on Sweet Apple Acres. Even the thought of it caused her to grimace as she dropped the bucket to the floor. The pigs circling around it desperate for more swill like now destitute Canterlot Nobles around one of the nicer U.N relief centers.

Her neck burned in the scorching Texas sun as she exited the shady paddock, just another reminder that she'd lost and that she wasn't even Applejack anymore. Dust clouds staining her already worn overalls which were unkempt even for work clothes. As Granny used to say "Ya make your pie, then you darn well gonna eat it." and right now this was the pie she had made. With mud, sweat, and shame being the primary ingredients. Jacqueline was so caught up in her daily self loathing that she almost didn't hear the sound of hoofbeats coming down the dirt road which led in and out of the farm. Yet these weren't the hoofbeats of cows, nor the gangly misshapen monstrosities humans called 'horses'. These were smooth, intelligent, deliberate steps, this was the sound of an Equestrian Pony.
Jacqueline turned, normally she did her best to ignore as many people as she could in her day but a honest to harmony pony was pretty rare in these parts. Especially as xenophobic sentiments held strong in the region where many a mother lost her son in the war against Equestria. First thing Jacqueline noticed as the figure became clearer in the dust and the glaring light was that this pony was tall, with a horn that looked like it could skewer foals like shishkebabs. If she didn't know better she'd have sworn she was looking at an Alicorn, but as she and everypony or body else knew Alicorns no longer existed. But this mare could almost pass for one if she tried, she was one of those Sassy Saddle or Fleur de Lis types except there wasn't a hint of softness beneath her light blue fur, nor a shred of delicateness to her gait. She seemed to be a hundred percent muscle and confidence, something that was rare in a Unicorn.

She was smiling as she approached, but the sunglasses she wore seemed to give more than a hint of menace to her expression that made Jacqueline's blood run cold. Hinting that what could be a goofy grin was a in actuality a sardonic smirk caused by things Jacqueline couldn't hope to know.

"Howdy Partner." Said the mare clearly unused to the terminology, her voice carrying just a bit too much condescension. Jacqueline was frozen stiff at this point allowing for the Unicorn to continue with her introduction. "I don't suppose I can 'rustle up any grub round these parts'." Jacqueline had seen types like this, obnoxious city slickers who saw her and her ilk as jokes and tourist attractions. Who thought that any rural family poorer than them was inbred and were proud of the fact they couldn't tell a sheep from a goat. Still there was more, and while carpet bagging jerks irritated her this mare frightened her.

Jacqueline composed herself, standing up straight enough that some of the clumps of mud on her overalls fell to her boots. "Sorry... 'partner'." All of her dislike concentrated in the term of false endearment. "But we're a distributor not an outlet. So ya'll best check the local supermarket if you want food." Instead of turning away, apologizing or even getting mad all this managed to do was make the mare's smile grow wider. Jacqueline swore she could almost see distinctly non equine fangs in the maw that was approaching her face until the Mare's visage now obscured most of the landscape in front of her.

"Actually, I was hoping to get my hooves on some.. apples. Seeing as they used to be your specialty." Jacqueline froze, she knew. Was she here to arrest her? Because this is not how Jacqueline expected her arrest to go down, she expected loud noises, sirens, helicopters filling the sky like locusts as cavalcades of cop cars drew up dust like a herd of stampeding cattle. Hundreds of grim faced humans and ponies brandishing weapons and barking orders. While the thoughts certainly didn't bring a smile to Jacqueline's face, she had become resigned to the thought after dwelling on it for long enough. But this was different, this mare was toying with her, playing with her. Taking her time as if she didn't see the poor broken woman as a threat whatsoever. Then who was she? A Freedom Fighter sent to make sure she stayed silent for good? Or a pony out for revenge for her work with the ESS?
"N-now listen here." Jacqueline said quivering though trying to maintain a strong facade, "ah told ya we don't sell, an we don't grow apples!" The Mare pouted before the eerie smile once again returned to her face as she leaned back away from Jacqueline's face.

"Oh dear." She said with a overacted sigh, "Well if I can't get any apples, I guess I'll just have to settle for information." Her horn lit up, Jacqueline cringed. Even as a Pony who was no stranger to scrapping it out, Unicorns getting aggressive always made her uncomfortable. Now as a human with none of that earth pony strength or durability, that uneasiness had resurfaced as primeval terror as every breath seemed to get caught in her throat.
"Where's the Princess." Her voice was more serious now, not exactly harsh but it was clear that the game was over and she had now reached her main objective.
"C-Celestia?" Stammered Jacqueline her eyes wide with terror as the glow of the strange mare's horn didn't seem to abate. Making it seem like she was either thinking up a spell to hit her with, or charging up something really nasty.

The mare huffed in frustration, "No Princess Diana. Of course I mean Celestia." The mare then began to circle her, in a manner that could only be described as predatory. It reminded her of those few awful times she had encountered timberwolves as a foal. One would circle around her, the others would stand just out of sight ready to catch the panicked filly in their splintery jaws.

Jacqueline wanted to get out of this, she wanted to run but she knew that wouldn't do her any good. She had no idea where Celestia was, and she doubted she was a good enough liar to convince her she did. Besides she could only imagine the repercussions that would come once this mare and whoever else she had been working for learned they were lead on a wild goose chase. "Ah-Ah don't know!"

The mare cocked a brow, her muzzle in a pout, "Honest?". To this all Jacqueline could do was nod as she hoped what little was left of her reputation could spare her from what her former coworkers called, 'enhanced interrogation.'. The mare sighed once more, "Of course you are. I should've known she wouldn't have reached out to you." before muttering to herself a few times. For once the mare sounded frustrated, it was obvious that at least part of her was expecting to come show up, make a big entrance and get exactly what she wanted.
"Anyways." Said the Mare, as she lit her horn one last time roughly tearing the canteen from Jacqueline's hips before pouring the water into her mouth. Throwing it onto the ground to leak out for good measure. "It's been a real pleasure Applejack. Hopefully you won't do anything that makes me drop in to your neck of the woods. Happy Trails!" And with that the mystery mare walked off, her long strides turning her into a blue blur amid the heat waves and red dust that dotted the landscape. Jacqueline fell to her knees, unsure whether she should laugh in relief or cry out in horror.