Author's Note

Another chapter done, and the everyone finally reunited, unfortunately. This and the next chapter or two have been ones I've been looking forward to writing the most which is why it took so long, because I wanted to make them the best I could and keep you guys coming back for more though it's still not quite there it might be best for me to try writing out the next chapter(s) for this particular confrontation before I go trying to change it so without further a due, hope you guys like the next installment of Lightning Master.

The Gang is Back Together Again

The light didn't get much of a chance to die down before it came back in full force as Drake reappeared and darted back into the train car holding BlackStreak before the others could get the spots out of their eyes. They heard the rumbling from BlackStreak's engine as Drake revved her up and shot out of the train just as everyone recovered. They all run towards the window and look out just in time to see Drake unleash a powerful bolt of crimson lightning slam into a blockade that was set up in front of them by the Rippers. He then looped around and pulled up right beside the train as he was face to face with them.

"Tonoe, when you all get there I want you all to get to townhall and fortify it while you help as many ponies along the way. You are the only one here besides me that know how the Rippers operate so help Gleaming setup something that will hold until I take care of them and Purge!" He ordered loudly, shouting over the high winds that had kicked up the closer they got to Ponyville.

"Sure thing Drake just make sure you're car-" Tonoe was saying before they all saw flashes of light coming from Ponyville. When they looked over they could see the telltale light of Purge's unholy flames but along with that was a golden and midnight blue light right next to it.

"Oh my, looks like the princesses beat you there Drake." Rarity said with a happy smile that was mirrored by her friends, but Drake and Tonoe's expressions soured more.

"They did and they may have forfeited their lives because of it." They all gasped and turned towards Tonoe after what he just said.

"How could you say that Tonoe?" Fluttershy asked, sounding a bit appalled at the Meancepan's lack of faith in their princesses.

"Because if they weren't able to prevent Drake's lightning from touching them then what can they do against Purge's unholy flames?" Tonoe bit back a little harshly at the timid pegasus who proceed to imitate a turtle as she tried to hide herself into her shirt with the others shooting glares at him. He just shrugs as he turns his attention back to Drake. "You better get over there, you're the only chance those two have of surviving against him."

"Yeah, I know, just be careful when you all get their. I don't know how big of a force he has helping him or why he decided to attack Ponyville but I don't know what'd I do if you, Gleaming, or Cadance got hurt, or worse." The three in question smiled at him loving before answering "We will," in unison. With that, Drake gave them a nod before taking off towards Ponyville once more. "You just never learn do you Purge? Oh well, I was wondering what'd I'd do without all my free time without being able to kick your ass, looks like I don't have to worry about that now." Drake said with a toothy grin and bared his fangs for all to see.

Back on the train the others were discussing how to go about enacting Drake's order.

"Gleaming, you said you were good with shield spells right?" Tonoe asked Gleaming Shield after which said mare puffed out her chest and slammed a fist over her heart.

"Good? I'm perhaps one of the shield casters there is, if not the best." She declared as Twilight and Cadance rolled their eyes at the mare's antics.

"Good, then I think I know how we should go about moving to Town Hall without much issue."

"Oh? How are we going to do that?" Pinkie asked

"Well I was thinking of having you, Pinkie, be at the front of the group to guide us through the fastest path to Town Hall from the train station. With your rather, unique, skills and pinkie sense you can help us avoid danger all together if not then at the very least keep anyone from getting seriously hurt." Tonoe explained to her to which she saluted.

"Sir yes sir, I will do my absolute best to keep my friends from being hurt."

"Alright, next up will be Rarity, with your keen eye for details you can help Pinkie spot traps and other such oddities to keep us from getting ambushed. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, you two will obviously be in the air looking for any dangers from a fair distance away or that may be in our path and guide us to any ponies that need our help." Rainbow nodded in agreement as she gave him a confident smirk while Fluttershy "eep'ed" and covered her face with her mane but agreed as well with Rarity giving a slight grimace at the possibility of ruining her clothes but went with it none the less. "Good, AppleJack, me and you will take up the rear and make sure no one jumps us from behind and finally Gleaming and Cadance. You two are are going to be in the middle of the group and I want you two ready to throw up a shield when necessary but otherwise keep an eye out where the others aren't and help them when you can." The last three mares nodded their consent. Tonoe then turned towards Spike who seemed to be eagerly awaiting his own assignment. "Spike, you can breath fire right?"

"Sure can, see," Spike said as he blew out a very small stream of fire from his mouth so as not to accidentally set the train on fire.

Tonoe nodded before saying, "good, I want you to hang near Gleaming and Cadance, the Ripper are able to communicate among each other over a vast distance with their gear and once they know Gleaming is able the erect strong barriers then they will aim for her."

"So you want me to protect her?"

"Yes, I may be able to set us up to not run into as many ambushes as we would if we went in unprepared but we're still going to run into them and I know Gleaming is going to play a big part in keeping us all out of harms way and I want her to be able to do that without having to worry about a getting taken down before she has one up."

"No problem dude, I will protect her with my life." Spike said with a fire in his eyes. Tonoe couldn't help but smile as he had seen that same flame within Drake's own eyes back when Purge had first emerged and started terrorizing The Forge.

'And history was set to repeat itself had we not already had been here. Drake won't let Purge have much of a foothold here as long as he can help it, and I'm not about to stand by and watch either, not this time.' Thought the Meancepan as he nodded towards the young drake before moving back into the other train car that Black Streak had been in previously and found a crate hiding in the corner of the car on the right side. He opens it and smiles before dragging it back into the room with the others and opens it's contents for them to see. "Now that we all know what we're have to do it's time to gear up."

15 Minutes Later

"You all remember the plan right?" Tonoe asked as they were coming up on the outskirts of Ponyville. It was then that they saw the chaos and destruction that had been wrought upon their home. They hadn't even gotten off the train yet and they could see some bodies lying on the ground with homes and businesses set ablaze and townsfolk being chased by the Rippers. They could all only look on in horror at what they were seeing. "If you girls are going to help them you need to get used to this sight quickly cause they will pounce they moment they see the chance to." Tonoe warned them as they were pulling into the station with a large group of Rippers waiting for them already. The ponies and dragon could see the manic grins and bloodlust in their visage as they slowed to a stop and had them gulping out of fear as these.... things looked ready to tear them apart piece by piece. Once the train came to a complete stop, those grins grew even wider as they made sure to brandish their weapons, all of which seemed to have some blood splattered on them which did nothing to help the group's nerves.

"Alright, this is it you guys, hope you're ready cause we're gonna have to fight our way out of here." Tonoe said as he got his own weapon ready, a sword made similarly to Drake's but it wasn't all that conductive and was serrated to deliver a rather nasty cut no matter how small. Though right before the doors could open, a blue beam of magic shot across the platform and into the group who were promptly vaporized by the attack. Tonoe and the others stood there in surprise as they blinked away the spots in their vision.

"Young Twilight, are you and your friends alright?" A voice asked from the direction of the blast and they all looked to see a bruised and injured Luna standing there in her armor and a claymore resting in her hands. Next to her was her sister, Princess Celestia, who looked worst for wear than Luna did as she leaning against a light post several inches away from her. Seeing their two rulers in this state kicked everyone into action as they all rushed over to help them.

"Princess Celestia, what happened to you two?" Fluttershy asked as she and Twilight tended to her wounds with Cadance hovering over them nearby.

"That foul creature that goes by Purgatory is what happened to us!" Came the response from Luna.

"She is indeed correct, whatever that creature is, it isn't anything that I've ever seen. He is as cruel as some of the more sadistic demons roaming Tartarus and his lack of restraint very much makes him a dangerous threat after we saw him incinerate his own subordinates just to try to get to us only to bring them back of undead monstrosities and sick them on the townsponies. Drake really has had his work cut out for him if this is what he has to deal with on a regular basis and I'm- why are you laughing?" Celestia asks as they all look at Tonoe who had started laughing softly and got louder and louder as the seconds ticked on before calming himself down, wiping a tear from his eye with a claw when he's down.

"I'm sorry princess but that's what Drake deals with on an easy day." Tonoe informed them and had them dropping their jaws on the ground as they looked at him in disbelief. "Don't give me those looks, none of you have seen what he's fully capable of. Yes, I know he's shown you the video of him ending the war but let me tell you, seeing it as compared to actually being there, well there's a reason no one interfered in that fight." Tonoe explained as he looked around the area, searching for any dangers while the others merely gulped in fear as they all looked at each other before looking back to Tonoe.

"If that's the case, then what about my fight with him when he first arrived in Canterlot?" Gleaming asked, already dreading the answer.

"He was more than likely holding back, he tends to when faced against anyone other than Purge." Tonoe answered casually before getting serious again. "Look, as much as I would like show you all why Drake is not someone to fuck with, we have a mission to do and ponies to save so we better get to it." This got him nods from the group as they righted themselves and psyched themselves up for the task ahead. When Tonoe saw that they were all ready he decided to go over the plan one more time as he got them moving.

~10 Minutes Later~

"Come on! Over here!" Rainbow Dash shouted down towards a group of ponies that she and Twilight were leading back towards Town Hall where Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were waiting with some other Ponyville residents that decided to help stand guard outside of their safe haven.

"This way darling, we're almost there!" Came Rarity's voice from another path as she lead her own group to safety with Luna taking up the rear.

"Girls, our section is clear of all citizens!" Twilight came next with Cadance on her tail though they didn't have anypony with them.

"The three of us found a bunch of fillies and colts over in our part of town but other than that there wasn't really much else." Gleaming said as she walked up to the group while Celestia and Spike were seen pulling a wagon filled with said foals who all looked scared out of their minds but seemed to be calming down as they got closer to Town Hall.

"What about you girls? Everything clear on your end?" Twilight asked Rainbow, AppleJack, Rarity, and Luna after they guided everypony inside.

"Yeah, we just brought back the last group that were hiding out in the southwest section of Ponyville." Rainbow answered.

"Same for us on the south east side." Came Luna's response.

"Oh thank goodness, then it seems most everypony is relatively fine, besides a few." Pinkie Pie said that last part sadly as the everyone else took on their own sad and forlorn looks. They stayed like that for a bit before AppleJack suddenly shot up and asked, "Wait a minute, where's Tonoe?" This made them all look around and realize that their new scaly friend hadn't gotten back yet.

"Has anypony seen him recently, or know what he was doing last?" Celestia asked as was growing more and more worried.

They all stood there for a moment when Pinkie Pie perked up, "Oh yeah, I remember seeing him heading towards the Everfree Forest."

Celestia and Luna's eyes widen at that as they grew worried faces upon their visage. "Pinkie Pie, are you certain you saw him head that direction?" Celestia asked as a sense of dread came over her.

"Absolutely princess. Why?"

"Girls, we have to go after him, NOW!!!" Luna shouted as she and Celestia took off with the girls following behind and leaving Spike behind to guard the townsfolk.

"Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, what's wrong, is Tonoe in danger?" Twilight asked as she was trying to stay in front of the group with Celestia.

"Yes Twilight, very much so. That is where Drake took that monster so they wouldn't do anymore damage to Ponyville or it's residents." The rest of the girls grew more worried and began running faster to try and catch to the Meancepan and keep him from getting hurt. They made it to the entrance of the Everfree Forest in no time at all and ran inside without any hesitation. Wasn't too far in that they saw Tonoe running through the forest himself and called out to him, "Tonoe!"

He stopped, and nearly stumbled on a tree root in the process, when he heard someone calling out to him. "What are all of you doing here?" He asked as though genuinely confused on why they had followed him here.

"What do you mean what are we doing here? What are you doing here? You do know that Drake is fighting that, that beast, Purge up ahead don't you?" came Rarity's response.

"Yeah, I know, why do you think I'm going over there? I know Drake can handle himself but the sooner he's taken down to sooner we can get rid of the Rippers and stop anymore damage from being done to Ponyville." Tonoe stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well yeah but-" She started but was interrupted by a loud explosion and a wave of static and heat passed over them, making them all stop in their tracks.

"Th- this energy, this is coming from those two!?" Gleaming shouted out to Tonoe who was staring up ahead with a viscous glare pointed towards that direction.

"Yes." Came the curt response as he took off, faster than before, towards the epicenter of the blast with the others following closely behind him. After a minute or two of running full sprint they made it to the edge of a huge crater with two figures standing near the center, facing each with their weapons out and ready to strike as well as their respective elements swirling around them.

"Drake..." Came the whispered call from Cadance as she, Gleaming, and Tonoe stared down at their lover and, as if that was a trigger, Drake shot towards Purge faster than their eyes could see because in less than a second later he is standing where Purge once was, with a foot extended in the air and Purge now buried part way into the ground at the edge of the crater. It wasn't but moments later that they see Purge darting out of the man sized hole and towards Drake, with his own hellish claymore ready to decapitate him. Drake dodged the strike with ease and threw a lightning coated fist at him. Purge jumped back before the strike could connect and once again put them both on opposite ends of the crater.

"Seem to be losing your touch over there Lightning, has this new, little peaceful life you're trying to live soften you up that much already." Purge taunted as he still stood tall and proud as if he didn't just get kicked into the ground.

"You say that as if I'm actually trying." Lightning threw back with a smirk that infuriated Purge.

"Silence whelp! You know you are nothing but a pest under my foot, but I can fix that if you agree to my terms and join me."

"We both know that isn't going to happen you piece of shit. I will kill you and make sure you're sent somewhere worse than the hell you crawled out of."

At this statement Purge a feral smirk that put the spectators on edge, "I wish you luck with that Lightning." Hell flames started to blaze around him before he took off across the crater again but, much to his confusion, didn't head towards Drake and instead had seen him heading towards their audience instead. When Drake spotted them and seen Purge towards them his eyes grew wide before disappearing in a flash of light and reappearing in between Purge and the group of ponies and Meancepan, their blades locked in a fierce struggle as their wielders drove their will into their weapons. One, seeking nothing more than death and destruction of all that is living, and the other fighting for those same lives, fighting for their future, their freedom, and all that stood for good. These were the same ideals that flowed through them when they first met on the battlefield all those years ago and have manifested once again now in this new world that could very well be their new homes for the rest of their days. Their struggle grew more and more intense as the seconds ticked by and with it the amount of power they were releasing.

Behind Drake, Tonoe was smiling as he watched the man he had came to love with all his heart once again stand up to this evil creature that all others could not and show the world exactly why he deserved these powers of his.

"So this is a part of the true power Drake possesses, isn't it?" Princess Celestia asked Tonoe as they all watched the spectacle before them, the clashing of Drake's legendary Crimson Lightning, and Purge's Infamous Hellish Flames, and start to truly understand Drake a bit more than before.

"Yes, it is Princess. These two haven't bother going all out as they both know doing so on any planet would no doubt result in it's destruction." Tonoe answered in as serious as a tone he could muster to make them understand just how strong these two actually are, and judging by the wide-eyed, fearful, expressions they now had, they understood.

"Yes Meancepan, tell them just how little they actually stand a chance of defeating me! Tell them more so their terror rises as I kill Lightning here right in front of all of you!" Purge shouted out to him while laughing manically as he pushed against Drake even more and was starting to gain some ground.

"Shut it dickhead, you aren't beating me now, or ever! I will kill you and make sure your existence is erased from any and all plains of existence!" Drake shouted back as he push back against Purge, gaining back the ground he had lost and then kept going as both started grunting from the effort both had to exert in their little competition of power. "You are a piece of shit that fights for nothing other than yourself and it will be your downfall, where I fight for all those that can't fight for themselves and draw my strength from their hopes and dreams to stand against you each and every single time we meet!" Drake declared as his strength flared and pushed back Purge before firing crimson bolt at him and sending him into the forest.

"Woah, that so coooool!" Said Rainbow and Pinkie Pie as they and the others were about to approach Drake when Tonoe stuck his arm out and halting their progress.

"It's not over yet." Tonoe said in a low tone which made them look at Drake and realize that he was still on guard. They made sure to get their guard up and watch for anything out the ordinary when they all heard laughter, deranged laughter, like that of a madpony.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" It came from the direction that Purge had been sent before a huge column of Hellish Flames rose to touch the skies. It was only there for a second before dispersing and revealing Purge hovering in the air with two sprouts of his flames coming from the bottom of his feet. "Oh Lightning, you disappoint me, here I was thinking that you were different from the stereotypical hero that most children finds themselves wanting to be but it would seem I was wrong." Purge said in a condescending tone as he looked down at Drake as if he himself was one of said children while Drake just met his gaze with an intense glare. "Oh don't look at me like that Lightning, you and I both know that what you just said was corny as fuck and you said be ashamed of yourself for spouting such nonsense." Purge said, his voice full of mirth as he seemed to take the situation as nothing more than a joke.

Drake's response was to summon his crimson lightning once again and it surrounded him as he tightened the grip on the handle of his blade. Drake shifted his legs and tensed the muscles within them as he looked prepared to take off at any second now as the lightning around seemed to intensify. Seeing the stance he took, Purge himself lost all the mirthful smugness he had and grew completely serious as he too positioned himself in a way that made it looked like he was ready to take off straight towards Drake. The others watching from the sideline knew that things were about to get much more serious as well as much more dangerous and wisely turned around and ran back towards Ponyville.

Seeing this, Purge smirked, which Drake noticed, and once again launched himself towards the group with Drake being close behind though this time he was a bit too slow as Purge had managed to reach them without any interference and was ready to cut them down. He swung down to cleave poor Pinkie Pie, who was frozen in fear, in half when he met some unexpected resistance from Gleaming Shield who managed to erect a barrier strong to stop him in his tracks though not without straining herself as the others could see the sweat already coming down from her brow.

Purge growled in irritation before going for a new target, which was Princess Celestia, but was once again by Gleaming Shield. After that is was too late for him to go after someone else as he was forced to block Drake's sword once again to prevent himself from being beheaded. He growled at having been stopped twice by this pathetic pony and wanted to make her pay and quickly thought of a plan. He feinted a punch towards Drake, which he tried to block. and threw viscous kick into his side instead and launched him away before turning around and throwing his sword at Rarity. Gleaming threw up another barrier in front of Rarity, which the blade bounced off of, but was left unaware and vulnerable when Purge showed up in front of her and backhanded her, very hard, into the forest and away from the group.

"GLEAMING!!" They all shouted out, ready to run to her aid when Purge turned his sights towards them and made them stop in their tracks. They backed up slowly away from the mad man even if they knew that there wasn't much point in trying to get away.

"Now, which one of you is next to die?" He asked much too gleefully for their taste. He started gathering his flames into his free hand as he eyed each of them like a piece of meat, ready to be roasted. Wasn't long after this that they all felt a rise of electricity in the air and heard the fierce and wild cackling of electricity and turned towards the source, Drake, who looked absolutely livid. Purge's manic grin never left his face as he stared at his arch-nemesis, in fact it grew wider, seeing him in the state that he was in. He opened his mouth to say something but never got the chance to even utter a sound as he was blasted away by a bigger and more powerful crimson bolt than they had seen before. Also seems that Drake decided to adorn full armor, mask and all, which slightly unnerved the group of mares.

"Go." They suddenly heard come from Drake though he wasn't looking at them, instead was focused on the direction he had sent Purge.

"What?" Applejack asked, still stunned from Drake's display of power.

"Go find Gleaming, she's still alive but very much hurt from that attack so go find and help her before something else does." Drake said calmly but Cadance and Tonoe could hear the fury that he was holding back as well. "All of you go back to Ponyville, I understand you all came to help but I'm sure you all know now that you're not gonna be much help here, and yes Tonoe, that includes you too." He said, getting the Meancepan to close his mouth before opening it again to say something.

"Ok Drake, I'll go with them, just don't do anything too stupid alright?" Tonoe asked, worry evident in his tone.

Drake turned to look over at his best friend/soon to be lover and took off his before saying, "I make no promises but I will certainly try." Drake replied with a smile that seemed to make Tonoe relax a little as he sighed before looking at Drake with his own.

"That's all I can really ask, now go kick his!"

"Heh, don't need to tell me twice." His smile disappeared as he gained a hard look as he put his mask back on. "Now hurry up and go. Sooner you all are out of the area the sooner I can get to mopping the floor with that ugly mug of his."

Tonoe nodded at him before turning towards the girls. "Alright girls, lets get going, we have a mare to rescue and heal and we ain't gonna be able to do that standing around here!" He shouted out as the mares all stood straight in a line and saluted him, including Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, before blinking their eyes when they realized what they just did with Tonoe just smirking at their actions. "I will never get tried of that."

Drake could only sigh in exasperation at his friend's actions before Tonoe went on. "Alright ladies, let's move out!" And with that they all started to leave, but not before Cadance had ran up to Drake and pulled him into a tight hug and a kiss, after removing she removed his mask with her magic, and then leaned towards his ear to say, "Make him pay for hurting Gleaming," With a fury in her voice that very few get to see or hear.

"I will Cadance, even if I don't kill him he won't be leaving here unscathed." And with that they left the warm embrace and parted ways, Cadance running to catch up with the group, with Drake walking towards where he had sent Purge flying. "Time to end this fight!" He growled before vanishing in a crimson light, the ground scorched from the intensity of his lightning, and in the center laid a single, white, scale.