ACT NINE

Distraught left his victims to suffer their fate, and no sooner had he left did the dimension begin to rumble and quiver. Soon it would collapse and everyone would be dead. Everyone tried with all their might to break free, but just as Distraught promised, they just weren't powerful enough.

"No! This can't be how it ends!" cried Cadance, but even Shining Armor and Luna couldn't see any hope left now.

Distraught went back to the deserted United Equestria and began using his vile powers get anything he didn't like out of his way. The homes, the forests, the schools, the businesses; he was really enjoying himself and he blew them all the ashes. "Oh, I should have done this a long time ago." he said to himself aloud. He also couldn't help but pity the team on Brogan, and figured that by now they were all dead from trying to take the orb, because he knew that only those pure of heart could take it or be killed. "Ah, well."

Suddenly he stopped as he spotted the Carousel Boutique and figured he'd crush it next, but as he got ready to blast it, a bright flash of light shone in the skies. "What…? What is this?"

He turned round and to his horror, there stood Lightning Twilight and all the rest of the gang. "Stop right there, Distraught!" Lightning said sternly.

"You dare lay a finger on my home, I will personally rip you limb from limb!" growled Rarity.

"Now, what have you done to our friends?" Twilight demanded to know.

"You're too late!" snapped Distraught "Very soon they will be no more, just as you shall be."

"That's where you're wrong!" snapped Lightning "We won't lose, not to you… and here's why." And he held up for Distraught to see "The blue orb of Brogan?!" he said in disbelief "No! You can't have it! Only those pure of heart can take it, and your hearts are pure evil."

"Are you still on that kick?" asked Buddy Rose

"You are the one who causes the grief

Because of your own ridiculous belief!" growled Rhymey.

Distraught could not believe this was happened. Now they had the second orb, and, without questioning, they would be able to match his power. "Could I have been wrong about them, and my father?" he thought to himself "No, I can't believe that! These are the creatures that killed my father, and destroyed my race. Once I beat them it'll be all over and I can have my race back again."

It soon became clear that Distraught was not willing to be reasoned with no matter what evidence was said or given. "All right…!" Lightning said "If that's how you want it, then we're just going to have to beat it into you."

The others agreed, and that's when the orb floated up high above them, and cast a mystical glow upon them all, and when the lights faded everyone, except for Spike were wearing their battle suits again.

Lightning and his team stood together shouting out their name "STARFLEET MAGIC!" and Twilight and friends shouted out their name "FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC!"

"Go get him guys!" Spike cheered.

"GO!" shouted Lightning and he and all the ponies charged forward. Distraught roared loudly and charged at them as well.

All at first Distraught seemed to have the upper hand. He punched, kicked, swatted, bashed and blasted at the team all ways round while the team hardly even managed to even raise their defenses, and soon they were all lying on the ground like fallen trees. "Oh, no!" cried Spike "I thought the orb was supposed to help us!"

Distraught only laughed as he walked over and picked up Lightning ready to finish him off. "Hey, put him down!" yelled Spike, but Distraught just held Lightning out "Take a good long look little dragon. It'll be the last you see of your friend. Evil never wins."

That's when Lightning perked his head up right and said "I couldn't agree more." And before Distraught could react, Lightning kicked him hard in the face sending him skidding across the ground. All the ponies got up revealing they were only playing dead. The truth was the orb had not only helped to enhance their battle powers, but their physical strength as well. Their bodies were so solid that they barely felt a thing from the attacks. "You're a fool Distraught, for thinking we're the evil ones." Twilight said "And you're and even bigger fool if you think you can beat us that easily."

Distraught was really getting angry. "So… you want to play rough then, huh?" he growled "Well, fine then, no more holding back! I'M GOING TO COME AT YOU WRETCHED MULES WITH EVERYTHING I'VE GOT!"

Hearing the word "Mule?!" really ticked Rarity off "Mules are ugly! Mules are smelly! And we… are not… MULES…!" she looked ready to brawl more than anything. "Captain…?" and Lightning nodded at her "Go ahead Rarity. Let it out!"

"Bring it on, Mule!" growled Distraught "Mule…! Mule…! Mule…!"

The more he taunted her, the angrier Rarity became and she charged right at him and he charged at her. "Go Rarity!" Spike cheered.

The real battle was on, and not only was Rarity willing to unleash her fury for having been called a mule again; she was willing to put her new skills to the test. Climbing the mountain helped her and the others increase and improved their endurance, speed, and minds.

Distraught tried his very best, but the others all managed to punch, kick, head-butt, and whack at him hard. Now Distraught was tempted to use the magic from his red orb making him really strong and really swift, and he managed to turn the tables and beat up the ponies, but the ponies were also just as slick and fought him powers to powers.

"VINE WHIP…!"

"SUPER STAFF…!"

"WARD SWORD…!

"STAR BOW…!"

"Do we honestly have to go through this?" Distraught asked in annoyance, but the battle continued, and valiantly as he fought he was just no match against Starfleet and their weapons.

"Oh, yeah…? Try this!" shouted Distraught and summoning up a huge bust of magic he fired many, many magical projectiles. "Watch out!" shouted Rainbow, but it was pretty tough to dodge them all, even for her, but she did managed to pick herself back up and weave through all those blasts and crashing into Distraught hard.

"Go shot Rainbow!" said Twilight "Now it's our turn. Ready girls…?"

"READY!" he friend shouted and they began to concentrate on the power of harmony within them. "Oh, no you don't!" growled Distraught "I'm ready for you this time!" and as he prepared to fire more magical blasts, Lightning's friends thought it best to give him a taste of their own.

"LEAF STORM…!"

"PAINT BOMB…!"

"DRILL QUILL…!"

"STAR SHOWE…!"

"BOOM-BOOM ROCKETS…!"

All those attacked blocked off every single one of Distraught's blasts. "Fine then!" he shouted "But let's sees how you handle my deadliest attack…!" He angrily roared as his entire body began to glow in red flames. "What…?! Oh, no…!" cried Lightning.

Distraught laughed hard as he prepared to unleash every last bit of magic he had into one massive burst of power. "There's not a single thing you have that's strong enough to get through this!"

"We'll see about that." said Twilight "Let him have it!" and they fired the Force of Harmony just as Distraught fired his own powerful blast. The two forces seemed perfectly equal, so powerful they cancelled each other out, leaving Twilight and friends tired, but Distraught too. "No! It's impossible! No single thing could be stronger than me."

"Except, no single thing has…" Twilight said, and Lightning stood by her side "We're a team, Distraught, and that's something you'd understand if you'd learn to listen to what others have to say! Now, release our friends!"

"NEVER!" shouted Distraught "I've come too far to lose now. I won't be defeated by you ponies!" and despite being out of magic he intended to keep going with all the rage he had and foolishly charged forward, but the ponies, though a little tired had plenty of power left.

Captain Lightning stood tall and proud "Starfleet… Friendship… ATEN-TION!"

"AYE-AYE, CAPTAIN…!" everyone shouted as they all stood in a perfectly line. "FIRE…!"

The other ponies fired their own specific attacks, or power from harmony stopping Distraught where he was and even blinding him. "My turn…!" Lightning said, and his golden horn glowed brightly, and his whole body was bathed the golden light. He recited the ancient chant for maximum power. "U… NI… FORCE…!" His powerful blast headed straight at Distraught who looked up just in time to see it coming. "Huh…? NOOOOOOOO…!"

The force was so strong that the entire area around Distraught exploded in a great flare.

The force was so great that Luna could actually feel the essence of the force. "Aunt Luna… what is it?" asked Cadance.

"Force of great power, greater than Distraught."

Shining Armor's hope began to come back "It's Twilight, and Lightning. It has to be." Everyone hoped he was right, because the collapsing dimension they were in wouldn't last much longer.

Back in the battlefield, the team looked ahead and wondered if it was really over and if they had won, but when the dust had cleared, they could hardly believe it. Distraught, though badly beaten and bruised, was still there. He angrily pounded the ground with his fist and shakily got back to his feet. He didn't look as if he could take much more.

"I don't believe it!" snapped Applejack.

"How can he keep going after all that?" asked Pinkie.

Lightning felt that Distraught had an overdeveloped sense of vengeance. He knew and recognized the feeling all too well. "Distraught…" he called "Why don't you just top all this nonsense? You know you can't beat us. Just listen to us and maybe we can help you."

Through his panting of pain Distraught couldn't believe that after all this the others were actually willing to help him, but still he refused "The only ones you should help is yourselves!" and even though all that pain he managed to start dashing forward. The team stood on guard ready for more, when suddenly the hidden voice called out…

"Stop, Distraught! You are no longer of any use to me."

"Who said that?" asked Buddy Rose.

"I don't see anyone." said Starla.

Then they all remember Distraught mention something about a mysterious hidden voice when they first met. "That voice…" Lightning muttered "It sounds so familiar."

"You…? What do you mean I'm no longer a use to you?" Distraught shouted into the sky "Who are you? Why don't you show yourself?"

"I am the one who is truly responsible for the demise of your people and your father Discord."

Hearing those words made Distraught feel angry confused and a whole lot of emotions all mixed together. "… I… don't understand."

"No I didn't think you would. You never understood anything that anyone had to say once you believed the lies I told you."

With that everyone began to see magical images of the planet Khaos before the race of Draconequuses were wiped out. The planet was hit by a powerful storm conjured by evil dark magic. Despite many of the Draconequuses being able to bend reality, this evil was far stronger than that of their power. As a result, they were all wiped out, the very time Twilight and her friends had used the Elements of Harmony to turn Discord back into stone when he escaped afterimages were seen of all the chaos and suffering he had caused.

Distraught could hardly speak "Father…?" he whimpered "No… it can't be!"

"Oh, but it is. Look for yourself." replied the voice and he showed more past images of the many dastardly things that Discord had done. "No! It isn't true! I won't believe you!"

The voice laughed sinisterly "It really makes no difference what you believe; you have served your purpose and granted me all that I need."

That's when Distraught's red orb glowed wild and brightly and yanked off of Distraught's neck with such a forceful blast that Distraught fell unconscious.

Everyone watched as the orb larger and larger and it spoke out in that same sinister voice "I have been reborn; the mighty force of all darkness and chaos!"

Fluttershy felt her fear rising again. "What do you think it is?" she whimpered. Rhymey held onto her tightly.

Spike ran over to the gang. "Twilight!" he called "What's going on?"

"I wish that I knew." cried Twilight

The orb began to fly up, up, up into the sky as the night sky grew darker with chaos and evil. Lightning, still having a sickening feeling he knew who the voice belonged to, was determined to see this for himself, took off into the skies after the orb. "Lightning!" cried Starla "Lightning what are you doing?"

Lightning stopped and hollered "I'm going to find out what this is all about." And then continued fly upwards following the orb. "Lightning!" cried Starla and she raced up after him, with the other unicorns following her, and Rainbow tried to go with them too, but suddenly they smacked right into a force field, preventing them from going any higher. "What is this?" snapped Rainbow, and she called to Twilight "Can you break this?"

Twilight tried and tried with all her might, but this force-field was like something she had never seen before, even her new powers from the orb weren't enough.

"But Lightning's up there on his own.

He'll have to face the danger all alone." said Rhymey.

This worried everyone, especially Starla. "…Lightning!"

Lightning had flown all the way up to where the orb was now floating freely in the absolutely center of the chaos around them. The orb had to be about the size of a house, and suddenly a familiar hooded creature appeared within the orb itself. "I've been looking forward to this day-to you again Lightning Dawn."

"Titan...!" shouted Lightning. It all made sense now. "So, you're the one behind all this."

Titan snickered sinisterly confirming it "And now, the Dimensional Universe will be mine!"

His evil power radiated so much that it would be felt in Distraught's collapsing dimension. So much that, Queen Celestia and Grand Ruler finally snapped awake from their coma, surprising Penny and everyone else.

The royal could actually feel Titan's presence, and knew that something would have to be done. Luckily, they both had their respective halves of their treasured weapon, the rainbow rod, and joined the two pieces together.

Everyone knew what was coming, but hoped that it would work and get them out before it was too late!