The Elements of Harmony
Supplemental Notes
Starswirl "The Bearded"
I have found my experiment regarding the spoken spell to be related to the Elements of Harmony. As such I find it necessary to condense my knowledge of the subject to add to my research.
To speak about the Elements of Harmony means to speak about two distinct groups of things. Part the first is the physical relics. Six elements exist, representing the elements of Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter, and last but not least, Magic. The Element of Magic is represented by a golden crown, jeweled with blue gemstones along its ridge, topped by a pink gem in the shape of a six- pointed star. The other elements take the form of a golden necklace with a jeweled symbol in the middle. Honesty is an orange apple, loyalty a red lightning bolt, kindness a pink butterfly, generosity a deep purple diamond, and laughter a blue balloon. The shame of the matter is words cannot truly appreciate the beauty of the elements, nor can any image I can create.
These ancient artifacts, when worn by the proper beings, allow untold power to be let loose on the world. Despite countless ponies dedicating their life to the study of the Elements, there is no knowing what exactly will happen when they are used. The wielders of the Elements are capable of directing their power on whom they wish, but the effect it will have is completely unknown. The earliest stories of the Elements comes from mythological times, where it is said the very first ponies used their power to banish the demons of this world to Tartarus. Whether or not this tale is true, there have been many records of the Elements in use, and the ponies who wielded them.
The most recent use comes from my own lifetime. Where I, and the other five used the power of the Elements to put an end to Sombra's tyrannical takeover of the Crystal Empire. With the Equestrian Army at our backs, the six of us confronted the twisted king at his castle. When we let loose the power of the Elements, the entirety of the City was engulfed by a rainbow shield, then vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but us Equestrians standing in the frozen tundra where the Empire once stood. All traces of the Crystal Empire and Sombra were, and still are, gone.
Part the second of the Elements of Harmony are the six beings who represent each element. I have previously mentioned that I represent the Element of Magic. The other beings who represent the Elements are:
-Surprise, the Element of Laughter. Surprise is a skeletal undead pony who serves to help ponies and other beings to their deaths. (Surprise does not have a gender in the traditional sense, but from what I can tell has no issues regarding being called he) He does not quite appear physically when ponies die, rather he watches from above, unseen, unknown, then quickly wisping away to the next dying pony. While his job is gruesome, he goes about it in a lighthearted way, always managing to get a laugh out along the way. I once asked him about it to which he said "Don't you see? All you ponies do is try to stall the inevitable. Whatever you do, death is always coming. Death is just the final punchline to the best joke ever." He does not like to interfere with the acts of mortals, considering our endeavors, trivial and temporary. Despite his stance, he recognizes his place with the Elements and has no qualms about helping the rest of us to use them for good.
-Fenix the Dragonslayer, the Element of Generosity. For most of his life Fenix, and his pet/ally phoenix Philomena wandered Equestria, seeking adventure. Going town to town, seeing the world, and helping ponies along his way. Eventually his questing led him face o face with a rampaging dragon. Through wit and cunning he slew the beast, earning his title. News of this act reached Caterlot, where Princess Celestia invited him to the castle to thank him for his deeds. Upon seeing the beauty and magnificence of the princess, Fenix gave for the first and last time that which he had never done before. On his own accord, he swore his life for the Princess. And still to today he stands by her side in awe and service.
-The Doctor, the Element of Loyalty. He is a time traveler, criss-crossing the time stream in his magical blue box he calls the TARDIS. Unfortunately this is about all I know about him. While it surely is natural for a time traveler to keep his knowledge secret, the Doctor manages to keep the rest of him quite hidden as well. He does not stick around for very long, just popping in and out when he pleases. When he does show up however it is always in the nick of time to save the world from any number of disasters. What I do know about him is this, he is clever, very clever. He will notice things nopony else would and somehow make a plan and have it work. All the while managing to keep a cheery attitude in the face of danger.
- Ban Dragonheart, the Element of Honesty. Ban is the chief of one of the buffalo herds which roam the southern prairies. He is giant of a being, even amongst his own kind. His actions are fair, and his rulings just, he has a natural gift for leadership which rivals even that of Princess Celestia. He has settled many disputed between buffalo herds and the ponies which have begun to settle the prairies. To hear him speak is to hear very land echo in his voice.
-Pallanen Lifekeeper, the Element of Kindness. Pallanen is what is known as an entdeer, a guardian of the forest. She lives deep in the Everfree Forest, and serves as both its protector and its nurturer. She cares for the entirety of the great forest like a farmer may care for his crops. She says that the Everfree Forest is like a garden, with dangerous weeds which must be looked after, lest the forest itself become a garden of weeds. Her own body is one of flesh and plant, with a mane of blooming flowers and her antlers and torso like an ancient oak. Standing taller than Princess Celestia, she looks down at all life like a mother to child, and her voice calm and soothing. And above all else, beautiful. Despite her seemingly passive exterior, her temper is one to be feared. To anypony who endangers her forest, or her friends, she is ruthless. I have not personally seen her like this, but those who have say that to even look at her when angry is to know fear itself.
Which brings me now to the relation to my research. My spell swapped the destines of the beings which represent the Elements. As it is currently, Fenix is still unconscious from previous events, but he has destiny of Ban. Judging by the changes in the physical elements, which I will go over shortly, it seems that Ban has the destiny of Surprise, Surprise is Pallanen, and Pallanen has the life of Fenix. The Doctor currently is himself, which is good news for now. In his own words, "The mind of a Time Lord can see all of time and space. Everything that ever was, is and could be. A pony's mind cannot handle it" He called it a pony-timelord meta-crisis, whatever that means. He said he's seen it before, but does not want to talk about it. So long as it is not happening to anypony currently it can go unexamined, but my gut tells me it is a harsh reality we will need to face soon.
As for the artifacts, the colors of the gems have swapped with the respective changes. Loyalty is still red, as it should be, the normally orange apple of Honesty is now blue, the Baloon of Laughter is pink, Kindness is purple, and Generosity is orange. In both times I cast the spell my element, Magic, has not changed. This is due to 1 of 3 things. 1, The Element of Magic exists higher to the other Elements, hence its crown, and thus is not effected by the spell. 2, Because I was the one who cast the spell it did not change. Or 3, Dumb luck. I pray it was not the third, as I shutter to think what would happen if I was not myself, if I did not have the drive to continue this work.