S4E01: Familiar Faces

'''An old foe returns to wreak havoc. Meanwhile a new, sinister threat begins to make its move on Equestria.'''

"Familiar Faces" was the name of an episode from the Xat RP, and was also the season 4 premiere. It aired on July 5th, 2014.

Plot Synopsis
The episode began with a recap of the past several weeks, covering the time from the Season 3 finale up to the current episode. It told of Equestria's recovery from the war, led by Princess Celestia (Princess Luna in disguise, having survived the destruction of the moon). The Nihilius Clan comet was in the process of being converted into a monument, while the rest of the nation rebuilt. The destruction of the moon had many consequences planteside, and as a result Pegasi were constantly attempting to stabilize the weather and the coastal regions were so bad that ERAC quarantined them. However, strange things had also begun to happen. Disappearances. Sightings of long dead friends and family appearing to walk the streets at night. And multiple rifts appearing all over Equestria.

The episode truly began with one of those rifts tearing open. The Special A Unit, with assistance from G Squadron, went to investigate. They found several miles of burnt earth and bodies around the rift site, which was right near the Monument. Searching the wasteland yielded the surprising discovery of Aurion, who was thought dead. Daisuke, operating under the callsign G8, left his Mimic to embrace his son. However, the rift began to tear open further as something came through. Ketsueki, G3, belieivng it to be The General, went against orders and attempted to stand up to it, despite the build-up of thermal energy. He was rescued in the nick of time, as a black worm emerged from the rift, causing a wave of fire to burst from the portal. G Leader attempted to attack it, only ot be met with a terrifyingly powerful counterattack, promping the Special A Unit and G Squadron to retreat.

More of the worms began to emerge from the rifts, eventually breaking free of them flying through the air, towards the Everfree Forest. A new, bigger portal was forming there, and the pressure from it caused the universe to grind. Commander Wolfgang ordered the two groups to move to Everfree and close the portal at all costs. However, despite the worms severely lacking in defense, the two teams' hesitation at the beginning cost them many precious minutes, which allowed the incoming being to pass through. Once more A and G Squadron retreated as the biggest fire wave yet engulfed all of Everfree, setting it ablaze.

Wolfgang informed them of some unfortunate news: that whatever passed through the portal was an Anathemite. After receiving the command to obtain a visual on the target, they found none other than Hellgate of Olyn's, Oneiros', and Executor's world, having found them at last. Hellgate also had with him O-Hellgate of the first universe, the two apparently having found a way to communicate with each other.

Hellgate was not telling on what his exact goal for chasing after them was, but he was more than happy to test his new powers on his old adversaries. After being forced to transform into his soul form to squeeze through the portal, Hellgate summoned back his true body. It had been altered, with O-Hellgate's twisted "face" on the back. During the ensuing fight, Hellgate and O-Hellgate demonstrated the ability to switch control at will, with Hellgate leaning more towards offensive abilities with his enhanced weaponry and O-Hellgate resorting more to Nihility. The two continually bickered with each other, though it didn't seem to harm their fighitng abilitiy.

In the end, their inability to properly practice their Nihility powers cost them, and they were blown back into the Crystal Mountains. Hellgate thanked the soldiers for the sparring match, and then left, cryptically telling them that he had work to do, departing with an image of four black flames hanging in the air. He also mentioned that "much had changed" in regards to the Anathemites' home worlds.

Afterward, Wolfgang ordered both teams back to Headquarters. He wished to be told everything they knew about Hellgate, and there was also the matter of Aurion's return to investigate...

Soundtrack

 * 1) Opening Theme - Main Theme (Sonic Time Attacked)
 * 2) Recap - Yatagarasu ~ The Gentleman Thief (Ace Attorney Investigations Miles Edgeworth)
 * 3) Ground Zero - Dark Planet (Star Wars Rogue Squadron II Rogue Leader)
 * 4) Worms - Miniboss theme (Metroid Prime)
 * 5) Countdown - Boss 1 (Sonic Time Attacked)
 * 6) Emergence(y) - Event: Metal Sonic ~ The Ultimate Overlord (Sonic Heroes)
 * 7) Return of the Demon - The King of Light and Shadow (The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
 * 8) Sparring Match - It Can Waver and Fight (Tales of Symphonia)
 * 9) Ending Theme - Dream a Dream (Pop It Don't Drop It edit)

Trivia

 * This is the first appearance of Hellgate since the end of season 2, well over a year and a half prior. This is also his first major role since the beginning of season 2.
 * Throughout the entirety of the episode, Kusakabe's codename, Ketsueki, was constantly referred to as "Keisuke," which means something entirely different.
 * SDM attributes this to reading his notes wrong, interpreting the "t" as an "I" and then it spiralling from there.