Sorting rows and return the value as a simple array using EntityFieldQuery I have a drupal custom entity_type. I am trying to do to things, find the row that is the oldest and return with a simple array. I currently have the following:

function oldestTicket(){
   $query = new EntityFieldQuery;
   $ticketTime = $query
  -&gt;entityCondition('entity_type', 'as_ticket')
  -&gt;propertyCondition('status','new')
  -&gt;fieldOrderBy('updated', 'value', 'ASC')
  -&gt;pager(1)
  -&gt;execute();
  $entities = entity_load('as_ticket', array_keys($ticketTime['as_ticket']));
  return $entities;
}


This results with an error saying that updated is not a valid column field (it is in the db) and the return array is a complex multidimensional array. I would prefer something a little simple. In fact I would prefer that the returning result was just a string with updated timestamp value.
fieldOrderBy is for ordering by a Field API field. 
You want propertyOrderBy('updated' 'ASC').

And the return structure can't be changed, it's always the same (a stub entity in technical terms). You use the id from that return structure to load your entity and get the data you want. I see you've already figured that one out, judging by your code.