Thor gulped nervously as he stood in the presence of the most powerful ponies in Equestria. Although he had never encountered them before, he felt a strong connection to them.

"Come here," said a blue female pony in a southern accent wearing a green skirt and her mane done in a bun. "Have a seat by the fire. I made it myself."

Accepting the invite, Thor sat down with the pillars.

"Why are you all here in this cave?" wondered Thor. "Your homeland is in mortal danger."

"Because we are being hunted by Emperor Grogar," said Rockhoof, a bulky bluish-gray pony with a Scottish accent. "That monster wants us because we are the pillars."

"That's not a good enough reason," cried Flash Magnus, a gold colored male Pegasus pony. "He wants us because he wants access to the tree of harmony. The Elements have been corrupted."

"Flash Magnus is a Captain in the Royal Guard in Canterlot," replied Rockhoof. "He actually was sent by Princess Celestia to join us together before Grogar raised the threat level."

"But unfortunately, he has," said Somnambula, an Egyptian sounding dark pink Pegasus pony in Egyptian garb. "Now we have been forced to hide from his donkey soldiers."

The more Thor listened, the more he understood the situation they were all in. True, he had lived the same life as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, but he never met the pillars until now. Then, a thought crossed his mind

"You are Starswirl the Bearded, teacher of the Royal Sisters?"

"I am," he replied. "Is Asgard and Equestria still aligned?"

"Not for 1,000 years," sighed Thor, brandishing his hammer, Storm breaker. "Asgard and Equestria haven't been in alliance since Princess Luna went mad."

"All the same, we can't just sit here and do nothing Starswirl," remarked Mistmane. "We have to find a way to fight Grogar."

"All of Equestria is preparing for war," added Flash Magnus, flying into the air to face his fellow pillars and their honored guest. "And all of their most feared enemies have joined forces. This isn't going to be like the Pony of Shadows incident."

"Well, why are we all just sitting here and talking about it?" cried Thor. "We need to do something!"

"We will do something, Thor. But we need a plan," said Starswirl. "How and what that plan will be is a different story."

Thor then proceeded to look down at Storm Breaker. The more he looked at it, the more he realized of how valuable it was. If it helped him fight Thanos' forces at the Battle of Wakanda, it would certainly help them fight Grogar.

"What about my hammer?" Thor suggested, showing it off to the pillars.

"What about that hammer?" wondered Rockhoof, taking a keen interest at it. "It certainly is no different than my own shovel."

"That's because your shovel doesn't have the power of Asgard, my friend," replied Thor. "This hammer was created to fight Thanos at the Battle of Wakanda, a battle we regrettably lost. However, I can make certain that this time, this is a battle my hammer will help us win."

"We each have objects that represent who we are," said Starswirl. "However, they were all destroyed when the Pony of Shadows came back along with us."

"But they were just objects, Starswirl," remarked Mistmane. "I'm certain that Thor will use that hammer to wield powers unlike any we have seen before."

Thor felt empowered by Mistmane's words and at that moment, dedicated himself to helping the Pillars in their time of need.

…

Back in Canterlot, the preparations for Grogar's intimate attack were in full swing. Guardsponies were taking their positions on the castle walls, aiming their weapons towards the road leading towards Canterlot.

"Wait a minute," said Quill, suddenly taking note of Dr. Strange. "Aren't you the one who asked me what master I served? I still serve Jesus, you know."

Strange merely rolled his eyes at him, trying to focus on what needed to be done.

"Look," said Twilight. "What we need to do is to figure out a way to defend both your alicorn magic as well as my own and the Elements of Harmony. I am already setting up a defense at my castle and my school. My multi-creature students along with Peter Parker are helping."

"That's good, Twilight," replied Princess Celestia. "Grogar will more than likely focus on obtaining the Elements of Harmony instead of just attacking Canterlot."

"And it's clear we can't be in two places at once," added Princess Luna.

"Agreed," added Princess Cadence.

Listening into what was being said, Dr. Strange knew that he needed to do something and bring in a core member of this team of heroes.

"We're going to have to bring Tony Stark in this as well," said Dr. Strange and was just about to go and fetch him when the doors of the throne room once again opened, startling everyone.

There was Tony, Julia and the Hulkbuster Armor with Trixie accompanying all of them.

"Uh, what in…?" gasped Luna as the top of the armor opened to reveal Starlight Glimmer inside. "Starlight Glimmer, what are you doing in there?"

"Piloting this cool armor," laughed Starlight. "That Grogar's in for it now."

"And so is Chrysalis," added Twilight, causing Starlight's suddenly happy mood to become crestfallen. "Starlight, the Elements are corrupted."

"Corrupted? How?"

"Remember our recent camping trip? Well, Chrysalis tried to create copies of us just so she get to the elements so easily."

"That's not good," cried Trixie. "What do we do?"

"I agree, where has my daughter been evacuated to?" asked Julia, becoming more and more worried for Rachel. "Tell me she is somewhere safe, Princess Twilight."

"She is being taken to Mount Aris and then Seaquestria," answered Twilight, causing Julia to breathe a deep sigh of relief. "We wanted to get as many of our subjects out of harms way as possible."

Hearing this, Julia walked back over to Tony, who placed his arm around her shoulder. She was relieved that Rachel was safe, but unlike her, Julia was not.

"So what do we do?" asked Trixie again. "Trixie plans to contribute to the fight, but needs direction."

"I propose we split up," suggested Dr. Strange, using his magic to create a map of the supposed battlefield. "Grogar will more than likely split his forces leaving himself and possibly a few others to advance towards the tree of harmony.

"The doc has a point," suggested Rocket. "Quill, you, Drax, Gamora and Mantis head to the tree of harmony. Groot and I will stay here and fight here with the princesses."

All of the Guardians were dumbstruck to hear this kind of talk from Rocket. In fact, Quill was so dumbstruck he walked over in amazement.

"Rocket," he gasped. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm willing to take the chance, Quill. If I die, you can just hang my hide on the wall of fame. Remember, no matter what happens, we will always be a family."

Twilight and the others watched as the Guardians of the Galaxy came into an embrace, possibly for the last time. Seeing this, Julia turned her attention to Tony.

"I'll stay here in Canterlot," she said. "They are going to need help in every way."

Tony felt shocked by this decision.

"Julia…are you sure? But…"

"This is a decision that I feel is necessary for me to fall on," she said, wrapping her arms around Tony's neck. "You would do the same thing for me."

For several moments, Tony just stood there in shock and amazement. Julia was his newly married wife and the love of his life. He knew that he could bear to live with himself if anything were to happen to her. He said nothing and in desperation, pulled Julia in for a passionate kiss that lasted for several minutes.

"I suppose you'll be staying as well, Tempest," said Twilight, looking over at her with a worried expression.

"I'll go wherever the Storm King is going," replied Tempest, firmly. "Nothing would make me happier than to get my revenge against him."

"In most cases," remarked Dr. Strange. "He'll be part of the force coming here to Canterlot."

Hearing this, Tempest's mind was made up. She was going to once again fight in Canterlot, not with the enemy, but against the enemy.

…

With their final goodbyes said, Dr. Strange led Twilight, Tony and several of the Guardians of the Galaxy through the portal and just like that, 3 of Equestria's four princesses were left alone, anticipating the arrival of their most feared enemies along with their allies.

The waiting game had now begun…