//------------------------------//
// The Cultivator 
// Story: A Farmers Tools 
// by Imperium Bedlam 
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Shocked? Of course I was. Did I express it well? Not really. My first reaction had been to move a hand behind me and grab onto the handle of one of my sickles and almost swung it at the pony directly in front of me, had recognition not kicked in. Many of them seemed shocked as well, though I guess that was thanks to both Twilight and Applejack who were currently among them all.

"...A party? On such short notice?" The bright pink one smiling right at me beamed once she saw I wasn't going to do anything drastic. Then her afterimage faded and I choked slightly as she wrapped a hoof around my neck and yanked it towards her, which was odd to say the least considering I don't breathe.

"Of course Mally! I make sure everypony feels welcomed to Ponyville as soon as possible. SO welcome to your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party!" She waved her hoof over the rest of the ponies in the barn and I noticed many, if not all of them, had welcoming smiles on their faces. I had no idea ponies could be this... kind-hearted.

Even as they all radiated positivity I could still feel many of them casting worried glances my way, only natural I suppose. I'd calmly wrenched myself out of the pink ones grip and rubbed at my shoulder gently. "That's alright with me, but how did you know my name?" She pointed a hoof at the two who'd come before me and it didn't take much to put the pieces together. "That is acceptable, and what is your name?"

"Oh of course! My name's Pinkie Pie! Though my friends and family usually just call me Pinkie, but if I'm doing something I shouldn't be it's more like Piiinkiiie which I think sounds really silly when you put it like that and it almost sounds like Pea-inky which isn't my name in the slightest, well except for the 'P' and the 'inky' but you get my point, right?"

She was a talkative one wasn't she? I'd gotten the feeling that she was the kind of pony you only talk to in small doses, else you might contemplate replicating Van Gogh's blue period.

"Hellooo, are you listening to me? How would you listen anyway when it doesn't look like you have ears? Is there a head under that hood or just more darkness? Maybe you're secretly the remnants of Nightmare Moon's powers come back to haunt Ponyville and gobble up all our snacks?!" She gasped loudly and while I could have waited for her to finish, I felt the need to introduce myself to the party go-ers before the music the white one was playing got too loud.

"Pinkie, would you like me to tell you a secret?" She'd been broken free of her rambling and shook her head eagerly as I leaned in close to her ear and whispered. "If you say 'zesty lemon cake' slow enough it sounds like gullible." If her now slack-jawed expression were anything to go by, this news had shattered her world. It wasn't long before she kept saying 'zesty lemon cake' over and over, getting slower each time while I just walked away.

Now, onto more ideal conversations. I ignored many of the shenanigans occurring around the barn as I turned my attention to where Applejack and Twilight had gathered with what I assumed were their friends. As I made my way over I couldn't help but notice as someone yelled "No Berry! Stop trying to drink Roseluck's mane! Who let you bring alcohol to a party when there are foals around anyway?!"

"I'd never -hic- do that Colgate, I just had a little after I put Ruby to -hic- bed s'all."

Rather odd, those two. Almost as odd as the yellow as I walked over, apparently noticing me and talking to the rest in a hurried manner before attempting to flee, only to be brought back as Applejack pulled on her tail. "Now you hold on just a minute Shy, don't you go sneakin' off just 'cause he looks scary. Just treat 'im like that Manticore you take care o' back in th' Everfree."

"Ooh, but, um, Miss Fluffykins is all soft and kind and he looks...  Really scary...." She'd gotten quieter as I now stood behind Applejack, patiently listening to their conversation.

"Now don't you go givin' me that- oh howdy Malthael, didn't see ya there for a moment. Why don' ah introduce you to some of mah friends?" My mind blanked for a second as she treated me so familiarly, would that change if she knew what I could do? If she knew what I had done? Those were questions for another time though as I gave a slight nod and she proceeded to introduce each friend in turn.

"You already know Twilight here, though ahm not sure if she's told ya she works at the Ponyville public library." Twilight gave me a gentle smile and a nod  while AJ continued, "The one cowerin' behind her mane is Fluttershy, she takes care o' the animals around Ponyville." Fluttershy gave a squeak and hid behind her mane further. "An' this one here is Rarity, she works at the Carousel Boutique makin' clothes for the fancy ponies."

"Humph, those 'fancy ponies' are the Canterlot upper class dear, and also my clients, so I'd appreciate if you wouldn't talk about them so... indiscriminately." A quick turn of the head from Rarity before she gave me a slight curtsy. "Pleasure to meet you darling, any friend of Twilights is a friend of mine."

She gave off a distinct impression of kindness and grace that is unexpected of one who acts so uptight. I slowly gave a gentle bow to the group before standing back up. "My name is Malthael, it is truly nice to meet you all." I suppose I would have been smiling if I had a face. I feel as if I should clarify, no I don't have a face, and no, there are no bones beneath my clothes.

Rarity gave an approving nod while Fluttershy initially flinched before smiling slightly. "So Malthael, why don't you tell the girls what brought you here anyway?" Twilight was a good tactician. If I told them why I was here it would easily clear up misunderstandings while also making me seem more friendly. Such a sneaky mare.

"Ooh, I wanna hear about it as well!" Pinkie chimed up from behind my shoulder as she clung onto it, her face a few inches beside my own. Other ponies had heard her outburst and slowly a group began to form around me, many expectant ponies chittering away only to be silenced as I cleared my non-existent throat and spoke.

"Many years ago I did something I truly regret. Because of this the two Alicorn sisters, aided by a being called The Ni-" Apparently my story wasn't to be as a blue pegasus burst through into the entrance-way and struck a slight pose. Once she noticed no one was really looking she looked to the group around me and forced her way into it, eyes closed in brash arrogance as she flew eye-level to me.

"Hey there new pony, the name's Rainbow Dash. And no sorry, I don't do autographs unless you ask really nicely." The arrogance and narcissism were almost comedic, as though she had been forcing herself. All this time I spent surrounded by the dead ones, yet it seems those alive told far better stories.

I chuckled slightly before giving her a slight bow as well, my voices ringing out as she peeked open her eyes. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Ms Dash. I won't need an autograph sorry, as I have nothing to write with." I held my hands up to show that, yep, they were empty. What a surprise.

She gaped at me for a while before looking to her friend. "...Twilight, explain?"

Twilight sighed and shook her head, peeking over her shoulder to somewhere on the other side of the barn. "His name is Malthael, he came here to work on AJ's farm and she's accepted him as an honorary member of the Apple family."

Dash still had trouble processing this as she slowly lowered herself to the ground. "Uhh, Twilight, explain a little bit more."

Twilight face-hooved and was about to go into further detail when she heard someone drunkenly yell out "Who punched the Spike?" and a loud crash reverberated through the barn.  After which she resisted another face-hoof before rushing away.

"I'm going to go take care of Spike and get him to bed okay? You girls keep Malthael some company!" A quick flash of light signaled her disappearance as well as the incoming period of silence.

Everyone kind of ignored the slight groans of pain as one pony yelled "I can't believe you would pester Spike like that! Just because you wanted to look at his thumbs! You'll be lucky if Twilight doesn't press charges, and there'll be no snuggling for the rest of the week!"

We all also ignored the minute cry of "Noooooo." As a bright green pony was dragged outside by her tail.

I had decided to breach the silence as Fluttershy went over to help clean up the mess left behind after the drunken mini-brawl. "As I said, because of what I had done, the two Alicorn sisters, aided by a being called The Nigh-"

Once more the barn doors slammed open, abruptly ignoring my story telling, only this time it wasn't a blue pegasus. The many dumbstruck ponies round me gaped at the doors, a few of them bowing as I turned to see who it was. Lo and behold in strode Princess Celestia, wings flared open slightly as she calmly walked inside with a motherly smile on her face.

She said hello to many of those that she passed, but it was obvious she wasn't here to party if her sister standing by the doorway with an angry look on her face said anything. She even kept up the smile as she walked right up to me, using her wings to try and intimidate me slightly. It didn't work too well with her being a few heads shorter than me, so I merely flicked my wings open slightly, a few ponies gasping as they hadn't noticed them earlier.

Once she was close enough she leaned into my ear, her expression changing for a fraction of a second as her voice sounded harsh. "Outside, now." I guess I was destined to never tell that story to the Ponyvillians.