The Rise of the New Sith Empire

Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie trotted up the winding path that lead to Griffonstone, determined to find out what the Cutie Map sent them there for. It was tough and tiring, but they eventually made it up the mountain, and into the rundown village. Its condition was below normal; a few houses were in ruin and nopony was doing anything about it. Looked like something ran through and blew this place up.

"Jeez, this place looks terrible!" Pinkie stated, her eyes wide with surprise.

"You said it." Rainbow agreed, looking around curiously. "So what did the map want us here for?"

Pinkie shrugged, "Don't know, could be anything." They proceeded into the town, hoping to find the reason why they were there.

Center of Griffonstone

Necriever walked around with a calm expression, knowing that this was indeed Griffonstone. He knew about the one-eyed monster that ran through here, stole the Griffon's precious gem, and fell down into the cavern. He was there when it happened, and he hopped it killed the Emperor, but it didn't. He would need help getting to the bottom to the cavern, and one of these Griffons will, or else they... he can't exactly hurt them, as it would anger Equestria since this town is in Equestrian territory.

In other news, the Griffons all looked at him strangely, some even glared. He obviously wasn't welcome, for whatever reason, and it would be a shame if he lost his potential ally because he fought back in self-defense. So no killing, otherwise he must go against two countries instead one.

He was brought out of his brief moment of thought when he saw something out of place in Griffonstone; two Ponies walking up the street and towards him. Luckily they hadn't seen him yet. One was a Pegasus with a rainbow mane and cyan coat, and the other was a pink Earth Pony with a dark-pink mane.

He walked towards them; it may be interesting to learn why they were there. It didn't take long for them to take notice of him, as the pink one pointed at Necriever and gasped. Strange, he's never seen anyone do that when they saw him; others usually cower away or give Necriever a look. Unless it's one of his citizens, of course.

The Rainbow Pegasus saw him and glared, quickly flying up to him faster than he could see. "What do you think you're doing here?"

Necriever raised a brow at the Pegasus' question, "Is there a problem, Miss...?" He waited for her to answer, but she just snorted at him and glared. He rolled his eyes and continued, "What in the blazes do you want, Pegasus?"

Her glare only seemed to harden, "My name is Rainbow Dash, and I know exactly who you are, Necriever."

Necriever sighed in annoyance, "Your point?" He honestly didn't care what people thought of him right now, and just wanted one thing; his wife.

Rainbow answered with full force, punching him in the jaw and watching as he fell to the ground, "You don't belong here after what you did to the Crystal Empire!"

That was surprising, and he chuckled, "Nice punch," he quickly stood up, using the Force to choke Rainbow Dash, "But you are a fool for punching me. If you truly know of what happened to the Crystal Empire, then you'd be cowering." He watched for a moment or two as Rainbow Dash gagged, reaching for her throat with her hooves. He then chuckled, "You're lucky that I signed a treaty with Equestria, otherwise I would kill you here and now." He stopped, watching as she fell to the ground.

She looked up at him with a glare, still coughing, "What treaty...?"

This caused him to chuckle; he thought word spread faster around this country, "Your country is going to be attacked by the Griffon Empire. I am only helping because their Emperor, Razor Beak, supposedly killed my wife two-thousand years ago."

Suddenly, the pink Pony appeared out of nowhere, "Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie Pie then gave him an accusing look, "Why are you here, then? Shouldn't you be gathering soldiers or something to fight the Griffon Empire?"

Necriever chuckled, "Trust me, Ms. Pie, I am sure that if the Griffons attacked my Empire with all their forces, they would still lose. But the reason I am here, is because I interrogated Griffon Emperor into telling me where my wife is after it slipped out of his mouth." He looked off into the distance, "She is here, I sense it."

Rainbow Dash spoke up, "If you last saw your wife two-thousand years ago, then shouldn't she have died of old age?"

Necriever glared at her, "I chopped off Razor Beak's legs after he told me, and said I would torture him to death if he was lying. But I sense a presence of a loved one. And I hope I'm not mistaken." He then held his hands behind his back. "Now, please answer this; what are you two doing here?"

Pinkie answered happily, "The Cutie Map told us to come here!"

Necriever chuckled, " 'Cutie Map'? Is that what you Equestrians named it?" The two ponies glared at him, and he chuckled even louder, "That's just sad." He then proceeded into the town. "You want to learn why you're here? Then follow me." He was lying, of course, as he had no clue why they were there. He just wanted his wife.

They reluctantly followed him, giving each other a worried look before continuing on. As they walked into the town, Pinkie asked a few questions, "What's it like in your Empire?"

He smirked, "It's very simple, really; don't break the rules and you can become whatever you please. But if you do, there will be dire consequences." He then chuckled behind his mask, "Sombra knows all too well what that means."

Rainbow Dash glared at him, "What do you mean, 'Sombra knows all too well what that means'? Are you and him working together?"

Necriever deadpanned, "Why, out of all the creatures, would I work with the one who murdered a citizen in my city?"

Pinkie spoke up, "Well, you are very dark and your color scheme is all the colors of gloom and doom."

He nodded in agreement, "True, but still, I would never work with such a monster." He smirked behind his respirator, "Doesn't mean I can't torture him until he gives all the information of what happened before I returned."

Pinkie looked horrified, "Why would you do that to a Pony?!"

He sighed, "Miss Pie, in order for me to deal the whole punishment, I must know all of the crimes he committed." He began to notice the Griffons in the town sneaking away into dark alleys as he walked by.

Pinkie asked another annoying question, "Why not just ask your citizens?"

Necriever stopped and looked down to Pinkie, a mad look in his eyes, "That would take all the fun out of it." He then continued through the town, passing through the center and towards the other edge. "Now it's my turn to ask questions," He stated, "What exactly is going on in Equestria that I don't know about?"

Rainbow Dash was the first to answer, "Like we would tell you. Even with the treaty signed, we wouldn't even descri-"

Pinkie cut in, "Twilight became a Princess, Celestia has traveled to the lands of Zebrica for some reason, and we are supposed to protect Equestria from monsters and stuff."

Rainbow glared at Pinkie, but Necriever smirked, "Ah, I see. Thank you for the information, but I believe we reached our destination." He suddenly stopped walking, in front of him a deep cavern, at least five hundred feet deep, made itself known when the howling winds blew through the air. It was so dark that he couldn't see the bottom, and the winds were so strong that the ponies wouldn't be able to follow him if he went down; the winds were too strong for them. He turned to them, "This is where your journey ends and mine begins, see you around." Without thinking twice, Necriever jumped off the edge, spreading his arms and legs so the wind could carry him to the ground.

Pinkie and Rainbow were both watching him with wide eyes, not moving; their worst enemy just jumped off the edge of a cliff, and possibly to his death.

Rainbow sighed, "He's probably alive, searching for his wife." She then turned around, Pinkie nodding in agreement and following suit.

Bottom of the Cavern

Necriever landed roughly, having to roll across the ground in order to not receive any cuts or bruises. Wasn't the first time he jumped from such high places, nor would it be his last.

Once he was certain that he stopped rolling, he quickly stood up and brushed the dust off his body. He was excited to be in such a dark place, as it was the perfect place for evil to lurk. The darkness was something he liked; it was very mysterious and something could attack him at any moment. That was why he was excited.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the Force, one he knew all too well. His wife was there, and her power in the Dark Side would guide him to her.

Inch after inch, the disturbance grew stronger. All of it made Necriever even more excited, as this would be the day in years that he's seen his wife.

It didn't take long for him to reach the source; a hut made of stone with light shining out of it entered his view. He heard small whispers come from the hut, and he inched closer and closer until he was able to see the inside of the hut through a small window.

What he saw made him smile; his wife, still as beautiful as ever, sat in front of a fire pit. Her blonde hair waved gently against her pale face. She wore different clothing; a tan scarf was wrapped around her neck and a patched dress hugged her body.

"Necriever...?" She asked quietly, standing up and turning to where he was standing. Her red eyes widened with happiness, and she almost fainted.

Necriever smiled, "Zinco." He walked around and through the entrance of the hut. They stared at each other for a minute, amazed to see one another.

Suddenly, Zinco walked over to Necriever, placing her hand on his chest. She smiled, tears falling from her eyes, "You're real..." She was shorter than Necriever by a foot, her head only reaching to his neck.

Necriever quickly wrapped his arms around Zinco, pulling her into a hug. "Of course I am, Zinco." Tears started pouring from his eyes, and he chuckled softly, "I missed you."

"Me too..." She replied, hugging him even tighter. Once they were done, they took a step away from each other. "H...How are things doing up there...?"

"Everything's going well, Zinco; our Empire and Equestria's are going to destroy the Griffons. And the best thing about it is that we get to keep most of the land!" He stated happily.

Zinco gave him a confused look, "I thought you hated Equestria." The look she received from Necriever then told her what would come after. "Oh..."

He chuckled, "We should probably get going, Zinco. We could get home within three days if we start now, minus the fact that we must climb out of this cavern."

Zinco folded her arms, "And how do you propose we do that? It's not like there's powerful winds keeping us from climbing at all."

Necriever frowned, rubbing his chin, "True, true..." How could he and his wife get out of the cavern? The winds would obviously blow them away if they climbed, so that was a no-go. Suddenly, he smiled, "There is one way..." He turned to Zinco with the same smile.

"What?" She asked, giving him a quizzical look.

"Do you trust me?"

She shrugged, "Sometimes."

He shrugged back, "Good enough."

He then lifted Zinco with the Force, surprising her. "What are you doing, Necriever?"

His face went serious, "I need you to levitate me, Zinco, and do not stop. Otherwise I'll fall to my death."

She was hesitant at first, but complied, "Ok." She then began levitating him in the air. They continued to go up and up, the winds not being able to stop them. They were focused, and if one of them stopped, they would fall to their untimely doom. Zinco had her eyes closed the whole time, but Necriever kept his on the top of the cavern. Didn't take long before they finally made it to the top, to which Necriever dropped Zinco on the ledge. He was then dropped, but stood up and dusted off his shoulder.

"Trust me some more, Zinco?" He asked smugly, folding his arms.

Zinco sighed, standing up and dusting of her pants. "You, my love, are the strangest man I know." She then walked over to him a kissed him on the cheek. "Which is why I love you."

He chuckled, "We should get moving, the locals are not to keen with having us here." He then began walking around the town, Zinco in pursuit. For the first time in awhile, Necriever felt at peace with his wife at his side.