[Set Between Season 1 and Season 2]
The following is Twilights report on the Elements of Harmony, Celestia’s Super Weapon used against Nightmare Moon. Twilight, in this essay, has summed up her ideas on why the Elements work the way they do. This was declassified a year ago, now viewable by the General Public.
This essay was the first recorded of its kind in a thousand years. Twilight is the bearer of Magic and studies friendship, currently, in the town of Ponyville. While that may sound stupid now, read the essay, and you just might find out why it worked the way it did.
The Study of the Elements of Harmony
By Twilight Sparkle
We have seen the Elements in action, dispelling the chaos magic surrounding Luna. As this is no doubt a great feat, the Elements remain an unstudied field. For those of you unknowledgeable of such time, please refrain from reading this, as it assumes you know of the events surrounding October of 1000 PL (Post Lunar).
My conclusions of the Elements are as follows: There are more than six. Not all ponies will fit into the six categories of Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Magic, though a whole lot could fit into the last. As well, not only unicorns can symbolize magic, as it is the spark within ones person that ignites friendship. Without a common interest, without magic between two beings, no friendship will be found. My conclusion is that the Elements of Harmony are just a few elements, when mixed together, create friendship.
As we all know, Harmony Magic will defeat Chaos Magic in small doses. A single Bearer of an Element of Harmony can easily dispel some grief and trouble from your life. Example, the Element of Laughter eliminated the Chaos of Fear because you realize it could not hurt you in any way. Another Example would be the Element of Honesty, which can eliminate the Chaos of Doubt because it dispels your worries of the future. In short, the Elements that create friendship can overpower single entities of Chaos, such as Fear, Greed, Anger, Doubt, Betrayal, Loathing, and Deceit.
The Elements of Harmony, as listed above, are Loyalty, Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic. While some ponies can fit neatly into a category, some are not so lucky. I have observed some of the other townsfolk of Ponyville, buying from their shops, drinking all their cider, generally getting to know them, and a few have popped up that just don’t fit.
Lyra: A musical Unicorn, who loves to give music to the masses. However, she tends not to socialize with many others, except with the mare Bon-Bon. Some would assume that maybe Lyra, since she has a love for giving people music, would be Generosity. While she is mildly generous, she does not go out of her way to bring music to others. She has never gone out of Ponyville to show of her special talent. My assumption is that she does not do music for the masses, but instead loves the thrill of playing it in front of the crowd. I, Twilight Sparkle, will name her a Bearer of Element of Music. However, that does not mean she IS the Element of Music. More than one horse can drink from the same trough, as they say. As an example, another Bearer of Music would be Octavia, who was such a good sport after the Grand Galloping Gala fiasco.
Ditzy Doo: Ditzy, or Derpy Hooves, is a Pegasus of unyielding courage. While most think of her as just a klutz, I have come to realize that she is courageous to even walk out her door. In my studies I have studied her eye defect and discovered that she is half blind. She should not be able to tell where her hooves are, much less operate as the mail-mare. She has told me time and time again that it is her duty to Ponyville, as she couldn’t do any other jobs and help the Ponies around her. For what she does every day, she deserves to be a Bearer of Courage.
Spitfire: I was able to talk to the Pegasus after the Gala, as she was helping clean up the mess that me and my friends had made. She has a very caring heart for someone of her status but Deceit has taken hold inside of her. She is world wizened by what has been done to her in her past, something she doesn’t want to talk about. While most can’t see it, she has Emotional Stress Syndrome, a disease that affects the brain so that when some pony has so much stress they can’t think straight. Anyways, the Pony, while lacking kindness, has the perseverance to keep on chugging regardless of that which affects her. She symbolizes the Element of Perseverance, that ability to be successful no matter how many roadblocks are put into your way.
Looking into some of the old textbooks, I have come to realize that, not only are there more Elements, but more combinations of Elements. For example, Integrity, Loyalty, and Courage are the core values for the Royal Guard, of servitude. The Elements of Servitude create better soldiers and more loyalty bestowed upon its wielder. Perhaps not as rainbow-filled as the Elements of Harmony, but interesting none-the-less.
The old books had also studied the Elements, going into a lot of different combinations. It would take up most of the next three pages to write them all down and describe their effects. But, as far as I have observed, the Elements of Harmony are the most powerful of the Elemental Combinations.
Most of the ‘Elemental Relationships’ are in everyday use her in Equestria. Much like friendship, most will give unnoticed effects on its wielders, specifically between the wielders themselves. I have also realized the wielders must have a connection between themselves to be effective. No one pony would be able to use an Elemental Combination. It requires the ponies to have knowledge of one another. Princess Celestia, according to legend, was able to “Wield the Elements of Harmony” to defeat Nightmare Moon. My sources, and they are VERY reliable sources, say that the Princess Celestia, with her OWN friends, defeated Nightmare Moon. That was untold in the legends, as it we would directly change society as we know it.
In conclusion, the Elements of Harmony are not the only Elements that a pony could be categorized into. Not only do multiple elements exist, but multiple Elemental exchanges and each exchange has a different effect. I will continue to study into the Elements of Harmony and their brethren at a later date.
Twilight Sparkle, Equestrian Magical Scholar.
