Elements of Harmony

Dear Princess Celestia (CC: Princess Luna)...

Well folks, here we are at the last step of my odyssey.

Episode begins with a quick flashback of the events of the previous episode.

We resume immediately where we left off. Some royal guards move in to attack Nightmare Moon.

"Stand back, you foals!"

She blasts the guards with lightning, then coalesces into a mist made out of her mane material, and flies off into the sky. Rainbow pursues but she is too fast for her. Rainbow sees Twilight running and follows her.

At the library, Twilight puts Spike to bed and then searches for a book on the Elements of Harmony. Rainbow flies in and demands to know what the Elements are, how Twilight knew about Nightmare Moon, and if she's a spy. Applejack pulls her tail and tells her to simmer down.

The rest of the 'mane 6' are there, and Twilight explains she had read the prophecy and knows the Elements are the only thing that can beat Nightmare Moon, but she doesn't know where they are or what they are. Pinkie Pie finds a book about the Elements, filed under 'E' and Twilight begins reading. The 'camera' shows us each pony and 'dings' as Twilight lists the elements. Kindness - Fluttershy, Laughter - Pinkie Pie, Generosity - Rarity, Honesty - Applejack, and Loyalty - Rainbow Dash. The 6th element is unknown. Nightmare Moon listens in outside as Twilight reads the Elements last known location, in the castle of the royal pony sisters, which is located in the Everfree Forest.

Twilight tells them she'd prefer to go it alone, but Applejack says she won't let any friend of theirs go into that place alone. Twilight is mortified.

Rainbow Dash starts telling a spooky story about how no pony that goes into the Forest has ever come out. They are walking along a cliff face, Nightmare Moon goes into the earth and causes the edge to drop out. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy fly down to save them, they are able to get Pinkie and Rarity.

Applejack risks her own life, letting go of a branch to slide down and help Twilight, who is hanging off the edge. Applejack tells her to just let go; the honest truth is she will be safe. Twilight does, and is caught by the pegasi. Applejack jumps down a bunch of 'platforms' and the mane 6 regroup.

Nightmare Moon isn't giving up yet, and flies forwards possessing(?) a creature.

The creature is a manticore.

Rarity kicks him and gets roared at, messing up her hair.

Applejack comes in next, jumping on his back and riding around until he bucks her off. As Applejack goes flying, she tells Rainbow it's her turn.

Rainbow rapidly flies around him, he strikes with his tail and takes her down.

Fluttershy had been telling them all to wait, but they didn't listen. As they all start to charge, Fluttershy gets in the way, then approaches the manticore. She shows she isn't going to hurt him, then pulls a thorn out of his paw.

  

The others freak out as he picks her up and roars, but he starts licking her. Twilight asks how she knew about the thorn, Fluttershy says she didn't, sometimes we all just need to be shown a little kindness. The thorn transforms into Nightmare Moon's mist form and flies off.

As they continue on, Nightmare Moon flies inside a tree and makes it, and surrounding trees, look evil.

They're all terrified, except Pinkie Pie, who starts laughing. Twilight tells her to run, but Pinkie just starts singing a song about how her Granny Pie taught her to deal with her fears.

 When I was a little filly and the sun was going down...

 The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown

I'd hide under my pillow

From what I thought I saw

But Granny Pie said that wasn't the way

To deal with fears at all

She said: "Pinkie, you gotta stand up tall
Learn to face your fears
You'll see that they can't hurt you
Just laugh to make them disappear."
Ha! Ha! Ha!

So, giggle at the ghostly

Guffaw at the grossly

Crack up at the creepy

Whoop it up with the weepy

Chortle at the kooky

Snortle at the spooky

And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna... hahahaha...heh...

Laaaaaaauuugh!

They all dispel the illusions and keep laughing until they reach a raging river, where they hear something crying, which turns out to be some kind of sea serpent.

He says a cloud of purple smoke flew by and tore off half his mustache. Rainbow and Applejack don't see what the big deal is, but Rarity does. She compliments his various features: his luminescent scales, his coiffed mane, his manicure. Rarity says she can't let such a crime against fabulousity go unpunished. She bites off one of his scales and uses it to slice off her own tail, then uses magic to make a makeshift mustache for him.

The sea serpent is thrilled, Rarity says short tails are in this season anyway, and it will grow back. Rainbow snidely remarks to Twilight that the mustache would grow back too. The river is calmed down and the sea serpent helps them cross.

They reach the castle of the royal pony sisters.

Twilight runs towards it, not noticing the rope bridge is out, and Rainbow saves her life, commenting about Twilight constantly falling off cliffs. Rainbow flies across to fix the bridge and Nightmare Moon manifests as the Shadowbolts.

The Shadowbolts explain that they are the greatest aerial team in the Everfree Forest, soon to be greatest in all of Equestria.

But first they need a captain: the most magnificent, swiftest, bravest flyer in the land. They need: Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow is elated and agrees to join, but first she needs to fix the bridge. The Shadowbolts say no, she either joins them right that second or doesn't. Rainbow thanks them for the offer, but says she's afraid she has to decline. She flies back to her friends and tells them she would never leave her friends hanging. The Shadowbolts turn back into Nightmare Moon mist.

They travel inside the keep and are amazed. The Elements of Harmony are right there in front of them.

Rainbow and Fluttershy pull them off their stands and arrange them on the ground. Pinkie and Rainbow wonder where the sixth one is. Twilight says the book said a spark was required to produce the sixth when the other five are present.

Nice to know the Ponyverse's WMDs were just sitting out in the open.

Twilight warns her friends to stay back, and they leave the room. She begins using her magic to try and trigger the sixth Element. Nightmare Moon in mist form comes in and turns into a tornado, stealing the Elements and teleporting them, and Twilight, away.

Twilight's friends look for her and see another part of the castle is lit up and head that way. Twilight recovers and sees Nightmare Moon standing over the Elements.

Twilight isn't going to give up without a fight, and prepares to charge. Nightmare Moon says, "You're kidding. You're kidding right?" and also charges at Twilight. Twilight teleports as they are about to clash and finds herself by the Elements.

She uses her magic, trying to make 'just one spark' and it seems to work. Nightmare Moon turns to mist and flies back over there. She either hits Twilight or Twilight's magic knocks her back.

 Nightmare Moon stomps on the Elements and shatters them.

Nightmare Moon starts gloating and Twilight thinks all hope is lost until she hears her friends approaching.

"You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me? Now you will never see your princess, or your sun! The night will last forever!"

Twilight proclaims that the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right 'here':

The crystal shards either come to life on their own or Twilight uses her magic. She starts explaining who the Elements are: Applejack, who reassured me when I was in doubt, represents the spirit of... honesty! Fluttershy, who tamed the manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of... kindness! Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of... laughter! Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful serpent with a meaningful gift represents the spirit of... generosity! And Rainbow Dash, who could not abandon her friends for her own heart's desire represents the spirit of... loyalty!

Nightmare Moon says the sixth Element is still gone and the spark didn't work. Twilight counters, saying the spark was something she felt inside her when she realized how happy she was to hear her friends, see them, and knew how much she cared about them. She says the spark resides in the hearts of them all, and this spark creates the Element of Magic.

"What kind of bunkum is this? Thousand year prophecy, and no one predicted I would get vanquished immediately? What a ripoff!"

A stone orb descended over Twilight, her Element, and it transforms into the tiara we know from later episodes, while the crystal shards form into the necklaces. They instantly launch an Element of Harmony attack.

They collapse to the ground. Rarity notices her tail is back. Then they all see that their necklaces look like their cutie marks. Applejack says she thought Twilight was talking a bunch of hooey, but it looks like they really do represent the Elements of Friendship.

They hear Princess Celestia's voice saying, "Indeed you do." and the sun rises. She appears in a ball of bright light. Celestia says she had seen the signs of Nightmare Moons return, and she knew Twilight could do it with the magic inside her, but Twilight needed to make friends first, only being able to realize her potential by allowing true friendship into her heart. So looks like I guessed that one right.

 Celestia says, "Now, if only another will as well. Princess Luna!"

" It has been a thousand years since I have seen you like this. Time to put our differences behind us. We were meant to rule together, little sister."

"Will you accept my friendship?"

"I'm so sorry! I missed you so much, big sister!"

"I've missed you, too."

 Pinkie starts crying, then says, "You know what this calls for? A party!"

Twilight is looking depressed. Celestia asks what's wrong. Twilight is bummed because as soon as she made friends, she has to leave them.

Celestia says, "Spike, take a note, please. I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville."
The episode ends with Pinkie talking into the 'camera,' but I figure this is a better picture.

"Oh thank you, Princess Celestia! I'll study harder than ever before."

What I learned from this episode:

• Okay, first and foremost, what was up with Nightmare Moon? "I'm this big Billy Badass of 1,000 year prophecies, gonna wreck your shit up with infinite nighttime!" and that's pretty much all she did, briefly, besides imprison Celestia for a while. Didn't enslave anyone, didn't conquer anything, just made the world night time. Then she unintentionally helped the 'mane 6' discover their destiny as the Elements of Harmony and got smoked. Unless this was all some master plan of the fates or something, i.e. Luna goes rogue, Nightmare Moon gets imprisoned for 1,000 years, Nightmare Moon gets freed, Nightmare Moon's only purpose is to help Twilight and her friends reach their destiny.
• Nightmare Moon was pretty disappointing though, I was expecting this super awesome villain, since she's Luna and all, and while still pretty badass, we didn't really get to see her in action too much. I think Luna may have done a better job of looking evil and badass in Luna Eclipsed than she did here as Nightmare Moon.
• While on the subject, what was up with Luna? She looks so small in some of the scenes. I'm presuming that Nightmare Moon was really an alternate personality that took over, maybe some ancient evil armor she had put on. Luna's story is so tragic though, like in Luna Eclipsed, she just wanted to be loved like her big sister.
• This episode was pretty heartwarming with the royal sisters repairing their bond and Twilight finding her true friends. =]