“You come to a large chamber where several crates filled with the goods stolen from the caravans that the shop owners had hired you to find. In the center of the back wall is a pony with a long scar running down his face and dressed in leather armor and a black cloak with the hood down sitting in a wooden chair. On each side of the chair sat a pair of iron defenders ready to attack at their master’s command. Above you is a balcony circling the room with ten thugs armed with crossbows.” Table Top said as he looked down at his screen and papers. It looked almost comical how he was forced to sit on the floor and crouch to tell the story. He then changed his voice in a mock Trottingham accent.

“Well, well look what the cat dragged in. I’m impressed that you got by my traps and guard dogs but-”

“The graceful and cunning Moon Shadow throws a poisoned dagger at the loud mouth’s head.” Trixie interrupted causing Table Top to give her a flat stair.

“Are you seriously planning to attack every time a character is monologuing?” Table Top asked. “This is the third time now!”

“Why not? The bad pony is distracted.” Trixie asked hotly.

“Fine but the more you do it the more of a reputation you get for it so you get a penalty each time you do it and will need to stop for a while for it to go away. For now it’s a -1” Table Top groaned as he rolled his dice.

“With the simply lean to the side the dagger passes harmlessly by his head and digs itself deep into the back of his chair.” Table Top said before going back to the fake accent. “Yes I’ve heard of you. Well if you’re going to act like a barbarian let's get this over with.” Table Top said before going back to his normal voice. “As the bandit leader stood up he lifted his hood over his head causing him to shimmer out of sight.”

“He has a cloak of invisibility? Moon Shadow must have it!” Trixie exclaimed.

“With a rattle and the clanging of metal the two iron defenders came to life and started moving in to attack as the ten goons above ready their bows...Roll for-” Table Top began to say before getting interrupted again.

“Will Namiro, Vinyl and Cluck please report to the war room?” Rin’s voice echoed through their heads. Cluck Norris gave a cluck as he set his dice back onto his character sheet before jumping up on Namiro’s head.

The changeling rolled his eyes as he stood up and began to make his way out the door. “Any ideas on what she wants us for?” He asks the veteran only to get a cluck on negative.

I look up from the research papers taken from Sombra’s lab to see the last two enter the war room which I had been using as an office because it came with a large table/war map and comfy chairs and I was to lazy to invent a new room when I can use another for the same purpose.

“Oh good you’re here. Quick Namiro pop quiz! You know that it’s wrong to bring someone back from being long dead and moved on but do you know what the consequences are?” I ask as I point a paw at the changeling.

The changeling blinked a little bit. “Well… First of all, it creates a large enough strain on the Force User that even if the attempt were to be successful, you’re likely trading your life for theirs.” He replied.

“Well that is one possible consequence if you don’t know what you’re doing but I was talking about for the one you try to bring back. After looking through king Sombra’s records I found he was dabbling in amateur necromancy and was trying to find a way to bring his brainwashed troops back again and again for his plans of world domination.” I say with a wave of my paws as Vinyl groans and her head slumps.

“Cleanup duty?” She asked.

“That’s correct and it’s also a last exam before you graduate Namiro. Allow me to give you a little lesson on what happens when you try to use the darkness to bring back those who moved on. At first nothing is wrong. Loved one is back and everyone's happy. But after a while their personality starts to degrade. They stop feeling empathy and can no longer understand why it’s wrong to do bad things. Shortly after that they die but still move around trapped in their own cadavers. Bone shape starts to change in unnatural ways, the tongue elongates, their eye sockets sink, they get really pale and in the case of ponies their cutie marks disappear. Shortly after that comes the hunger. Think undead, sociopathic junky constantly suffering from withdrawal from an addiction that will never go away and the only relief is the flesh of other sentient beings.” I say in a lecturing tone.

“Ghouls.” Vinyl groaned. “Don’t forget to tell him about the limits the brain puts on their muscles shuts down making them monstrously strong.”

The changeling gave a few more blinks. “Wait… you mean like Dungeons and Dragons-style ghouls? Or a different manner altogether, because I’m pretty familiar with how those ghouls run.” He explained. “Actually… you could have simply said that he made ghouls and I would’ve had at least the basic gist of what you meant we had to ‘clean up’... as Vinyl said.”

“Well they do run somewhat like D&D ghouls but the real ones as Vinyl said are monstrously strong and have senses beyond what the game has. So they will be able to tell where you are before you can tell where they are while your connection to The Force is so restricted. They also don’t die unless you destroy the body completely. Fire is good. I suggest you use that saber of yours to dismember them because before you destroy them their is something you must remove first or they taint the place.” I say as I push a bone dagger with a crystal handle. “Stab them through the heart with this and it will suck the taint out and store in in the handle. I want you to go there and clear the place out using the dark side. Using it in a real life or death battle is the last test. Vinyl will be scoring you and Cluck is going just in case. Any questions?”

Namiro shook his head. “I’m pretty sure I get what I’m supposed to do, because of the crystal I gave to you my connection to The Force has been slowly growing here… though, we’ll need to arrange some way to transplant one of the crystals on my world to this one so that the connection grows a bit quicker… we’ll deal with that later though.”

With a nod I open a portal allowing them to get to the ‘test site’. Once on the other side they were faced with a large crystal door guarded by several crystal ponies.

“Are you the ones being sent to deal with the...infestation?” The most decorated crystal pony asked in a tone that suggested he was extremely uncomfortable talking about it.

“Yep, I’m here to help clear out the ghouls, if any of you happen to have a flamethrower it would be much appreciated if you keep it trained on the door, just in case any happen to get past me.” Namiro chuckled before he looked back to Vinyl with a smile. “I’m ready if you are.”

With a nod the three walked forward and with a determined look on their faces waited ten minutes while the guards unlocked all the locks on the door before opening it just enough for some of the guards to quickly push them through and slam the door shut again. They could hear the sounds of the locks being reset again.

“Rude much?” Vinyl asked while glaring at the door.

“Oh yes they’re very rude. We gave them several invitations to them to come join us for a good meal but they never do.” A distorted voice called out from the shadows.

“Yesss… We’re glad you’re not so rude. We’d love to have you for dinner.” Another voice called out.

Namiro’s ear twitched a little towards Vinyl. “...Purge the heretic time?” he asked.

“Please don’t say things that make you sound like one of those Goodly Hero plotholes...But ya.” She replied before jumping into the air just barely avoid the ghoul that shot across like a bullet in an attempt to take her away into the shadows.

Namiro had a small grin on his face as he decided to enjoy himself a bit more. “My armor is Contempt, my shield is Disgust, my sword is hatred… In the emperor’s name, let none survive.” He quoted from his favorite tabletop game just as he summoned a sphere of fire in his free hand and lit his saber with the other. With the light shining several pony shapes moved behind several obstructions.

“Oh look a firefly! Pretty!”

“How generous, he brought his own cooking fire but unnecessary. We like it raw.” At this a ghoul leaped down from above trying to take the changeling from behind.

With a laugh of excitement the changeling extended his hand to let out a gout of flame that seemed to fill the entire corridor while his right hand quickly swept behind him cutting the head off the attacker he didn’t even know was there.

“Nice! Good reflexes I was sure you didn’t see that one coming.” Vinyl complemented. “You might want to watch out for that head though.” She said as she points to the head that was about to bite into his leg.

A small jump and quick draw later, the changeling plunged the dagger into the heart of the corpse that had landed behind him. “Wow… thanks for the warning Vi, I didn’t even notice he was back there.”

“So.... It was dumb luck?” Vinyl asked with a deadpan before facehoofing.

“um… I guess?” Namiro replied. “I think I managed to catch one of them on fire though.” He offered. “...okay… well… a little bit on fire…”

“What!? No you’re supposed to use the dagger first! Don’t let it burn till you remove the infection taint first!” Vinyl shouted.

The changeling rolled his eyes. “yeesh… the dark side has even more rules than the Light side, makes ya wonder why people are stupid enough to use it.” He muttered as he sprinted into close quarters with the ghoul that had a burning foot.

“This is a pretty black and white subject for both sides and you know it.” She deadpanned as she watched the ghoul try to bite Namiro’s face off.

The changeling brought the hilt of his saber up to meet the teeth of the ghoul just before he activated the blade again. “What do you mean? I’ve always heard people go crazy over that Dark side crap because it has ‘less rules and isn’t as constricting’ as the light side… but this is really showing to be far more annoying in any case.” He explained as he brought the blade of the dagger into the ghoul’s heart.

“Look the way these guys were brought back means they have something really nasty in them that needs to be disposed of in the right way. Aside from a few simple instruction to keep yourself from getting controlled by the darkness these are the only rules you were given. Well that and Rin’s room and dark artifact toy box is off limits but that didn’t really have anything to do with the training as much as personal space.” Vinyl said as she pulled out a notepad and pen and started writing things down. Looking down at the crystal handle he saw some black wisp inside that gave him a strong sense of wrongness.

With a powerful yank the changeling pulled out the dagger and deactivated his blade before letting The Force unleash a jet of flame over the ghoul which flailed about and continued to attack. Charging at Namiro like a flaming rhino. With a bored look the changeling used a large wave of telekinesis to knock the attack to the side and send it sprawling as it continued to burn. “All I’m saying is that this whole ‘dark side’ stuff is ridiculous, I don’t know why people think it’s an easier grab to power when it’s obvious from the first use that it’s harmful for you. I’ve been getting physically ill lately every time I use it so I’m not enjoying the training just as much as Rin isn’t enjoying being a mentor.” He began as he let another jet of flame sear the ghoul that he had decapitated as it’s body had been feeling around for its head. “huh… the way Rin put it… I was actually kinda expecting more.”

“Be Careful what you wish for kid. Noticed that the others have disappeared? Ghouls aren't zombies. They’re smart enough to learn that frontal assaults don’t work when they see another fail at it. Be on your guard and never underestimate your enemy.” Vinyl chastised. “Don’t assume this is chase down the runners either they still want to eat you they’re just going to be trickier about it now.”

The changeling let out another frown as he looked down the corridor. “I hate fetch quests…” he muttered as he began walking with a lit saber. As he was walking he heard a slight sound above him as several large chunks of crystal came crashing down. He could just barely see the manic grin above before it was obstructed by the heavy gems the ghoul intended to crush him with.

A small twitch of the changeling’s ear was all that happened before a thick cloud of dust came up around the impact. Cluck was about to move in but Vinyl blocked his path with a hoof shaking her head no before turning back to the scene. Slowly one of the ghouls crept up and tossed a stone next to the pile. When nothing happened he moved closer and started sniffing.

“Sweet sweet smell of fresh blood.” He said in a sing song voice and started digging at the pile like a dog. One by one more ghouls came out and started digging at the rubble.

Quietly, behind the group of ghouls, several large crystal shards began to float into the air as they aimed at the middle of their spines. A slow rotation began to start up as the digging continued.

“Yummy!” A ghoul mare cheered when she found a leg and leaned down to take a bite only for her to be stopped by the pain of being impaled as she and the others screamed out in pain and quickly turned and tried to crawl back into the safety of their hiding places.

“Not so fast…” Namiro said with a glare as he used The Force to drag the impaled ghouls back and force the pierced crystals to the ground. “Seriously Vinyl? Needing a dagger to ‘clean’ the infection? Why wouldn’t immolating the corpses really not work here?” He asked in an annoyed tone as the dagger floated over the nearest ghoul and shot through its back and into its heart.

“Did you know that Rin used to be the adviser the Celestia and Luna’s parents on all things dark magic? Unfortunately old king Salaris didn’t trust her for a while and tended to do some stupid stuff. Like breaking a cursed orb she wanted to study that reanimated the dead just by being near dead bodies. As as a result the taint seeped into the soil of a necropolis so that every time the undead in there was slain it would be re-reanimated again and again. The stuff you’re taking out of those ghouls poisons the land into what Rin calls blight land. I think she named it after something in a strategy game if I recall. Something about warcraft? Anyways the point is this stuff poisons the land and those unfortunate enough to be near the stuff long enough to make them sick and we’re under a city right now. For what it’s worth ghouls are about the most annoying things to clean up and you’re doing good for your first try.” Vinyl said encouragingly as she scribbled down in her notebook.

The changeling let out a grumble as he torched the first ghoul of the pinned group. “Stupid… why’s it always got to have stupid rules to go with everything…” His expression soured as he moved the dagger to the next one.

“Why are you whining ghouls are just like this. It wouldn’t be the same with most anything else she could have sent you after. Between you and me I think she’s using this as your last test so she doesn't have to deal with it herself.” Vinyl said with a nod as Namiro finished off another ghoul. “Great I just sense one more. It feels stronger though so be ready for a boss fight. And hope it's not one of those ghouls that got desperate enough to eat other ghouls.”

“It’s not just the damn ghouls!” Namiro replied with a scowl as he quickly and sloppily tore the dagger out of the second ghoul and impaled the third one repeatedly as he began to light the second one on fire. “I’m starting to get real sick of all this Dark side and Light side crap!” He nearly shouted.

“Fooooood” A deep voice called out and a large and seriously deformed ghoul came out. It looked like a cross between a pony, a licker from Resident Evil and a death claw from the Fallout games minus the horns.

The changeling’s eyes began to glow red as he let his shifting-flames wash over him in a quick lightshow of green and red before revealing him to be almost the exact same but with red-tipped spines over his carapace. “And don’t even get me started on this crap!” He shouted as he unleashed a gout of flame towards the new monster only for it to jump over to the wall and charge at him with far greater speed than the other ghouls had before leaping at him from the sides with its mouth wide open. Its long tongue wrapping around the changeling’s neck and it started pulling itself at its prey like a hook shot from the Zelda games.

“Yep that’s one of those cannibal ghouls. Careful they’re scrappy and regenerate.” Vinyl called out.

Namiro scowled as he quickly brought his saber up to slice at the tongue while using his other hand to send a bolt of lightning at the ghoul. The ghoul howled in pain and anger but dug its claws in the ground and pushed forward. Its mouth widening further as it got close ready to take a bite. A quick duck from the changeling and subsequent upward slice of the activated saber brought the plasma blade up towards the creature’s stomach as he ducked the attack. The blade went through but instead of trying to get away it grabbed Namiro’s hand and the hilt of his saber lunged its head forward to try to bite off Namiro’s.

“If you would like some advice draining it with the dagger will weaken that healing factor!” Vinyl called out as she watched. Leaning back against the wall like she was watching a movie.

The changeling brought the dagger up to the creature’s chin and began to twist as it pierced the skin but still it tried to push forward. It’s jaws opening and snapping shut hungrily.

“Hey you need some help?” Vinyl asked in a worried sounding voice.

Namiro grit his teeth angrily as he felt himself being pushed back. “Well… my reserves are running low…” He replied. With a grunt Vinyl pulled herself up and her and Cluck ran over. Vinyl used her own undead strength to knock it back while Cluck moved in with his own energy sword and cut off the hand it was using to hold Namiro’s hand and saber in place. With a slick sound the dagger came out on the ghouls neck as it was forced back. Moving quickly Vinyl got close and started wailing on the thing while dancing around its swings but the damage would quickly heal and even the lost hand was slowly growing back.

“Get that dagger in its heart already!” Vinyl called out as Cluck moved in and started cutting off anything it could without leaving himself open. Namiro growled a little as he lunged out with the dagger, trying to place a good shot as he started to feel a bit more numb and sluggish. Thankfully Vinyl and Cluck did a good job keeping its attention and the blade made it through. Almost instantly the crystal want completely black and the creature roared angrily as it became detectably sluggish and its regeneration slowed to the point it was barely noticeable. Once that happened Cluck pulled out an incendiary grenade and threw it into the creature's mouth allowing it to go off it the ghouls stomach. As it screeched in pain it fell over allowing the small group to pull back and watch it burn.

“Not bad kid. Sure you got a little moody but not as bad as Octy during her time of the-” Vinyl began to say before looking up in horror. “Oh sweet Luna vampire Octy on the rag.” She said with a shudder.

Namiro gave her a confused look. “Since you two are considered undead… and thus don’t have a heartbeat… wouldn’t that mean that normal biological functions like estrus and whatnot don’t actually affect you?”

“The bleeding down there part ya but other than that no it still affects our mood. So long as we are capable of reproduction we have that to.” Vinyl answered with a shake of her head. “We’re done boss, bring us back!” Vinyl called out before disappearing followed closely by Cluck and then Namiro was with them in the clutches of a giant hand flying across a distorted and discolored world. “I love riding the hand don’t you?” Vinyl asked as she stuck her head out over the side and let her tongue hang out her open mouth like a dog would when sticking its head out a car window.

Namiro simply let himself lean against it in as comfortable a position as he could so that he could get some sleep, he did seem a bit more of a pale green than his usual self.

Later that day.

“Congratulations Namiro on graduating Rin’s dark arts class at the Foxytail school of witchcraft and wizardry!” I call out from the stage wearing my black robes and graduation hat. “Please come up and get your diploma!”

Namiro got up with a small roll of his eyes at the theatrics, a mug in his hand filled with pink gel was all he brought with him as he tried to keep from stumbling up to the stage. Before he could get onto the stage however he was hit with a shot of dark Magic from yours truly and the next thing he knew he was dressed in a graduation getup hat and all. With another eye roll Namiro continued up onto the stage where I hand him his diploma and present my paw to shake his hand.

He hovered the mug in his Force grasp as he completed the shake and took the diploma with a small chuckle.

“May you go forth and do great things for the people of your world.” I announce with a smile before turning to the minions that cared to show up in the stands. “And let us go to the celebratory party Pinkie Pie set up in the next room before those burning candles floating over our heads start dripping burning hot wax on us!” I call out cheerfully causing the audience to look up at the floating candles in surprise that showed that none of them considered that before they all quickly covered their heads as best as they could and ran out the door.

“This is… perhaps the weirdest sort of training I’ve ever had…” Namiro sighed with a half-chuckle as he followed the crowd.

“I may be unorthodox but my methods do work.” I say to myself once the room was empty before looking up and canceling the spell making the very melty looking candles floating overhead vanish along with the illusion spell that created the image in the first place. “Now time for some cake. We only have five hundred pounds of it so I don’t have long before Celestia eats it all.”