Elements of Harmony

The Elements of Harmony are six supernatural artifacts which are arguably the most powerful force in Equestria. Though the extent of their power is largely unspecified, it is revealed in Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 2 that the elements were taken from the Tree of Harmony, unknowing doing so had the potential to release the Everfree Forest and destroy Equestria. Each artifact represents an element of friendship and can presumably only work if wielded by one who possesses the corresponding trait, and only if all are used together. They have been wielded on rare occasions, particularly during events marked by danger and anarchy as a last resort to restore and enforce the balance of peace and order. However, the effects of their use are generally temporary and non-lethal, usually a form of banishment or imprisonment.

Friendship is Magic, part 1 and part 2
The Elements are first mentioned in the first episode's prologue. The narrator tells that once upon a time, the unicorn sisters Princess Celestia and Princess Luna co-ruled the land of Equestria. The eldest, Princess Celestia, used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn, while Princess Luna brought out the moon at night. But over time, Luna grew resentful of their subjects who played in the day but slept throughout the night. One day, she refused to lower the moon and her bitterness transformed her into Nightmare Moon. She vowed to shroud Equestria in eternal night. Reluctantly, Princess Celestia used the magic of the Elements of Harmony to defeat her sister and banish her permanently in the moon. Only then was Princess Celestia able to restore harmony to Equestria.

Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's pupil, discovers that Nightmare Moon is set to return "on the longest day of the thousandth year", which is in two days' time. She sends a letter to Princess Celestia warning her of Nightmare Moon's return, but the Princess tells her to "stop reading those dusty old books" and sends her to Ponyville to see to the Summer Sun Celebration preparations and to "make some friends". Twilight Sparkle does as she is told and inadvertently befriends five ponies, but is still confused about the Princess's insistence on friendship.

At the beginning of the Summer Sun Celebration, Princess Celestia goes missing and Nightmare Moon shows herself, declaring her return. Twilight discovers that the Elements of Harmony, the only source of magic that could possibly defeat Nightmare Moon, are located in the ruins of the "ancient castle of the royal pony sisters" in the Everfree Forest. During the dangerous journey, Twilight's friends each demonstrate a noble quality in the face of adversity, namely, honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, and loyalty. When they reach the castle ruins, they find five stone orbs that are supposedly five of the Elements of Harmony. Nightmare Moon confronts Twilight Sparkle and smashes the orbs.

When all seems lost, Twilight realizes that her friends embody the Elements themselves. As she describes how each friend represented an element, the shattered orbs turn into gem-studded necklaces that link themselves around the ponies' necks. Twilight herself represents the element of magic, which only appears when the other five elements are present. The Elements, wielded by the friends, create a rainbow-colored blast of magic that vanquishes Nightmare Moon and returns her to her original form of Princess Luna. Also, Rarity's tail, which she cut off during their journey, is restored by the Elements.

It should be noted that the Elements of Harmony appear different in the prologue and the scene where the friends use the elements. In the prologue, the gems are red (loyalty), orange (honesty), green (generosity), blue (laughter), pink (kindness), and purple (magic). When the friends use the elements, there is no green gem, a new magenta gem represents magic, the purple gem now represents generosity, and the other gems are unchanged. However, when the Elements appear in the flashbacks in Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1, they are represented by six gems, red (loyalty), orange (honesty), purple (generosity), blue (laughter), pink (kindness), and a sixth magenta gem (magic) in the shape of a six pointed star.

Applejack – honesty
Applejack, and originally Princess Luna, possesses the element of honesty, the first element to be demonstrated during the journey. When a mountain ledge the friends are standing on crumbles, Twilight clings onto a ledge and is bewildered when Applejack tells her to let go because she is safe. Twilight trusts her and lets go. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy catch her mid-fall and carry her to safety.

The element of honesty is as a gold necklace with an apple-shaped gem that looks like the apples in Applejack's cutie mark.

Fluttershy – kindness
Fluttershy, and originally Princess Celestia, possesses the element of kindness. When the friends encounter an angry manticore, they decide to fight it, but Fluttershy calmly approaches it. She removes a thorn stuck in the manticore's paw, calming the beast.

The element of kindness is as a gold necklace with a pink butterfly-shaped gem that looks like Fluttershy's cutie mark.

Pinkie Pie – laughter
Pinkie Pie, and originally Princess Luna, possesses the element of laughter. The friends enter a dense forest of trees with scary faces, but Pinkie Pie laughs and makes funny faces at the trees, causing the faces on the trees to vanish in pink smoke. She explains that they can conquer their fears just by laughing at them.

The element of laughter is a gold necklace with a blue balloon-shaped gem that looks like Pinkie's cutie mark.

Rarity – generosity
Rarity, and originally Princess Celestia, possesses the element of generosity. The friends cannot cross a river because a sea serpent, who is upset about his ruined mustache, is agitating the water. Rarity sympathizes with him and cuts off her own tail to repair his mustache. The grateful sea serpent helps them cross the river.

The element of generosity is as a gold necklace with a purple diamond-shaped gem that looks like Rarity's cutie mark. The necklace itself is also similar to Princess Celestia's necklace.

Rainbow Dash – loyalty
Rainbow Dash, and originally Princess Luna, possesses the element of loyalty. The ponies encounter a broken rope bridge stretching across a ravine. Rainbow Dash volunteers to fly over and tie the other end of the bridge, but is confronted by a group of dark ponies who call themselves The Shadowbolts. They flatter Rainbow Dash and invite her to join them as their captain, as long as she abandons her friends. Rainbow Dash is tempted, but ultimately declines the Shadowbolts' offer. She ties the bridge, letting the others cross.

The element of loyalty is as a gold necklace with a red thunderbolt-shaped gem, shaped similarly to Rainbow Dash's cutie mark.

Twilight Sparkle – magic
Twilight Sparkle, and originally Princess Celestia, possesses the element of magic. When her friends come to her aid in the castle ruins, she realizes that they are her friends, and a "spark" within her activates the Elements of Harmony.

The element of magic is a gold tiara studded with sapphires and a magenta star-shaped gem that looks like Twilight's cutie mark.

The Return of Harmony Part 1 and Part 2
Princess Celestia tells the main six that long ago, she and her sister used the Elements to turn Discord into stone. She says that she and her sister are no longer connected to the Elements. When she retrieves a box from a chamber that she believes only she can open with her magic, the ponies find that the Elements are missing. Discord hypnotizes the friends into acting contrary to each element they represent. When the Elements are eventually recovered, the friends cannot use the Elements' magic.

When Twilight reads all her old friendship lessons that Princess Celestia send back, she is convinced that she must harness the power of friendship. She casts a memory spell on her friends, restoring their former personalities. The friends, united, turn him to stone with the magic of the Elements and restore Equestria to its normal state.

Keep Calm and Flutter On
Under the orders of Princess Celestia, the main six free Discord from his stone prison so they can reform him. As precautionary measures, Celestia casts a spell to protect the Elements from Discord's magic, and the six ponies wear them at all times in case he turns on them. Discord schemes to make Fluttershy remove her Element and never use it against him, which she does willingly as a sign of trust and friendship, ultimately swaying him. As a final precaution, Celestia decides to leave the Elements with Twilight in Ponyville.

Magical Mystery Cure
"From one to another, another to one. A mark of one's destiny singled out alone, fulfilled."

- The unfinished spell

Twilight casts an unfinished spell written by Star Swirl the Bearded that switches her friends' cutie marks and destinies. To revert these changes, the friends use their talents to help each other out, thereby remembering their own destinies and regaining their cutie marks.

"From all of us together, together we're friends. With the marks of our destinies made one, there is magic without end."

- The finished spell

After all the cutie marks are fixed, Twilight finishes writing the spell that caused it. The elements come alive and zap Twilight to a "dream world", where she encounters Princess Celestia. In Celestia's Ballad, Celestia tells Twilight it's time to fulfill her destiny. They return to Ponyville, where Twilight transforms into an Alicorn. Her element, different from the others, then becomes her crown and she becomes a princess.

Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1 and Part 2
In the second part of season four's two-part premiere, it is revealed that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna found the Elements of Harmony embedded in a tree, called the Tree of Harmony, in the Everfree Forest. Each element is embedded in one of the tree's branches, with the element of magic in the tree's center.

The tree and the elements were discovered during the reign of Discord thousands of years before the events of the episode, and were the only means the princesses had of defeating him. According to Celestia, the tree controls and contains all that grows in the Everfree Forest and will continue to do so even without the Elements in it.

During the two-parter, it is discovered that the Tree of Harmony has lost all of its magic. Its loss of power allow the "plunder seeds" to grow into vine-like malevolent organisms all over the Everfree Forest. At the climax of Part 2, Twilight and her friends give up the Elements of Harmony and return them to the tree, recharging its magic and returning the forest to normal. After that, the Tree of Harmony generates a flower containing a locked box.

Other episodes
In Luna Eclipsed, Twilight tells Spike that she saw the Elements of Harmony change Princess Luna back to good. Princess Luna herself eventually says this when she talks to Twilight.

An orb with the same design as the Elements of Harmony's stone orb forms appears in Secret of My Excess among Spike's hoard of objects.

The Elements of Harmony are mentioned again in the season two finale, A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2. After being defeated by Queen Chrysalis, Princess Celestia instructs the six ponies to retrieve the Elements from Canterlot Tower to stop Chrysalis and her changeling army. Despite their efforts, they are unable to accomplish the task as the changelings have taken hold of all of Canterlot, including the tower.

My Little Pony Equestria Girls
In My Little Pony Equestria Girls, Princess Cadance mentions that Twilight's princess crown is actually her Element of Harmony, even though it looks different. The princess's crown is a lighter shade of gold and is not decorated with oval sapphires. The star-shaped gem is positioned lower. The crown rests horizontally, not vertically, on Twilight's head.

Sunset Shimmer steals the element of magic, hinting to Twilight that something "happens when you bring an Element of Harmony into an alternate world". She uses it to turn herself into a demonic creature, enslaves the inhabitants of the mirror world, and says she will bring her army through the portal to conquer Equestria. She attempts to destroy Twilight, but when Twilight's friends shield her, the element of magic activates and gives them the power to defeat Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset Shimmer's defeat is similar to Nightmare Moon's in Friendship is Magic, part 2. Both are engulfed by a rainbow-colored whirlwind that returns them to their original forms, and both show remorse after their transformations.

Other depictions
Twilight is sold with her element of magic tiara in the Royal Castle Friends toy set. The 2012 trading cards mention a seventh Element of Harmony, Love, which is attributed to Princess Cadance and Shining Armor.