What if Twilight and Spike never reached Ponyville? what if because of a mysterious storm they had fallen off short of Ponyville?

Twilight decides to forgo getting to Ponyville and continue on her quest to learn about and find the Elements. They meet a bad tempered griffon, two con ponies in hiding, a clumsy Pegasus and a zebra that only speaks in rhyme.

Could these six individuals still possess the Elements of Harmony and stop Nightmare Moon?