//------------------------------//
// Starting Out 
// Story: A Farmers Tools 
// by Imperium Bedlam 
//------------------------------//

My first day at work started out... rough.

"Look if ya can't even handle this much then how am ah supposed ta trust ya to take care of mah apple trees?" scolded Applejack as she frowned up at me. I guess trust really isn't as easy to garner as I thought it was, and maybe I was a little too eager about getting apples. I just sighed as I looked over at the swine currently playing in the mud without a care in the world.

"Why do you even keep these? I was certain ponies were herbivores and I see no other reason to breed these animals." She gave me a quick 'stop asking questions and just do your job' look before heading off to do her chores for the day. "...What on Equis could she have to hide?" I knelt down towards the pig pen, leaning on the fence while they backed away from me.

'Note to self, today's tasks are, in order of priority; Feed the capitalist scum, clean up their defecation, wet some of the dirt for them to clean off in, proceed to kitchen for Granny Smith's newest culinary creation. I guess when you say it out loud it sounds a lot simpler, and hey, I'm already wearing boots.' There was no point in getting my cloak dirty however.

Calmly, I folded my wings in further as I took off my cloak, my armor seeming to both shine and absorb the sun's rays as I hung up the old thing. Why I never took the old thing off was a mystery to me, it either being for sentimental value or its inability to slow me down I have no clue. Ugh, as much as I'd love to put this off I have little to no choice in the matter.

I didn't bother opening the gate as I simply stepped over the fence with the pigswill in one hand, the pigs and the few piglets backing away while I walked up to their feeding trough. I couldn't help but wonder if I was doing this right as the pigs stayed at their end of the large pen while I filled the trough, surely this wasn't very efficient. "Ya haven't got much experience at this, have ya?" chimed up a small voice back at the pens gate.

Turning around I spotted Apple Bloom, leaning over the gate with an inquisitive look on her muzzle. "Admittedly I do not, and judging by your tone, I have failed somehow." I stood up straight after finally emptying the bucket and joining Bloom by the gate.

She sighed and shook her head while she gestured for me to get back over the fence, to which I complied. "What yer supposed ta do is lean over the fence on tha other side and fill it, 'specially if yer a newcomer, else yer gonna scare all the piggies away." As if to demonstrate, the animals in question took their sweet time cautiously approaching the food on display before digging in. "Now that they're eatin' ya should be able to clean up tha pen without 'em botherin' ya too much."

Watching as they ate I almost got caught up in my own food situation, having now realized I was supposed to taste test Granny Smith's food without having tastebuds. Or a tongue. Or anything necessary to eat with. Bloom knocked me out of my thoughts by leaning up on the fence to roughly pat my lower back. She quickly retracted her hoof in pain, blowing on it gently. "Are you alright Apple Bloom?"

She gave me a sarcastic look as she blew on her hoof and tested it on the ground. "Ah'll be fine, why're ya wearin' somethin' so hard anyways? I was pretty sure ya were wearin' somethin' much softer yesterday. Ow."

I stepped over the fence and began to shovel up the pig feces as I pondered how best to answer her question. "Do you have bottles in Equestria?" She gave me an odd look and nodded. "While I assume they aren't like the bottles from my... old domicile, I can take a guess that they serve the same purpose. Now, imagine that you filled the bottle with water and then sealed it off completely-"

"Wouldn't it just become useless then?"

"No cutting me off Bloom." She hung her ears while I continued to shovel. "Simply put, this armor acts as my bottle, of course there are other things keeping this armor held together, but without it I'm about as powerful as a lake. Sure I have other methods of interacting with the world, but this armor keeps me all together. You can think of the cloak as a sort of cover for the bottle, something to soften the blow in case you drop it."

Her head had been perched on her hoof as she listened, eagerly listening in on every detail. Truly she had reminded me of-... Really her desire for knowledge was admirable. "So yer made of water?" Maybe not as admirable as I would have liked. I'd placed the shovel away and begun wetting some of the dirt for the pigs, who had begun to treat me with a little less caution thanks to my action.

"Why don't you head back to the main house, I'm sure Granny Smith could use some help with breakfast." 

Apple Bloom groaned and gave a reluctant "Fiiiiiine," before stomping off in some kind of display of rebellion. How I loathe to understand the youth, yet am somehow attracted to uncovering their mystery. Like a milk puzzle without corners and an infinite amount of pieces, though maybe that would get dull after a time.

One brave little piglet had stepped closer to me while I was once more lost to my thoughts, so much time as a statue really has dulled my senses concerning the living world. I looked down at the clearly frightened thing, wondering what it hoped to accomplish as it drew closer and gave a cute little oink at me. The urge to pet the adorable, if filthy creature, welled up within me and soon I was kneeling down in the mud, slowly reaching a hand toward it.

A single pig to the side lowered its head towards me, probably the mother of the little piglet trying to ward me off in some manner, so rather than pet the piglet myself I turned my palm up and let the tiny thing move to my open hand. I'm sure the gauntlet was cold, yet it did not seem to mind as it sniffed at my fingertips before rubbing its cheek cautiously against them. Pretty soon I was scratching the piglet under its chin, and soon after that I had grown carried away in my fondness of this new-found interaction. Before I knew it I was sitting in the mud with the creature in my lap as a few others had grown courageous thanks to the young one's actions and were now sitting around me, occasionally getting their own pets.

I had not pictured today starting out this way.





Three  hours, two minutes, seventeen seconds. I can't help but think he is almost suited to that kind of work were he not being so obviously forced. Still, it wasn't up to me to make a move.  "GG, are we done yet?" my partner groaned, not so subtly. No idea why the head would force this bird brain on me.

"We are to observe his reactions for another one hour, fifty-seven minutes and fifteen seconds. If you can not hold on for such a short amount of time then I'd recommend you hand in a formal complaint and get reassigned elsewhere." His incompetence could be ignored, but I would not have his brashness jeapordize  such a mission. Why the head would force  me to partner up with this bird-brain I had no idea.

"Hey, I'm just as unhappy as  you are! Don't forget the only reason you're even here in the first place is because R-" He stopped himself there, sadness flitting over his beak for a moment before he glared at me again. So that's why he was angry at me specifically, I'd replaced his friend, maybe I should cheer him up?

"The only reason I'm here is because you left him on his own. You both willingly broke formation and now he's in one of the inner sanctums with critical injuries because you were too slo-gurk!" He wrapped a talon tightly around my throat and beyond the initial gag I gave no response. "Are you going to lose another partner, former Vice Captain?"

I'd let a smirk go by at that one, as best I could do without lips anyway. He responded by sneering and rudely throwing me to the ground. "You'd best learn to keep your mouth shut Lieutenant, we both know you wouldn't be able to beat me one on one." He kicked at the dust slightly before spreading out his wings, sunlight avoiding them quite smoothly. "I'm going to grab a bite to eat, inform me should anything happen.'

And he simply flew off, leaving me to return to my post. As much as I'd hate to admit it, that idiot had a point. No matter, once our True leader returned then I'd show that moron what I can do. First I'll just continue my mission, then I will save him and get what I deserve.





"For a farm in charge of roughly forty percent of Equestria's apple industry, you have surprisingly few apple-related jobs." The entirety of the day so far had been menial tasks, take care of the pigs, fix up some of the fences, clean up the main barn. Applejack wasn't too sympathetic however.

"Contrary to what mah-urgh, parents might've told you-hrrgh, we've expanded quite a bit since they... kicked the bucket." She seemed saddened for a moment, in between hoisting barrels of apples onto a wagon, which I had decided to help with, making sure not to jostle my shoulder too much for fear of the creature currently riding upon it.

"If ya wanna help with th' apple trees then ah gotta make sure ya know how ta do some of the other jobs 'round here as well, no matter how annoyin' they might be. An' look, stop stackin' barrels for a sec. Thankya. Ah really gotta ask, why're ya carryin' that runt around with ya like some kind of parrot?"She was of course referring to my shoulders newest resident, the piglet who had first approached me back at the pens.

He had successfully snuck out through the fence a few times in order to follow me, and after a while I had simply begun carrying him around. Okay, I may have given in to its appearance rather quickly, but I saw no harm in it. "I am sure I will be able to catch him should he fall, and this is the easiest method of making sure he can keep up with me so he does not get lost."

She looked at me oddly for a few seconds before shaking her head and harnessing herself to the wagon. "Ah'm not gonna interrupt yer little bondin' session then. Jus' make sure he doesn't get too hurt alright?" Just as she was about to leave she stopped and I imagine if I had a nervous system I would have shivered. She slowly turned to me and I could've sworn she hid a smirk behind that smile. "How 'bout this then, you go help Bloom pack up th' stall in town and ah'll let ya name him."

Before I even had time to move she'd held up a hoof to stop me. "An' if ya do a good job takin' care of the farm without goin' near the apple trees, then ya can keep him. Sound fair?" I looked to my companion for a few moments. He gave a small 'oink' before I turned back to AJ and nodded. "Good, now get along you two, Bloom isn't goin' ta be able to carry back all o' the parts herself."

At that moment I truly began to understand why this rural town had no other farms besides Sweet Apple Acres.





"So she said that kinda thing huh?" Bloom had managed to get most of the stall packed up before I'd gotten there, though she left me to pack it all onto the cart. "Though what ah really gotta ask is why yer so intent on keepin' oinky there?"

I'd looked at her a few moments, hoping she understood my unspoken message before turning back to the sign. "Truthfully I have no clue why I am compelled to keep such a creature, but I see no issue in such a goal, a hobby would not injure me." Some of these parts did not make too much sense to me, as far as it showed the stall was unceremoniously built and taken apart each day it was needed. Maybe I could improve on the design? "And no, I will not be naming him 'oinky'."

She was a bit crestfallen at this, harnessing herself to the cart in a fashion similar to her sister, though on a smaller scale. "Well, it was worth a try. And no, ah don't really think there's any harm in keepin' a pet. Ah guess ah'm just a little worried that you don't really... know, how ta care fer somethin' that... y'know?"

"Alive?"

"Heheh, yeah." She turned away and kicked at the dirt for a few moments before starting on the path back to the farm. "Y'all know ah didn't mean ta offend ya right?" I kept walking beside her for a few seconds, letting her stew in her own worry before chuckling and shaking my head, patting the piglet on my shoulder gently. She let out a sigh before focusing back on the road, trying to hide a gasp as two fillies around her age stepped out in front of us.

The two of them had looked rather smug at first, one wearing her hair in a rather poorly executed braid while the other had the gall to wear a small crown. Eventually their eyes wandered to me as both Apple Bloom and I were forced to stop in front of them. A quick glance to Bloom had pretty quickly assured me that these two were not very friendly towards her, so I decided to stop focusing on my voice for a moment, letting it distort into the cacophony of voices I had grown used to once upon a time. I never understood some of the languages they spoke in.

"C̭͓̰̬͕̤a͜n̘̻ ͏͕w҉̖̜͔e̗̦̰͈͕̻͞ ̡̰̙̩̤̫̤̻h̵e̩̟͚̜l͉̺̥̯̪ͅp҉͓̜̲̗ ̷͉͖̜̜y͏o̵̞̟̪͙̱͈͔u̷̞͍̭͕ ͕͖͡g̺͍̮͉i̺̤̪̗̤r͚̭͈̲̗l̠̗͎̤s͓̗̱̘̭?̝͈͔͔̫͟ͅ" They both responded with a quick 'eep' before darting off elsewhere in a cartoonish puff of cloud.

Apple Bloom giggled at that before we both set out on the path again, her mood obviously a bit lighter as she spoke. "Thanks, Mal. Ah'm... not really too good at dealin' with those two."

I shook my head and focused on the path. There had been bullies ever since I first came to this colorful world, I'd just not anticipated how young they started out. "Do not worry, Apple Bloom. As far as I remember family looks after each other." She'd sent a smile my way as I said that. "And if you would like to talk about it, do not think I will hesitate to listen."

She'd become saddened by that for some reason, suiting the atmosphere as the sun began to set. Did she not want help? The rest of the walk was shrouded in silence, the only thing of note being a slight shimmer some couple of hundred yards away as the sun finally set. Perhaps there are even stargazers nowadays?





The notice had gone up throughout Equestria and to some of the lands beyond. City ponies stopped in their midday rush to gaze at the large poster plastered onto some of the buildings, detailing the bounty of the hooded figure pictured on it, a bounty that almost motivated some of the most careful of bounty hunters. It was also a reward that frightened them all, such a number was only ever dreamed about by some of the nobles in Canterlot after all.

Young ponies however, jumped on the chance, packing their bags and buying the first tickets for the earliest train to Ponyville. Though some cursed with no bits to their name  had grouped together in order to make the trek, including a disgruntled gryphon and a smug unicorn magician.

Somehow, Trixie had convinced  a ragtag group of hoodlums to help her get the reward, though she knew she would end up using them as fodder so she could grab the reward herself. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is truly a master tactician!"

"A master tactician with a habit of speaking her plans out loud." Gilda punched one talon into the other as she glared at the mare, some of her companions glaring from the back cart and making similar motions.

"Hehehehe... oops."





The day was uneventful and I could not be happier for it. Although my hopes of seeing the apple trees will have to be put off, I probably could not have wanted the day to turn out any differently. The piglet, as I had come to call it, had nestled itself in a small bed I made out of hay and one of Applejack's old hat boxes. Sleep, something that was still out of reach for me, though it did give me time for other things.

The book I'd resolved to write in yesterday now sat open on the lone desk in the room, a pen resting in my hand as I struggled to put words to paper. Once I'd begun however, the words simply flowed out.

"Good day to you, if your days still exist. The other day your book had come into my possession and only now have I worked up the courage to write in it. I'm afraid such correspondence is something I have not needed for a millennium, though I hope it does continue."

"If you wish for a name, know that I only go by my alibi nowadays, Malthael, the angel of death. If you continue to read this then I will assume my self-imposed title does not frighten you, and for that you have my thanks. I hope to work towards changing it, but for now it serves its purpose."

"Titles are things which hold meaning after all, and I shall keep this one until I believe I have truly atoned for my sins.  Alas, I should not allow my first message towards a hopeful conversation remain dark and gloomy, let me see." I looked around the room, hoping for some kind of inspiration before resting my eyes upon something that truly piqued my interest.

"Tell me, what do you think of companions? I have recently made a few I hope to call friends some time in the future, yet one seems to hold much greater interest for me. His appearance was rather surprising but not unwelcome and his attempts at affection will sometimes confuse me. Yet I feel like I've made a good choice in keeping him around, why is that? Am I trying to find another method of atoning or have I simply become infatuated with the idea of having him follow me everywhere?"

"I shall wrap up my message for now, as I do not wish to waste your time. Though I have one last question, can you recommend a good name for a pig?"