S4E11: Come Hell or High Water

'''Showdown! At last, the culmination of Hellgate's ultimate goal of "creating" a God Aura. ERAC has gathered all the remaining Elements of Harmony, but they have no intention to hand them over without a fight. The stage is set in the ruined ex-capital of Equestria, and the fate of the entire world rests on the outcome of this battle. There shall be no more games, no fancy tricks, no surprises...and to the victors will go the ashes.'''

Plot Summary
At 0600 hours the following day, Wolfgang held a mass briefing to all soldiers of ERAC. The plan was laid out to rescue the remaining Bearers and destroy the Hell Factory. Because Hellgate would need to open the barrier to let the Bearers inside, their escorts could easily follow. And with the barrier protecting the city, once inside that Factory would also be without that protection. The Hellgates were undoubtedly aware of this, and once they had the Bearers, the escorts would have to be removed since they would be in a place where they could hurt the mansions. Rainbow Dash is a bearer, and because of that she cannot fuel the Factory as she had during the assault on Canterlot. This meant that most likely the Factory would need to use one of its own Auras to power itself during whatever they were planning on doing with the Bearers. Additonally, the Factory could not risk itself getting damaged during a fight. Therefore, Hellgate should be expected as the Factory's main defense. Since Hellgate proved that he cannot oppose everyone with just one aura, he would need at least two. The Factory probably kept an additional one as a form of passive defense.

Yeshaida, G Leader, was still recovering, and as such Daisuke was placed in command. A Unit and part of G Squadron were to focus on taking on Hellgate while the remaining part of G Squadron would focus on making an opening in the Factory. If they could get inside the Factory, they could shut it down. And if they could remove Celestia, either through death or rescue, the barrier outside would fall (since Twilight would also be needed and therefore not able to provide her life for it). Once down, ERAC could send in reinforcements, and they would carry out a counterattack, unhindered with the destruction of the Hatred Cannon. By this time ERAC had given up on reclaiming Canterlot, and as such were not to hold back during their assault.

With the plan laid out, Wolfgang dismissed everyone, telling them to prepare. A Unit and G Squadron went to the lower entrance to meet the four Bearers, and then they proceeded to Canterlot. As they approached the city, the barrier lifted somewhat, just enough to fit a Mimic if they crawled, and so Ketsueki suggested that they go first and the Bearers go last, so that Hellgate doesn't close the barrier after them.

Inside the barrier, they found that Canterlot had inexplicably been mirrored, and Hellgate told them to take the Bearers to the Factory. At the Factory, the doors opened and they went inside. The Hell Factory was just as gruesome on the inside as out, and Oneiros had to spread a fragrance to counter the stench of death. The convoy's travels through the Hell Factory were quiet and uneventful, until they neared the end and Hellgate started to taunt them mercilessly. In particular he focused on the Anathemites from his world, mocking them and telling them that he had every intention to bring the chaos of that world to this one.

Inside the core they found only darkness and the other two Bearers, Twilight Sprkle and Rainbow Dash. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all ran in to help, only to be enveloped by the darkness. The Bearers now in their grasp, Canterlot reverted to its normal state, but the transfer was still very real. Now plugged in to their own Pegasus Device, the Bearers became the new fuel source for the deadly machine. Combined with Arachnos' Array, the Device drained life from the entire planet, from all creatures and all plants, and used that to form an aritifcial God Aura.

Despite their waning strength, A Unit and G Squadron tried to oppose Hellgate, but he managed to hold the upper hand. Then, suddenly, their strength returned. The Bearers had begun fighting back, unwilling to be fuel for the Device. Hellgate tried to keep stalling them, but eventually returned to the Factory himself, breaching a hole in it. The Hell Factory tried to use its weaponry to cover up the newly made-entrance, causing O-Hellgate to chastise Hellgate. Hellgate responded by saying it made no difference ultimately; they would have breached the walls even if he hadn't made it easy for them. What was important was getting the Bearers back under control, and O-Hellgate clearly couldn't do that alone.

Back outside, the Anathemites managed to call a protetive shield to get past the hailfire, but only two members of G Squadron would be able to fit in after. O-Hellgate activated all the internal defenses, but the infiltrators managed to push past them all into the real core. They tried to attack the Device but Hellgate managed to summon a wall to absorb their attacks. O-Hellgate was once again left alone to contain the rogue Bearers. O-Hellgate claimed ot have an idea to get them back under control, but he would need time and safety. To this end he granted Hellgate his second aura, giving the able-bodied one three. This caused the Hell Factory's outer defenses to shut down, granting the rest of G Squadron access.

Hellgate used his powers to open a "hyperspace arena" to protect the core, forcing their enemies inside. Now armed with the three god auras, Hellgate was at the most powerful he's ever been by himself. During the fight, Ketsueki managed to figure out that, much like during their second encounter, the key to victory was to attack the auras themselves as they moved around Hellgate's body. Eventually Hellgate called down a huge beam of concentrated Nihility. The three Anathemites went into the stream to attack the Auras powering it while G Squadron treid to flank Hellgate from both sides as a distraction. When the auras were struck, the beam was cancelled and Hellgate was left vulnerable. Several members of G Squadron took this opprotunity to go inside; this proved unwise.

Hellgate, now an Anathemite, was lacking any critical weak points. His power core and other seemingly sensitive areas were in fact not real, meaning any damage they do would ultimately prove superficial. Additionally, being inside his body meant that they were at his mercy. Hellgate taunted them for handing themselves over, and then tried to crush them. They only barely escaped, and Hellgate continued to mock them for wasting their chance to hurt him.

The battle moved into the next phase, and Hellgate was done playing around. He eventually became a flame of darkness, and started to slowly consume his enemies with Nihility. The Anathemites struck as hard as they could, ending his attack and throwing him so hard that he broke through his own arena. His body flew through the Hell Factory, severely damaging it and the Pegasus Device mk. II. By this point the Bearers had disappeared, but the artificial god aura was nearing completion. A Unit and G Squadron shattered the casing that housed the aura, and destroyed the aura itself. This, combined with the damage to the Device, caused an energy backlash that would cause the Device to overheat and explode.

The Hell Factory was quickly vacated, including by the Hellgates (O-Hellgate having transferred back into Hellgate's body). This caused the Hell Factory's form to fall apart as the corpses that made it were no longer attached to each other. Unfortunately, this was not the end of their problems. The Barrier was still up, as the houses still had hold of Princess Luna. Using her life to power it, there was no escaping the city while she remained in their posession. Hellgate and O-Hellgate used this to berate the two groups, saying that he had barely survived against Hellgate alone. They, now weakened, would have to fight both of them, armed with all four god auras. Undeterred, they challenged Hellgate anyway in the skies above Canterlot while the device counted down to its own rupture.

The Hellgates absorbed the full power of the auras into themselves becoming frighteningly powerful. At first they held clearly the upper hand. But then a mysterious power was embued to A Unit and G Squadron, allowing them to fight back and replensihing some of their strength. While trying to hold off Oneiros, Hellgate was assaulted from all sides, allowing Oneiros to gain entry. He found and rescued the Princess, freeing her from the house. The Barrier fell and Hellgate was left to fall with it, and the explosion of the device wiped what was left of Canterlot off the map.

But despite the cheers of ERAC, Hellgate had yet to be vanquished. He compared himself to a cancer, promising to be a constant blight to the world until they were victorious. They were immortal; they may have failed but they could always try again.

That was when the bearers showed up. Having sacrificed their physical forms so as to not allow O-Hellgate to drain more power from them, the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony had given their essence to the world itself, and then united their power to banish both Hellgates from the realm. The Elements of Harmony then gave their essence back to the world, restoring some of the damage Hellgate had done. Though the dead could not be ressurrected, the eithered plants regrew and blossomed more vibrantly than ever, Everfree was restored to the place it once was, and the Elements even repaired some damage from the Clan, including re-stabilizing the weather and lifting the poisonous shadows from the coastlines.

Wolfgang recalled the ERAC Fleet back to base, saying that it was time for celebration. At the party, ERAC soldiers and citizens alike gathered together, both to mourn and to celebrate the future. Celestia/Luna was even in attendance, giving some advice to Lynna. Luna said that thanks to the sacrifice of the Bearers, Equestria once more had hope and it could move on form its dark past. She wondered if Lynna could do the same.

At that moment, Jack arrived, claiming that "this party's just getting started."

Soundtrack

 * 1) Opening - Whirlwind (Shinobi 3)
 * 2) Final Mission Briefing - Emperor Anglar's Evil Conference (Star Fox Command)
 * 3) Canterlot - For Endless Fight III (Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero Telos)
 * 4) Fear and Horror - Demons On The Prey (Orchestral Mix)
 * 5) Capture - Mithos Yggdrasill (Tales of Symphonia)
 * 6) Doomsday - It Can Waver and Fight (Tales of Symphonia)
 * 7) End of the World ~ Vs. Hellgate Final Round 1 - Soul Ablaze (Rockman ZX Advent Tunes)
 * 8) Fighting Back - Soul Ablaze (Gigamix ver.)
 * 9) Battle to the Core - Neo Arcadia (Remastered Tracks Rockman Zero Mythos)
 * 10) Core Struggle - Beat the Angel (Tales of Symphonia)
 * 11) True Power ~ Vs. Hellgate Final Round 2 - What I'm Made Of (Sonic Heroes)
 * 12) Unrelenting Evil ~ Vs. Hellgate Final Round 3 - Boss (US) (Sonic CD)
 * 13) Collapse - R3inbow F@ctor-y (Rainbow Factory Remix) (TeiThePony)
 * 14) Consequence - Mithos Yggdrasill (Tales of Symphonia)
 * 15) Showdown ~ Vs. Hellgate Final Round 4: Subarashiki Shin Sekai (Namco X Capcom)
 * 16) Sacrifice - For Endless Fight in Resonance (Rockman Zero Resonnant vie)
 * 17) Victory Celebration - Victory Celebration (Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi)
 * 18) Ending Theme/f - One Final Blast (Final Fortress Remix) (Faseeh Deen)
 * 19) Jack Greenspan: Strange People (Gyakuten Kenji 2 / Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations: Prosecutor's Path)
 * 20) Ending Theme - Dream a Dream (Pop It Don't Drop It edit)

Trivia

 * This episode was an interrupted broadcast
 * This episode featured opening theme, "Whirlwind," which will be used in all subsequent "climactic" episodes.
 * The third phase against Hellgate in the Arena was unplanned. It was supposed to end after the second, however the forced entry into Hellgate's body essentially handed him a victory, so SDM had to add an entirely new phase just to have Hellgate lose it again.
 * This is also why the song choice for the aforementioned phase is "unique;" SDM needed something very quick.
 * The usage of "R3inbow F@ctor-y" was also unplanned, and only made officialy by SDM after player suggestion.
 * Some of the music used in this episode is a throwback to Hellgate 2 Part I.
 * The theme for encountering the Hellgates in the Hell Factory's core is "Beat the Angel," which was originally the I Final theme.
 * "Subarashiki Shin Sekai" was originally used as the penultimate battle theme against Hellgate's Shade.
 * This was the first episode to be recorded using a screen capture program. It is available here.