On the Elements of Harmony: Known Facts and Theories

by Dreamscape

Chapter 4 (Function)

The Function of the Elements in History

We all know that today the Elements of Harmony are used to protected you and me, the citizens of Equestria from any great evil and bring harmony to chaotic situations. There may be much more to the Elements' function or they may have been created for something completely different all together. As mentioned previously, many theories state different ideas on what the elements were originally created for. They may have been created to unite all of us as one and bring harmony to ourselves and our world which they still continue to do this today. They might be used to protect us from our predicted demise as stated in the ancient civilization split of the Technology Theory. They might just be a conduit able to unlock and use powerful inner abilities and events caused by them were actually our own doing or they could be protecting us from the mythical Star of Power. We may never know the Elements true function or intention but what we can tell you what the Elements were used for in our past.

From factual ancient stories, the Elements were originally used to defeat the evil spirits and beings which lived in Pre-Harmony times. Along with this, tribal herds began to unite together under the unprecedented protection of the Elements. Slowly this bond between our ancestors began to grow and change. As they joined together our ancestors finally began working with one another instead of fighting and feuding. This not only aided them in defeating the evil spirits but also in everyday life. Finally they began to realize that an alliance would greatly aid all of them. It is not known whether this was a purposeful act of the Elements of Harmony or if it was an indirect affect. Although the tribes began to unite into larger and larger groups, there were still many divisions among our ancestors. It would take a Pegasus, a Unicorn, and an Earth pony as said in the Hearth's Warming Eve tale to form the starting point for modern day Equestria. Although it is not stated in the story many believe that the Elements of Harmony guided these ponies towards an alliance and helped our ancestors finally join together and form a nation. Although now united as a nation, our ancestors still had many flaws and so too did the world around them. Princess Celestia and Luna with the help of the Elements of Harmony finally brought peace to this chaotic nation and world.

After becoming the rulers and leaders of ancient Equestria, Celestia and Luna knew that although the ponies were united, many flaws and disagreements still split the nation. The two also realized that Equestria could not survive the chaotic world around it for long. Although very powerful, the Princesses could not fix this alone. Somehow the sisters were able to re-activate the Elements of Harmony and wield their great powers. The world became more and more harmonious as Princess Celestia and Luna began defeating the dark spirits and beings that ruled at that time. The princess then defeated the ruler of the ancient world, the powerful spirit of Discord. Once the world was at peace the Princesses could finally turn their attention to the problems within Equestria. With the aid of the Elements, the sisters began to solve disagreements between their citizens, end violent situations peacefully and find compromises for all of their citizens. One disagreement arose though, that could not be solved with peace.

When the resentful princess Luna transformed into Nightmare Moon, princess Celestia could think of only one thing to do that would stop her from taking over Equestria. She wielded the Elements' power to defeat her sister. After Luna was banished to the moon, the Elements turned to stone and all their powers were lost. Some say this occurred because the Elements were used against one of their own wielders. Some believe that this occurred because the bond between the two sisters was broken, but normally when the bond is broken the Elements of Harmony are rendered unusable by those specific wielders and still contain their powers. Others say that the Elements turned to stone because although this action created peace, it was a cruel and not truly harmonious act. They state that there was an alternate way to stop Nightmare Moon, one that did not involve the severe act of banishing her to the moon for one thousand years. Finally after one thousand years came to an end and Nightmare Moon returned, the Elements preformed this act that should have occurred originally.

One thousand years later on the longest day of that year, Nightmare Moon returned more powerful and more sinister than ever before. For the first time in that thousand years the Elements turned from stone back into the powerful relics they once were. This was only possible because of the new wielders of the Elements. The six wielders we know today discovered the deep bond between themselves and this bond is what was able to transform the Elements back to their original form. The wielders then used the Elements' harmonious powers to change Nightmare Moon back into our Princess Luna. Princess Celestia and Luna were true sisters once more and were once again able to rule together as an even greater Harmony spread across the land. This Harmony would not last for long for long though and once again the Elements along with their wielders would have to act.

The Draconequus spirit of Discord who once ruled over our ancient and chaotic world broke free from the stone that encased him. It is believed that he was able to escape because discord within Equestria was once again growing. This gave him the power to break free of the Elements' hold. He quickly began wreaking havoc and chaos upon our nation, the wielders and their Elements set out to defeat him. Although Discord was able to succeed in breaking the bond between the wielders with his dark powers the wonderful power of friendship was able to reform it. The wielders once again used the great power of the Elements and defeated Discord, bringing harmony back to Equestria.

When the Changeling princess, Chrysalis, invaded Canterlot the Wielders of the Elements aided greatly in her defeat. Although they did not wield the Elements of Harmony in this battle, they each exemplified the Elements they were bonded to. The wielders even without the Elements had great power and with the strong bond between one another helped distract the Changelings long enough for Princess Cadence to cast her spell which defeated the invading force. Some say that even without the Elements the wielders can use small amounts of their power. Maybe this power has been given to them by the Elements or was already within them.

This book is about the Elements of Harmony but the Crystal Hearts' function in the past is very similar to that of the Elements and these two relics may even be counterparts, so I too must tell you of a brief version of Crystal Hearts' history. As mentioned previously the Heart was and is still used to protect the Crystal Empire from evil beings and spirits just as the Elements protect us today. Under the Hearts protection the Crystal ponies too united as a nation. The Crystal Heart along with the help of the Crystalians created peace and harmony in the Arctic North and helped aid the Elements in Equestria. This peace was soon lost when the dark King Sombra enslaved the citizens of the Crystal Empire and brought darkness to the Arctic North.

Before the transformation of Luna, the two Princesses once again wielded the Elements, this time to save their allied nation, the Crystal Empire. The Elements were able to defeat King Sombra but before harmony was able to spread across the Empire, Sombra used his powerful dark magic to make the once thriving Empire vanish into thin air along with himself and the Crystal Heart. The ghost Empire and the Heart were soon forgotten but would reappear in recent history. Some believe the disappearance of the Crystal Heart caused a slight loss of harmony in our world. This along with Luna's jealousy caused her to transform into Nightmare Moon.

Sombra was able to break free of the Elements hold close to a year after the Changeling invasion, the Empire itself and the Heart reappeared after the dark King broke free. Once again he tried to enslave the Crystalians and would have tried to overtake all of Equestria with his evil powers if he were not defeated. Princess Cadence and her spouse Shining Armor protected the Crystal Empire but Sombra's power quickly began to overthrow them. The Wielders of the Elements came to their aid and helped bring hope and joy back into the Crystal ponies' heats. The Crystal heart was rediscovered by the wielder of The Element of Magic Twilight Sparkle and given to the Crystalians by the dragon Spike. The Crystal ponies gave power to the Heart and the powerful relic defeated Sombra and brought peace and harmony back to the Empire and saved Equestria from Sombra's dark powers. Without the aid of the Wielders and the Crystal Heart chaos would have once again been brought to our world.

As you can see these two relics have had a very similar past and have aided each other multiple times. Both relics helped defeat evil beings and spirits, create nations and bring Harmony and peace to all and would not have been able to do this if not for the help of each other. Even the stories of King Sombra and Discord are very similar. Both were defeated long ago, but both broke free and tried to bring chaos to our world, one was defeated by the Elements the other by the Heart. Some believe that the Crystal Heart is the same as the Elements of Harmony are to Equestria, a protector, savior, and even creator of their nation. Many too believe that these relics have come from the same creator and work together towards the same goal.

Although the exact function of the Elements of Harmony or may not ever be discovered, they have helped our ancestors and us greatly. They have brought peace and harmony to our land and aided in creating our great nation. They have helped us in the past; they help us now, and will continue to help us in the future. With the Elements active and the aid of the Crystal Heart it seems we can accomplish anything.

The Scholars of Canterlot are trying as hard as they can to discover more information about the Elements and the Crystal Heart but for now this book contains the most updated and newest information on the Elements of Harmony. We hope to have satisfied your questions and brought new information to light.

Comments

[Deus]

Must say that this was a very interesting read! The information was legitimate and written in an interesting way.

Quick note is that Discord broke out of his prison because, according to the show, the elements were no longer bonded with Celestia and Luna.
Ignoring that however everything else was great, and heck I even learnt a thing or two

[Kittuar]

Very interesting! I really like all the theories and such. Oh and Chrysalis is spelled wrong,just a note... Keep going!

[Dreamscape]

1597742 Yep, I'll change that. I'm not the best proof reader in the world and that's something I missed.