Chapter 59 – Pillars
59
Canterlot, Equestria
Canterlot Castle, War Room
10:51 a.m.
“We can’t explain it either. Just all of a sudden, the Chitauri warship decided to leave the Crystal Empire and take its invading force with it. Where it went… we’re still trying to figure that out… something I’m sure you’re tired of hearing by now, Your Highness.”
Princess Celestia was tired of many things, but that was a first.
The Canterlot War Room was dimly-lit, circular and expansive in size and shape. Aside from the Royal Guard standing outside the exit and Celestia’s personal guard within the War Room, nopony else—without orders from the princesses themselves—were required to be present during Princess Celestia’s personal call with Prince Shining Armor. She and her sister Luna stared into the flickering holographic image of Shining wearing his purple and golden armor, no helmet to reveal his sweat-drenched blue mane. The hologram spewed from the magical crystal hovering just above the War Room’s table, the shard a gift straight from the Crystal Empire, a means of communication with Shining Armor and Cadance without the need for travel.
Surrounding the large table, several higher-ranking members of Celestia and Luna’s guards stared into the shimmering blue light the crystal spewed upwards, gazing onto the uncertain expression their former captain gave when he offered the grim and unsettling news from the invasion in the Crystal Empire. But they weren’t alone. Far from it.
Doctor Bruce Banner, Spike, and even Loki himself stood on the opposite side of the long, straight table. While Spike struggled to peek his eyes over the table because of his and its height differentiation, Banner and Loki kept their concerned gazes to the hologram and the news that came with it of the invasion on Equus. Banner more than Loki, the God of Mischief’s eyes cold and calculating, little concern and more of an interest burning in those mischievous eyes of his. Spike had to hop up and down to see the hologram, eventually giving that up and flying up to take a seat on the table itself. Celestia and Luna didn’t mind. They had other issues to deal with.
“It is not that we’re tired of hearing of it, Shining Armor, but we are growing weary of not knowing,” Celestia responded. Shining’s head nodded at that, the hologram flickering and the magic of the crystal beginning to weaken. Celestia sighed. It needed a recharge, something even Celestia didn’t feel like accomplishing. Her body ached, her mind faded, and her magic continuously drained the longer she and her little sister held the shield over Canterlot. At times, she was thankful she or Luna didn’t have to raise the sun or moon any longer. The magical strain would have probably been too much, even for them. But it would all be worth it. Their little ponies needed them for protection.
Turning to Luna, watching her eyelids slowly droop every other second, then quickly shoot back up to remain awake, Celestia faced the hologram with a sigh. “You are not the first to give us this information, Shining Armor. Our allies in the east, from Saddle Arabia to the land of the minotaurs, all speak of these alien warships retreating from their own invasion. Our astronomers even noticed a larger presence of alien warships hanging over Earth.”
Shaking her head to rid herself of the weariness, Princess Luna grumbled, “Even Queen Novo and her allies have noticed a decline in alien attacks with the nations they have come across. With this information, we deduced that the invasion on Equus has halted for the time being… and instead has diverged to our… ‘neighboring’ world.”
Even Luna’s tone seemed off-putting, the weariness taking a toll on her attitude towards Earth. More malice. Less concern. Shining Armor nodded once more in the magical hologram, saying, “What do you suppose this tactic is meant to do?”
Just from seeing the expressions of the two sisters, Shining could already tell he wasn’t going to get a straight answer. He prepared himself for that, pursing his lips. “We are growing weary of not knowing,” Celestia finally replied, repeating her statement from earlier.
Shining shook his head, sighing in response. Then, he said, “We’ll keep our eyes and ears open, let you know if anything comes up.”
The two sisters nodded. “Give our best to Cadance and Flurry Heart,” Luna said.
“And be safe,” Celestia added.
With a simple salute as a response, Shining’s horn shimmered and the hologram ended. The magic cut off, the shard slowly descending to the face of the table and lying in its decorated container, the crystal as dark as the solid oak beneath it. Then silence. So silent anypony could have heard the princesses’ heartbeats. A silence that couldn’t last, nor a moment of rest the sisters desperately needed. Instead, they felt the heavy and powerful eyes staring at them from the end of the table. Even with Celestia, Luna, several guards, Bruce Banner, Loki Odinson, and Spike… they still weren’t alone.
Princess Celestia turned to her far left, her eyes landing at the very end of the table and the pony who occupied it. The ponies who surrounded it. The shared strength, healing, beauty, bravery, hope, and sorcery that filled it.
Celestia and Luna faced that. They faced it head-on and asked, “What do you suppose this means?”
All heads shifted to the end of the table, all in silence, all eyes waiting.
And Star Swirl the Bearded kept them waiting.
He stroked his snow-white beard in thought, eyes that held years of tamed potential, knowledge, power, and magic beyond comprehension flushing, thinking, contemplating alongside the other Pillars of Old Equestria. His large hat bent lazily backwards, dark blue with stars decorated upon it. As well as his cloak, resting on his backside and shielding his light gray coat. The remaining Pillars noted the eyes of the War Room centering their way, hardly any of them ready to face them.
Instead, they thought.
Rockhoof, the burly stallion much larger than any other Royal Guard present, watched Star Swirl stroke his beard. Rockhoof followed suit, rubbing his hoof across his light auburn beard, even if he couldn’t make sense of the situation at all. Aliens were not his forte. Such invasions were—for lack of a better term—completely alien to him. His braided mane rest on his shoulder, the other occupied by his traditional shovel, weapon of legend.
Mistmane, nearly the wisest amongst her fellow Pillars—second to Star Swirl—never found comfort in battle. She would have rather settled disputes over discussion, finding a formal form of agreement. But this was no ordinary dispute. This was war. An alien invasion. She remained silent, the wrinkles on her face showing both her age and uncertainty.
Flash Magnus once glared at the hologram of Shining Armor, his agitation only furthering with every grave form of news that the Prince of the Crystal Empire gave. Unlike his fellow Pillar Mistmane, Flash Magnus was an expert of warfare. He was birthed in it, forged by it, lived in it nearly all his life. He knew nothing more than to gain the upper hoof in conflict, ensuring victory for himself and his fellow ponies. Watching as aliens slaughtered countless lives, took countless miles of precious land and resources, and did the same thing to an innocent world directly over their heads made the Pegasus steam with fury. It didn’t help to know that the aliens decided to hit and run, retreating to a known location with an unknown strategy… at least to the Equestrians. The unknown in battle always made Flash furious, the Pegasus ready to pick up his shield and lead the fight himself, right out of Canterlot, and take as many guards with him as he wished.
Somnambula could feel Flash Magnus’ unbridled rage like a radiation spike, the Pegasus mare placing her hoof comfortingly on her fellow Pillar’s shoulder. Magnus closed his eyes and let Somnambula’s humming comfort him and his fury. She was always talented and respected in that aspect of their bond. As for the mare out of time, she could only think of the fleeting hope in Equestria, as well as their world. She could feel it… as ripe as Magnus’ anger right next to her. A world in danger of loss, so much of it that hope would soon follow. A pain unlike any other… burning on their nation’s own soil.
Mage Meadowbrook could feel it, too. As the master of healing, Mage could only feel as much pain as the world did. Her hoof constantly remained over her own mouth, hiding her quivering lip, her eyes burning with tears. What more could they do? Like Shining Armor explained, they were at war with an alien race hellbent on eradicating life on a cataclysmic scale. There was no time for healing, sadly. Now was only time for war… for retaliation. For a plan.
Stygian even seemed uncertain in that aspect. As the one who forged and built the Pillars of Equestria, the one who birthed each and every plan the heroes of Equestria took with them into battle, he was at a loss. The war not only directly on their soil, but all nations’ soils, kept his mind focusing on the wrong things. What should they do now? Should they gather nearby nations and recover? Should they plan a counterattack? Should they ready their defenses—whatever defenses they had left—and wait for the inevitable final strike? More of a scholar than a hero, Stygian looked to the pony who inspired him for the answers this time.
Star Swirl couldn’t provide them. Not in the way Stygian, Mage, Somnambula, Flash, Mistmane, Rockhoof, or anypony would have wanted. He was nearly lost in his own thoughts, thinking more of the aliens, their origin, their name provided to them from a certain “God of Mischief”. As if that alone wasn’t the most intriguing part of their excursion to Canterlot, now Star Swirl was faced with uncertainty. For the war ahead, for the oncoming battles certain to follow, and the blood, sweat, and tears that would be needed to ensure their survival.
Survival. Star Swirl nearly chuckled at the thought of it. How they—relics from a time long past—could have been able to survive for so long, against so many foes, face so many obstacles and still come out alive. Still survive. They always had plans to ensure. But now… not even Stygian could formulate a strong enough one at the moment, given his continued silence. Without a plan… what of survival?
“This… Earth you mentioned…” he finally said, heads perking up, shifting back to the ancient stallion and his allies. He lifted his eyes, the eyes of unbridled knowledge and magic staring at the two Alicorns. He remembered when they used to be just fillies. How time truly flies. How its stolen. “It is much more technologically advanced than our world, yes?”
The two Royal Sisters could only nod, awaiting in silence for what their former mentor would say next.
Star Swirl’s light blue eyes fell to the solid oak table beneath him, his lips parted, a tired sigh leaving him. One of thought, pent-up and unsure of itself. One that didn’t have a plan. “Then I deduce that the aliens chose to focus all of their efforts on Earth for that very reason. Why waste precious soldiers and resources attacking a… primitive world when they could strike where the most resilience would be? Perhaps that is why these ‘Chitauri’ chose to flee.”
Celestia and Luna both nodded at that thought, not throwing it away. Acknowledging it. Accepting it. Everypony else slowly followed, the remaining Pillars, Spike, and Bruce Banner doing the same. Except for one.
The one that chuckled.
The spotlight shifted quickly. Every Pillar, every princess, every Royal Guard, every dragon, and finally Doctor Bruce Banner turned accordingly to the face, the smile, the sinister and knowing grin of Loki. He stood particularly far at the very end of the table, far from anypony or anyone else. That distance didn’t matter any longer, the God of Mischief slowly pacing around the table, walking past both Bruce and Spike. Settling his eyes on Star Swirl and his fellow Pillars, Loki ceased his laughter. He chose to smile instead. Much more was given that way. Much more uncertainty of what Loki truly knew.
He liked the spotlight, the dousing of power in a room to suddenly shift and shine his way. The lust for that power was something Loki always tried to obtain once before… and even now there were still lingering urges. But he refrained. He exhaled through his grin and shook his head.
“The Chitauri do not flee,” Loki explained. Some undecipherable chatter from some insignificant guards arose, of which Loki ignored and continued. “They work as one. They live… as a hive mind. Wherever they go, they are ordered from a higher power. This mass exodus can only mean they will return. But for now… they wait.”
He made sure to send an especially cocky smirk over to Star Swirl when he said, “Simple as that.”
While a heated battle of wits and knowledge—masked in silence—took place between the glare of Star Swirl and the smirk of Loki, that just left the rest of the room to contemplate. Unknown conversations between Royal and Lunar Guard, the Pillars chatting amongst themselves, filled the War Room. They were nearly all silenced when Princess Luna spoke, quieting down mere seconds when her voice filled the room. A showing of her own power. Loki smiled at that, at the opposing force.
“You seem to know much of these ‘Chitauri’ from what you’ve told us… Odinson,” Luna spat, still trying to believe that the mischievous little snake standing before them was the brother of Thor, a hero of Equestria. Adopted, but still… “What would they wait for?”
He stared at her. At Luna and nopony else. Either she was too tired to care or couldn’t find it, but there was something in his eyes. Intrigue, maybe. He definitely studied her in that short moment he gave, smiling a pinch. Just a pinch. Luna’s frown worsened.
“For the right moment,” he replied. Luna snorted in response to that, still not keen on Loki’s smile. He held out his hands, breathing a dead chuckle. “I seem to… know from experience.”
“If you consider ‘failure’ experience,” Banner muttered. Spike laughed.
“I consider ‘experience’ experience,” Loki shot back, sending a glare to the young dragon.
Before things could escalate, Star Swirl held up his hoof, near-silence entering the room. More power. More opposing forces. Loki frowned at that. “Regardless, we will be ready. When Twilight and the others return, they will use the Elements of Harmony to defend our world. The greatest magic of all will sure to put these… ‘aliens’ in their place,” the leader of the Pillars declared.
Once more, several nods were his response, from princess and guard alike. Loki just rolled his eyes, stepping back from the table and leaning against the wall, arms crossed. Seeing the nods of approval from his fellow equines—what could barely be called approval from the alien Banner and the dragon Spike—Star Swirl nodded in return, sighing, “And with that taken care of, we can focus on other matters.”
The room was unnaturally silent after that. A cold chill seemed to enter the silence, striking everyone where they felt it the most: in the heart. The unnerving silence pestered still, eyes slowly shifting back to Star Swirl and holding there. Even Celestia and Luna seemed taken aback by Star Swirl’s unusual silence. Since he and the rest of the Pillars had returned, all they could do was talk and interact with the future world, living the rest of their lives and making new friends along the way.
The way they saw him now reminded them of when he was still their mentor, still as cold and distant as ever before.
“Such as…?” Celestia said, leading Star Swirl on.
Star Swirl lifted his eyes to her, then turned to Meadowbrook, then to Somnambula. They nodded, then turned to Stygian and Mistmane, then to Rockhoof and Flash Magnus. A shared, mutual understanding between each of the Pillars of Old Equestria.
“You spoke highly of these Avengers,” Rockhoof said, his Coltic accent heavy. He laid his massive hoof on the table, the solid oak creaking under his weight. “What of their excursion to the Badlands with Twilight and the girls? And what of the new volcano that has arisen? If there is any volcanic activity, shouldn’t I be the first to know of it?!”
His voice suddenly rose, becoming more deranged, more at edge. Celestia and Luna—pretty much all the room—flinched back at his outburst. They could hardly blame him, considering his past with volcanoes and his home. The remaining Pillars were quick to ease his qualms.
“Calm yourself, Rockhoof!” Mistmane declared, resting her hooves on her towering friend’s shoulders, settling him back to the ground. Turning her aged and heavy eyes to the rest of the table, the elderly mare stated, “We just wish to know is all. The safety of this land is of the highest regard to the Pillars.”
Before Celestia or Luna could even open their mouths, the doors burst open, revealing a Royal Guard rushing inside. Panting, heavily sweating, the guard saluted once before nearly shouting, “Your Majesties, word from Thorax and the changelings. Scouts from the Changeling Empire have spotted massive serpents rising out of the ground from the edges of the Badlands.”
Star Swirl, the Pillars, Luna, and Celestia froze at that.
Others, like Bruce Banner and Spike, seemed concerned, turning fully to the guard to see what he would report of next. Their friends were in the Badlands. Their concern was expected. What wasn’t expected were the looks of dread filling each expression of the Pillars, even reaching and infecting the Princesses of the Sun and Moon. Grave images, tragic events from a time past filled their eyes, a time none—no one as ancient as any of them—could have imagined. Other than Loki, the most ancient deity standing absolutely bored in that room. Either he didn’t know what they spoke of or he didn’t care.
The princesses and the Pillars… were a different story entirely. They all turned accordingly to the lone guard, gazing at him with dread in their eyes, disbelief, and every other horror imaginable. Fidgeting under their gazes and the continued silence, the stallion stamped at the marble floor, unsure of what to do next, other than to finish the rest of the report. There was still more. How could he forget?
“They… even mentioned seismic events occurring following the volcano’s erupt—”
“What did you just say?”
The guard turned to Star Swirl. To all of the Pillars. They were all staring at him, all of them holding the same expression. Hidden knowledge. Hidden fear. His mouth became dry, his forelegs wobbling under their combined, hardened eyes. “What?” he shakily asked.
“Repeat what you just said,” Celestia ordered, the guard shifting his attention to the authority. No calming or motherly tone. Pure strength. A direct order. No humor. Just action.
With seemingly no other choice, the guard cleared his throat and repeated, “Scouts from the Changeling Empire have spotted massive serpents rising out of the ground from the edges of the Badlands… ma’am.”
He added the final “ma’am” because he didn’t last time. A faint hope that that was what caused Celestia to act in such a way. He knew it wasn’t. Their expressions remained the same. Just as horrified as before. “Was… that what you wanted to—?”
“Leave us,” Luna stated fiercely, the guard straightening at the Princess of the Night’s tone. She didn’t let up, turning her wild eyes towards him. “Now.”
The second he left and when the two guards at the exit closed the door, Star Swirl nearly shot out off the ground, hoof pressed to the table and another resting just over his forehead. He kept his eyes closed tight, his teeth even tighter, as he whispered curse after curse. Meadowbrook rubbed his back comfortingly, staring onto one of her closest friends with concern ripe in her baby blue eyes. She—as well as the rest of the room—could only listen to his inconsistent jabbering, all of it under his breath.
“The dark clouds… the tremors… the volcano… and now the serpents… I should have seen this coming from miles away. I thought for certain we vanquished him.”
The other Pillars reacted accordingly to the grave news, some deflating, some growing infuriated, some uncertain like Star Swirl. He looked to Celestia and Luna, who remained just as grave, if not more so. Definitely more so, especially Celestia. Her brilliant white coat that once reflected the light from the sun like a cloud in the sky had become pale, her mane moving so slow it took an eternity for a single wave of her mane to reach the end. Her eyes were wide, gazed nowhere, as large bags formed under each and her heart beat rapidly in her chest.
Banner took notice to all of it, his brow furrowing at the condition of the usually calm and confident Princess Celestia. “Are we missing something? W-what’s going on?” he asked.
No one could seem to answer him, the silence becoming more and more dreaded as life ticked away. Spike paced across the table, concern in his reptilian gaze as he focused it all on the princesses. That concern changed directions, nearly every eye in the room turning to Star Swirl the moment he sighed. That’s all it took. Just a sigh.
He couldn’t imagine what they would do when they learned the truth.
With his remaining hoof falling down to rest by his other, Star Swirl breathed in steadily and calmly through his nostrils, trying to regain that strength he lost at the grave news. He only appeared a thousand years older, shaking his head slowly. Back and forth.
Back and forth.
Then stopping. “We know him by the name… Typhon.”
Loki actually turned his head at that, a brow raising in interest. Alongside Spike and Banner, the remaining guards in the War Room looked to one another, some questioning, some knowing the legend, some still in disbelief. The remaining guards remained silent, just absorbing the knowledge they were granted in the presence of such ancient and powerful figures of Equestria’s history. That fact alone led them to believe every word that came out of their mouths.
There was a lot.
“The Father of Monsters,” Rockhoof said.
“The Titan of Wind,” Mistmane added.
“The Lord of Destruction,” Flash Magnus growled.
“The Primordial of Disasters,” Somnambula whispered.
They came so slow, one at a time, but they felt faster than that. It felt like rapid fire, like different bullets impacting everyone and everypony harder and harder. That’s how Banner felt at least, gulping to hear of Greek legend brought to life. Then again, he once fought the legions of Tartarus itself three years ago. He should have expected this on an alien world where fantasy became reality. Spike turned to Celestia and Luna for confirmation, only seeing the dread and the loss of life, of courage, of anything that they were.
He turned back to the Pillars. Like everyone else. “From Typhon, all monsters within our world were birthed,” Meadowbrook explained, still comforting her friend Star Swirl. Her large eyes, once filled with healing, now with unbridled concern, slowly washed over the room. “He and his children… grew so massive that they planned to take all of Equestria. Maybe even all the world.”
“Luckily… we were able to devise a plan to stop just that,” Stygian picked up for her, Mage nodding to that. The feeble unicorn—although not actually present in the battle—remembered keenly of what had transpired that wretched day more than a thousand years ago. It felt like yesterday. The curse of Limbo.
The skies were bleeding a sickness of black and blood. They raged with thunder, lightning, rain mixed with sulfur and fire and all forms of death, pestilence, famine, and war. It was the end of the world. There was no other way to see it. Stygian saw only the end of the world. The once flourishing lands in Southern Equestria became the battleground that determined the very fate of Equus. Nearly every race was involved. Every dragon, griffon, Hippogriff, minotaur, pony, every race willing and able to defend their world from the monsters that claimed to take it for themselves. Leading them, leading the charge for their very existence were the two young princesses. With them were the Pillars of Equestria.
Together, they faced the seven-headed demon and his army of creatures great and small, feral and wretched. The very earth was ripped apart, the skies torn asunder, and the universe itself gazing down to the cataclysmic battle occurring on such a young world. And it watched alongside Stygian as the beast was slain by the combined forces of Equus. He and his children, one by one, banished to the world beneath, trapped behind the magical gates constructed in the aftermath, bound to never escape and threaten the world above ever again.
And the Badlands were founded shortly after. No one lived there. Who could?
“With aid from the princesses, we were able to banish Typhon and his children to Tartarus before he could destroy Equestria… and the world,” Star Swirl said, ripping Stygian right out of his mind and the horrible memories that filled it. The young unicorn shook his head, turning to his fellow Pillar and closest friend. “From our magic, the Gates of Tartarus were crafted, a magic so great not a single being, dead or alive, could escape its hold.”
“He was the first prisoner of Tartarus,” Celestia added, turning to her younger sister, both of them already seeing the dreaded nightmare Celestia experienced what felt like a lifetime ago, “… and now… we fear he has returned.”
Luna closed her eyes, seeing the seven serpents, hearing the seven screams as clearly as her sister did. Celestia closed her eyes and joined her sister. She dreaded the moment the nightmares would become visions of tragedies to come. She prayed they were anything but, just more nightmares from more pain haunting her past. She didn’t have that reliance any longer. The serpents in the Badlands, the volcano, the black sickness nearly reaching Canterlot… all of it pointed to only one dreaded conclusion.
“But w-why now?” Mage asked, bringing Celestia and Luna out of their stupor.
Star Swirl, remaining calmer than any of the other Pillars, merely waved his hoof and said, “It matters not. We have the Elements now, a much greater magic than what we used to defeat him before. We must be ready for when he does return, though. For if we do not have the Elements ready in time—”
“If Twilight and the girls aren’t ready in time…” Celestia interrupted, her voice breathless, Star Swirl opening his eyes at that revelation.
Flash Magnus snorted, pressing his armor-plated hooves on the solid oak. “They’ve probably already engaged with Typhon. This ‘plan’ to have them of all ponies to study this volcano was doomed from the start. You should have called us earlier, Your Highnesses.”
Every head suddenly shifted towards the two princesses, almost accusingly. And Celestia and Luna could offer little for a rebuttal, the two of them still trying to accept the reality of the situation before them. Their eyes were elsewhere, minds even further away, but they still managed to respond.
“They insisted on it,” Celestia said, her voice as tight as a whisper, but not as quiet as one.
“And now they’re probably suffering because of it,” Star Swirl declared, rising back to full height and making his retreat to the exit. The remaining six Pillars followed him, followed their leader, and turned towards the exit doors of the War Room. “We will travel to the Badlands ourselves and retrieve Twilight and the others. With them safely in Canterlot, we can then traverse to the Everfree Forest and collect the Elements.”
“As far as we know, Typhon could have grown stronger over this thousand-year rest,” Rockhoof commented, his free hoof gripping the handle of his shovel, his frown heavy and focused towards the doors to his escape to battle.
“Then let’s hope the Elements are stronger,” Star Swirl growled… then sighed. His eyes fell just in front of the door, gazing down to the slight crack between each, the light slipping between. A sudden silence, then another sigh. “And hope Twilight and her friends are still safe.”
Standing at the exit doors, Star Swirl held his hoof to the two princesses, bidding them farewell. They responded in kind, hooves raised, eyes hard and pain-filled when realization of Twilight and the others’ fates still lingered. Still unknown. Banner and Spike fared no better, only wanting to know about their friends. About the Avengers. About what the hell happened in the Badlands. Even Loki shared a pinch of concern. Just a pinch. It was still unknown the fate of his brother… and what he could call his “team”.
Not for long.
The War Room doors burst open once more, smacking Star Swirl in the side of his face. Shouting at that, Star Swirl stumbled backwards, nearly falling into the awaiting hooves of Stygian and Flash Magnus. He rubbed the pulsating pain in his cheek, turning instead to whoever stood on the other side of the doors. And once more, it was but a mere guard, nearly falling apart at the stares he received, at the effects of his actions.
But he didn’t apologize.
He didn’t have time to.
“Your Highnesses, the Vision has returned.”
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9381256
Who would you consider to be the main character(s) in this story?
The Pillars have arrived late to the party and are completely out of the loop about the Chitauri Invasion and Thanos. And with word of serpents appearing out of the grounds of Equestria, it is now clear to them and the Princesses that Typhon's return is imminent.
Of course Loki would know from experience. After all, he DID lead the Chitauri Invasion on New York years ago.
I wouldn't overestimate the power of the Elements if I were Star Swirl. Their power may be nothing compared to the universal power of the Infinity Stones, whether its just one, a few or all six of them. Besides, even if the Elements were to be used again, I don't think they'll be able to use their full power since one of the Element Bearers (Rarity) has become emotionally compromised.
Only Vision, or does he bring the rest?
With his ass kicked!!
FINALLY!! The Pilliars!!!
It's rather funny that I got an alert for the chapter update while I was watching Infinity War. For the 10th or so time.
A new Marvel video I found. Rather fitting for this chapter I think. In a way
Ah but it's simple Star Swirl, the Chitauri hunt the Infinity Stones. None of which are on Equus. So your world is quite...
Your planet's fucked.
I only wonder what part the Pillars will play in this story....
I wonder how the pillars and the princesses are going to react when they find out Rarity is almost single handedly responsible for dooming the universe,
This chapter, it's delicious.
ANOTHER!!
Don't be comfortable Gandalf. Don't even think to tell either two villains to "shall not pass". Under no circumstances can you overestimate everything that you have. I think you don't understand what's at stake here. Considering Typhon already harnesses the unstable, endlessly potent energies of the Power Stone, one of the six primordial universal relics of infinitesimal capabilities, more ancient than you or these Elements, I so highly doubt you or your little Justice League can best him in combat, let alone a group of remarkable people...
Loki, don't be a douche.
Uh-oh.
Hey, they're the ones that beat back the hoards of Tartarus three years ago, you prick!
I'm still betting Thanos could eat Typhon for breakfast.
I was hoping Stygian would join the fun too.
I swear I might have to do a head count of every single character you're introducing in this story. This might be the largest amount of characters in FIMFiction history. 
The power that created peace and harmony for Equestria vs. the power that created the very universe itself.
I think we can already guess which power would be triumphant.
Hope Vision gives the Pillars an idea of who they're up against after what transpired in the Badlands. Also hope that the Pillars get to face Thanos face to face. Great chapter BTW!
At long last, the Pillars enter the story.
Star Swirl is putting too much faith into the Elements of Harmony. I don't think a rainbow blast of friendship is going to stop either Typhon or Thanos.
With more bad news, no less. I imagine hearing that the others were fighting against Thanos, who earlier killed Discord, is only going to make everyone feel even more anxious.
9381807
Lets see which rainbow will win: Harmony or Infinity.
Stop being overconfident Pony Gandalf you haven't even met Thanos or the Infinity Stones and going to jinxed with more bad news once you see how practically raped Twilight is
Drama bomb drops!
This Canterlot scene had me on the edge of my seat!
9381385 Mane 6, Starlight, Sunset, Thanos.
9381470 Pride and overconfidence may be their downfall.
9381534 Just Vision right now.
9381558 I still need to get caught up! Only watched Infinity War 4 times now!
9381591 Indefinitely.
9381685 As the protectors of Equestria, I think you can figure it out...
9381688 It was a team effort that helped kill the universe!
9381697 Oh, we'll just have to see about that.
9381699 Loki's the best kind of douche there is!
9381772 Let's see... we got Mane 6, Starlight, Sunset, Spike, Friday, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Cadance, Discord, Tempest and her crew, Hippogriffs, griffons, dragons, Avengers, Defenders, Guardians, Masters of the Mystic Arts, Punisher, agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Wakandans, Thanos, Black Order, Typhon, and now the Pillars. Plus even more to come...
9381807 Pride may cloud Star Swirl's judgement yet again.
9382119 Pony Gandalf.
9382180 Boom.
9382192 Thanks!
9383171
It was meant to be rhetorical, but thanks.
9383152
That's a lot of main characters.
9383171
Sometimes it's good to get a refresher
9383152
The main characters huh? OK. But by the end it will only say "Thanos will return" as he nabs his victory over this one, reaping his reward for completing his destiny.
To me, the main characters are Tony, Twilight, and Thanos. The rest are secondary.
9383171
No problem.
The chapter itself is good and well-written (as always), but I don't care for the Pillars to be completely honest.
9386960 Star Swirl's pretty cool, and Somnambula's awesome as well as Rockhoof, but I can see where you're coming from.
Now we get a bit more information on the other Big bad of the story and what the pillars of Equestria have been doing.
Man Celestia is going to be even more of a mess when she learns what Twilight’s group have been through. Especially what happened to Twilight.
9400658 Celestia has no idea what's coming.
I can't help, but get this feeling that some if not all of the Pillars are not going to make it out this FUBAR situation alive.
At least vision is safe for now
So, now they finally realize they have more to deal with than just Thanos. The question is, who's the bigger threat right now, Thanos or Typhon?
You know, it is too bad we didn't get to see any interactions between Loki and Discord. It would have been interesting to see how well the God of Mischief and Spirit of Chaos got along.
I don't think the Elements are going to be much help right now. The Infinity Stones are too powerful. Not to mention the Pillars don't know the major defeat the heroes just suffered, so they may not be in any condition to use them.
Either he or Grogar stole that title from the other.