Can friendship work without the Elements of Harmony?

[Harmony Spark 265]

We all know the Elements of Harmony is one of the most powerful magic in Equestria, but one thing still confuses me. If a villain came by and destroyed the Elements of Harmony and cannot be used, will the magic of friendship still work without them? And with that said, can ponies besides the Mane 6 can wield them?

Edited June 23, 2013 by Princess HarmonyStar

[repsol rave 2,963]

well, their wielders are known to be switched, since they where first wielded by princes celestia. but i think the magic of friendship is something diffrent then the magic of the elements of harmony. the magic of friendship is needed to summon the elements. wich in thurn summon the magic of the elements. so i think that the magic of friendship will still be exsitsing. 

 

that's just me thinking tough.

Edited June 23, 2013 by repsol rave

[SirTherodar 28]

In the second episode of the Nightmare Moon arc, Twilight was able to sort of summon/repair the elements to defeat Nightmare Moon.  She said something about the spirit of the elements living on inside the element wielders, so I think that as long as there is friendship between the wielders the elements cannot be destroyed.

[DaReaper 1,945]

The true question can villisns find a way to make something like The Elements of Disharmony, now that would be intresting, powerpuff girls had counterparts in one episode so why not

[Dreadmallon 353]

   Yes, as it's been done before in the Nightmare Moon arc. Nightmare Moon destroys the Elements, granted they're the older, stone orb versions, but nonetheless, she destroyed them, and Twilight was able to restore them once she realized her friends represented them.

Edited July 28, 2013 by Alkryn

[Friendship_Cannon 1,676]

I think it can...

Though the Elements existed before the mane 6 (it didn´t seem like they were new created for them, they just had to find out they are the wearers).

The necklaces and the crown are just the material symbol for it, while the true magic and powers last inside the wearers (probably that power did exist in them before they even knew about the elements?)

Edited June 23, 2013 by Friendship_Cannon

[Rainbow Dash Loyalty 1,275]

Nightmare Moon tried to destroy the Elements of Harmony while Twilight was trying to summon that 'spark' to find the 6th element. At first I thought she actually succeeded but nothing is ever that easy.

My theory is that as long as the Mane 6 are together, following their elements without being corrupted then the elements should be able to fix themselves.

[fimdash 1,196]

I think that the magic of friendship would work without the Elements of Harmony. The friendship of the Mane 6 is a part of the Elements of Harmony, so it seems that the Elements of Harmony would never be fully destroyed unless the friendship of the Mane 6 would be destroyed as well. That said, I also think that the Elements of Harmony can only be wielded by the Mane 6. Unless you're the rightful owner of one of the Elements of Harmony, the necklace (or tiara if you're Twilight) is not going to do crap.

[Dzastur 1,719]

The CMCs don't have their own set of Harmony Elements, yet I think in the future their friendship might be demonstrated as giving them powers reminiscent of the Mane 6s. I interpret Twilight's ongoing interest in the CMCs as her seeing serious potential there.

[Foreigner And Lover 207]

If the power of friendship is reliant on a bunch of rocks than Equestria is a bigger hellhole than Warhammer 40K. I think that friendship by itself is way more powerful than the elements.

[Sunny Fox 5,952]

According to "Hearth's Warming Eve", 100% yes. There is no indication (yet) that the 3 ponies shown in the play about Equestria being founded actually discovered the Elements of Harmony on that day, yet their friendship was enough to destroy the Windigoes and bring them together to form Equestria. If it does turn out that it was the day the EoH were created, then one could say that their friendship brought the Elements into being, and thus could do so again if the Elements were destroyed.

[Zygen 6,066]

I think the magic of friendship would still exist, destroying the EOH would only destroy the manners their channeled through, disabling would do the same.

 

Now assuming the bearers are still around they could probably still use them.

 

If the bearers are like Discorded for instance and can't use them it doesn't nessarily mean friendship dies, just that the spirits of the EOH can't channel the EOH because they don't have the methods to channel them with, which are the EOH. 

 

The magic of friendship exists all around equestria, its just that through the elements using the combined power within the bearers and the EOH themselves it channels the magic of friendship to be used as a power.

 

Makes sense?

[SCS 7,537]

I say yes. In my opinion, the Elements of Harmony are only vessels through which to channel and direct light and love energy. Without beings using them who have accepted true friendship into their hearts, they are nothing more than pieces of metal. 

 

The same would go for the Crystal Heart. It is a different kind of magical artifact that serves the exact same purpose as the Elements of Harmony, but can instead be used by a large group of ponies that don't need to wear anything. However, it did seem that the crystal ponies were unable to stop Sombra without the Crystal Heart to channel and concentrate their light and love energy. But, I really don't feel that there's anything special about the Crystal Heart in and of itself. Belief probably comes into play here. If they believe that they need the Crystal Heart to channel their energy in a way to defeat King Sombra, then that is what will be the case. If they realize that they don't need it, then I'm sure they could find something else to channel that energy through, that would work just as well. Plus, it is important to note that the ponies allowed what had transpired to make them become depressed, so their light and love energy was temporarily hidden away within themselves, underneath their fear.

 

So, if the Elements of Harmony or the Crystal Heart were destroyed, if ponies remained optimistic, and did not give up on true friendship and harmony, they would find a way to defeat the villain.

[NavelColt 22,883]

Well first off, the elements can't really be destroyed. Nightmare Moon tried it, and they reformed themselves. They're magical items empowered by friendship. Friendship is what makes the elements powerful and invincible, because friendship is powerful and invincible. As long as there is friendship, there will be the elements.

[Scootalove 10,689]

Basically, friendship powers the Elements of Harmony that makes them powerful, invincible, and indestructible. So, without the friendship the Elements would be useless.

[Sickman 205]

I think Equestria Girls established it pretty clearly that at least the Element of Magic can be used on its own, although, I see this as a giant, gaping plot hole.

Edited July 27, 2013 by Sickman

[hawkflame 3,310]

As long as the wielders are still alive, still friends, and still representative of their element, the elements will still be in power no matter what you do to the actual necklaces themselves.  Remember against Nightmare Moon, the elements in their older orb-like form were destroyed, but the elements were still alive once it was revealed who their true bearers were.

[Dashabel 381]

In Equestria, if you're saying the elements of harmony were destroyed, of course the man 6 would still be best friends!

 

But IRL, to be honest we need a good bit of harmony, 'specially in my friendship group... Excluding the magic, obviously. :L

[Nature's Spell 526]

The necklaces represent each of the mane six, which is why they also match their cutie marks. Twilight's element is the central element but the others help power it and vice versa. We saw in the first episode that the Elements can't be destroyed and if attempted will be recreated if the spark of friendship is there. EQ showed that the Elements will work without the necklaces and without Twilight having control of her crown/Element. You don't need the Elements to create friendship, but friendship does power the Elements.

Edited July 27, 2013 by Nature Spell

[Ihei 714]

Are you saying if the spirits of the Elements of Harmony died, there would be no friendship? Well, no doubt there will be friendship, but Equestria will have chaos.

Are you saying if the spirits of the Elements of Harmony died, there would be no friendship? Well, no doubt there will be friendship, but Equestria will have chaos.

[CT-1138 3,184]

Basically, friendship powers the Elements of Harmony that makes them powerful, invincible, and indestructible. So, without the friendship the Elements would be useless.

This. I would say that so long as there is friendship, there will be elements. Even when the wielders inevitably die, new ponies who represent the power of friendship will probably take their place [/headcanon]

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

I'm reminded of something Gandalf once said:

 

"Saruman believes that is is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I've found that it is the small things. Everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love."

 

In my mind, the Elements of Harmony are the manifestation of qualities within the mane 6, rather than the mane 6 representing the essence of each of the Elements. Maybe there's some transcendent, indiscernible reason why Twilight and her friends are the ponies of the current generation that find themselves at the center of every tragedy, somehow finding a way to set everything right again. Who knows. But I think even without the Elements that are the objects, as long as the elements they represent are still held and practiced by ponies somewhere, they'll always be able to prevail over any villain or evil influence. For example, recall the unification of the three pony races to drive away the Wendigos.

[RrVPfX9cPtw59FpC 1,304]

That's a very good question. I think that the magic of friendship and the elements of harmony are different, because Twilight's element is magic, which is something like the element of friendship. However, how did Celestia and Luna use the elements of harmony? There are six, so did Celestia wear the crown and Luna wear the necklaces? So many questions...