The Arcanum of Knowledge

by Dracoliat

Elements of Harmony

The Elements of Harmony are powerful, and extremely mysterious artifacts. Their origins are unknown but the earliest mention of them in history is by Princess Celestia. They have the power to purify, petrify, and other unknown affects.

Not much is known about the Elements of Harmony, and even less is known about their origins. However from the information we've gathered, the earliest mention of the Elements of Harmony seems to be during the Discordian times. When Princess Luna and Princess Celestia found themselves incapable of defeating Discord, the god of chaos, on their own, the Elements of Harmony appeared to Celestia and Luna. This allowed Discord to be turned to stone for over a thousand years. Without the Elements of Harmony it is quite possible that we would still be living under Discords chaotic rule.

Other than this, their origins remain shrouded in mystery. Someponies have suggested theory's that say they have always been around, even since before the three tribes. Other theories claim that Luna and Celestia created them. A third relatively popular theory is that the Elements of Harmony appear whenever there is a need for them.

The first recorded time that the Elements of Harmony were used was against the god of chaos, Discord. Discord was ruling Equestria with a never ending cycle of unrest and unhappiness. Nature was completely off balance, and nothing was as it should be. Finally Princess Celestia and Luna stood up to Discord. They were defeated by the god of chaos and things only got ever worse as Discord constantly came up with new ways of torturing the ponies of the world. The Elements of Harmony were then obtained by Celestia and Luna who used them against Discord. He was encased in stone, and soon forgotten by all except the Princesses.

The second major recorded use of the Element of Harmony was against Nightmare Moon. Princess Luna had been raising the moon, and felt the ponies neglected her, and her gorgeous night. This led to bitterness and hate for the older sister, the ponies, and the light. Eventually Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, which has often been attributed to a theory named, “The Lunacy.” Nightmare Moon and her twisted sense of logic decided to force everypony to look upon her night, only she would never again allow the sun to rise. Crops began to fail and hunger was rampant, it was approaching near lethal conditions. The entire time Celestia had been trying to find a way to beat Nightmare Moon, but she was too powerful. Eventually Princess Celestia was forced to call upon the powers of the Elements of Harmony, which banished Nightmare Moon to the moon for one thousand years. This is also the source for what used to be the “Mare in the Moon,” formation.

After a thousand years, Nightmare Moon returned for vengeance against ponykind. She, once again, decided to plunge Equestria into a state of eternal night. A group of six ponies went off to go find the Elements of Harmony, which had been hidden long ago. They traveled through the Everfree forest and faced many struggles. These only solidified their friendship, which in turn caused the elements of harmony to reform, even after being destroyed by Nightmare Moon. After the Elements of Harmony had reformed, the six ponies worked together to cleanse Nightmare Moon of the darkness that plagued her, turning her into a younger version of Princess Luna.

Not long after Nightmare Moon had been vanquished, the ancient enemy, Discord, escaped. He brought a fresh wave of chaos from his over a thousand year long imprisonment and stole the Elements of Harmony. The Elements of Harmony's new representatives went off in search of them, only to be tricked by Discord to turn into something they weren't. Giving up hope they went back to their home in Ponyville where they found the Elements of Harmony, but due to their lack of friendship and missing one pony out of the six, the Elements were useless. After much magic and troubles the six ponies were back to themselves and used the Elements of Harmony to imprison Discord in stone again.

There are six Elements of Harmony: the element of kindness, the element of loyalty, the element of laughter, the element of honesty, the element of generosity, and the element of magic. Each of these elements is currently represented by a specific pony. These ponies demonstrated the true potential of the Elements of Harmony when they worked together to beat Nightmare Moon, even after the elements had appeared destroyed. The six ponies are Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and finally me, Twilight Sparkle.

The elements were found by these six ponies, but promptly destroyed by Nightmare Moon. However, the ponies didn't give up and found that the shattered elements came to them as they each represented part of it. It has been theorized that anypony who would have properly represented the elements could have done the same.

However most of the information from this point on is theorizing, and guessing games. None of us know when the elements will be needed again, or even figure out if they ever will be needed again. But for now, the Elements of Harmony are kept in a secret vault in Canterlot castle which is protected by an extremely powerful spell, that I don't even know what it does. I do know that nothing good will come of attempting to get into this vault.