Elements of Harmony

The Elements of Harmony are six magical artifacts representing fundamental virtues of friendship in the television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Each element embodies a specific virtue: honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity, and loyalty. The sixth element, magic, is the catalyst that activates the others when the bearers demonstrate true friendship. The Elements serve as both physical magical artifacts and abstract concepts central to the show's lore and moral framework.

The physical manifestation of the Elements of Harmony as magical jewelry

Originally discovered as ancient relics in the Everfree Forest, the Elements initially manifest as ornate jewelry pieces that can be wielded by worthy bearers. However, as the series progresses, it is revealed that the true power of the Elements lies not in their physical forms but in the embodiment of their respective virtues by the main characters (collectively known as the Mane Six): Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie act as the living representations of magic, honesty, generosity, kindness, loyalty, and laughter, respectively.

Appearances

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (2010–2019)

See also: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

The Elements of Harmony are introduced in the series premiere "Friendship Is Magic" as ancient artifacts of legend. Initially depicted in a tapestry and stained glass window, they are described as the "most powerful magic known to ponydom."^[1] The Elements are first discovered as physical stone orbs housed in the ruins of the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest,^[2] where they transform into ornate necklaces and a tiara when activated by the protagonists' demonstration of their respective virtues.

Throughout the first two seasons, the Elements appear in their physical jewelry forms during major conflicts, including the defeat of Nightmare Moon and the initial confrontation with Discord. However, the artifacts' power is contingent upon the genuine friendship and emotional connection between their bearers; when Discord manipulates the ponies' personalities and severs their friendships in "The Return of Harmony", the physical Elements become powerless.

In the second season finale "A Canterlot Wedding," they are used to defeat Queen Chrysalis.

In the fourth season finale "Twilight's Kingdom", the Elements' magic is transferred to the Tree of Harmony.

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (2013–2020)

See also: My Little Pony: Equestria Girls

In Equestria Girls we meet Sunset Shimmer, a former anthropomorphic unicorn from Equestria who becomes human after traveling through a magic mirror to the human world. Originally a student of Princess Celestia before Twilight Sparkle, she drops out of school in search of power and crosses over to the human world, where she becomes a student at Canterlot High School. With a desire for revenge, upon discovering Twilight's coronation in Season 3, Sunset returns to the world of Equestria to steal Twilight's element of harmony (The Crown), with the intention of taking it to the human world to mirror chaos and rule Equestria. However, her plan fails thanks to Twilight and the versions of her 5 friends from the other universe.

In Legend of Everfree the Mane Six (from the human world) and Sunset Shimmer (having already had his redemption) end up discovering that when Princess Twilight's element was brought to the human world, a large amount of magic was released. However, after much confusion and problems, Twilight and Sunset discover a cave with 7 magical crystals that allow each of their friends to gain a different special ability, super strength, super speed, telekinesis, etc. When they connect with these crystals, they end up becoming necklaces, just like the elements of harmony (from Equestria), however as revealed by Ishi Rudell on his Twitter, "In our world Sunset Shimmer is the 7th element! ☀️"^[3] later specifying said element to be "empathy".^[4]

Analysis

In the 2015 book My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria, the Elements are described as a set of six mystical jewels and an "unstoppable force of good" used to defend Equestria against powerful threats.^[5]

Military bronies have drawn parallels between the Elements of Harmony and the United States Army's core values, known by the acronym LDRSHIP (Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage). According to Samuel Clark Miller, these fans are able to find direct correlations between the Elements and military values, such as loyalty appearing in both systems, while drawing similarities between honesty and integrity; generosity and selfless service; and kindness and respect.^[6]

According to a 2016 study of children's media and environmental understanding by geographer Laura Shillington, the Elements function beyond their role as friendship symbols, as they are "responsible for keeping nature in balance." She wrote that the Elements, the association of individual ponies with different parts of nature, and their collective responsibility for maintaining natural equilibrium "create feelings about nature" and that the Elements are a narrative device where "if [nature] is not kept in balance, problems will emerge", making harmony both a personal virtue and an ecological imperative. Shillington argued that this contributes to gendered emotional responses to nature, particularly with characters like Fluttershy, whose Element of Kindness directly relates to environmental care and animal welfare.^[7]

In his 2018 analysis of gender politics in Friendship Is Magic, media scholar Kevin Fletcher examined the Elements of Harmony within the context of feminist theory and gender essentialism. Fletcher argued that episodes like "The Return of Harmony" present the Elements in essentialist terms, with each pony embodying a single trait that Discord exploits by brainwashing the characters to act contrary to their respective Elements, thus preventing them from using the Elements as a weapon against him. He commented that while the show promotes individualism through the concept of cutie marks and distinct personalities, it simultaneously emphasizes "communalism and sharing" through the collective responsibility required to wield the Elements effectively.^[8]

In his 2019 analysis of Christian faith within the brony fandom, history professor Andrew Crome examined how Christian fans interpret the Elements of Harmony from a religious perspective. According to Crome, many Christian bronies view the Elements as having explicit biblical parallels, particularly as allusions to the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. Some fans interviewed in the study described the Elements as "a tool God has given us to diagnose friendship problems," while others made direct theological connections, with one participant referring to them as "the Seven Spirits of God." Crome wrote that the Elements were viewed as manifestations of divine principles working through popular culture; some Christian fans reported that their engagement with the concept had profound personal and spiritual significance in their lives.^[9]

In a 2023 article in The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, historian Louis Clerc wrote that the Elements of Harmony were the Equestrian equivalent of a nuclear arsenal—a powerful set of magical relics that gave Equestria the ability to defend itself from world-threatening assailants.^[10]

See also

• Cutie mark
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fandom
• List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic characters