Comment on Fastest Thing Alive by ShadeRyuInari

Yes, the new episode was great wasn't it? And yes, it is indeed May. I'm preparing for my final paper myself, then I get to go off and take maths over the summer. Fuuun XD

Yes, the story goes on somewhere, and you don't have to worry about reading something sad (Though I would recommend checking out my story Trix and Stones. It's one of my favourite pieces of writing, though it is rather sad.) As for curing Pinkie Pie, it wouldn't be as simple as just putting the element back into her. It would merely turn her back to what she was before (Though possibly a little dejected once she realizes what she did to her friends and Equestria). It wouldn't pose a cure for her insanity or megalomania. If you were to 'cure' Pinkie Pie you'd have to treat the source of the problem, not just the symptoms. Forcing the element back into her would only delay her striking again, and possibly even give her an excuse to strike unnoticed again.

Now for the element talk. Basically the way I see the elements of Harmony is they are a part of the pony's soul. Every pony has some of each in them, but they're usually in such small amounts that extracting them would not be profitable for long-running power. The bearers, however, each hold so much of that particular element that it possesses the potential for infinite power in each one. A good example from the Sonic Verse would be Chaos Shards vs Chaos Emeralds. Both hold enormous power but the Emeralds are much more worth your time for large-scale grand schemes. Another thing is in the average pony you could extract the element that they were strongest with and they'd feel little to no discomfort, and only minor personality changes. For the bearers it's almost like tearing out a kidney. It won't kill them (We are going to use the assumption that the person losing the kidney doesn't die from disease or blood loss) and they can live without it but having lost it there's going to be some damage and it's not going to be pleasant.

As for personality changes they would be from most radical to least radical:

Pinkie Pie- Doesn't feel the urge to party, laugh, or be random. She thinks much more clearly and from her darker side she has developed a severe case of Megalomania.

Rainbow Dash- Without her element of Loyalty she wouldn't see the need to really even HAVE friends. They just bring her down, and she could shine better if she either flew solo or used them to her own means.

Fluttershy- Though she probably would still be shy she would get more brash. I always imagined Fluttershy's shyness to be a combination of her wanting to be kind to everpony as well as a lack of confidence. Without the strong desire to be kind to everypony her comments might be a lot more sharp, and she might actually start to be more brash by putting other ponies down to build her own self-confidence.

Applejack- Not so much of a severe change in personality here, but I'd imagine that Applejack would get somewhat more greedy, and definitely more dishonest. However, unlike the previous three she would still be very caring towards her friends, and possibly even tell the truth to them. I don't think she would wind up as a Pathological lier, but she would most certainly lie more often.

Rarity-Again not so much as some of the other ponies. Mostly I think she would be more greedy (Far more greedy than Applejack) and stop giving away favours, such as sales, or making dresses for her friends.

Twilight Sparkle- Hardly any personality change at all, if anything she would loose a little confidence. However the thing that would be certain is she would no longer be as competent at magic as she used to be. I would think of it as a sort of cripple. Using myself as an example, I lost my hand but it was sewn back on and healed (Rather well thank goodness) but I'm not as competent with it and the things I did with it as I was before. Twilight's magic would be the same thing, without her element of Magic she's just another regular Pony with about as much power as, say, Trixie (Probably a bit more than Trixie but you get the picture)

And that's my sepal on the elements. Also TaleSpin rocks.