Short Hand: Pony Religion 2 · 7:31pm Jul 26th, 2020
Shepherd walks into the Church of Harmony, a structure he really hasn't gone to much as he worships his own God. But Twilight was so fascinated by human religion she had to take him on a tour to compare things!
Twilight: "See, this is a stain glass window of the three tribes, together in harmony!"
Shepherd: "Ah, so there is an ethnic component to your religious practices? It's much the same with many religions on Earth."
Twilight: "Well, I suppose. Oh! And of course, this should be interesting: Our murals of the human protectors! Also in stain glass!"
Shepherd: "Okay, there's Megan, Danny, Molly... Uh... Twilight? Who is this?"
Twilight: "Oh! Well, while Megan, Danny and Molly are more or less confirmed to have been historical figures, there are many other legendary humans whose canonicity is in question by the various denominations of the Church of Harmony. For instance, the Saga of the Heart of Worlds is regarded as non-canonical by most churches but is still seen as integral to a small splinter sect called the Yen Sidites. Personally I found that epic far less compelling than the Seventh Final Fantasy, and the Protector Human who sacrificed herself for her world. But that's her-"
Shepherd: "Aerith Gainsborough?!"
Twilight: "Oh! How did you know?"
Shepherd: "I... Do know of her. From my world."
Twilight: "Really? Is she a saint? An epic heroine?"
Shepherd: "Ummm... In some ways?"
Later, as Shepherd confronts Princess Celestia.
Shepherd: "Okay. Either the multiverse is a lot more complicated than I thought, or you straight up turned a video game character into a saint in your country's own religion. Which is it?"
Celestia: *smile* "It can't be both?"
Shepherd may be soft, but you can never call him square.
5322632
Eh nix that joke
The saga of the Heart of Worlds is Kingdom Hearts?
5322669
Yes. And if you thought the fandom was bad here, imagine how bad it is as a religion.
DAMMIT SUNBUTT!
"Aerith?" Who the heck is that?
Do you mean Aerisu?
Goddamnit Sunbutt!
Trollestia even gets the damn church!
Is this a Kingdom Hearts joke? Because it feels like it is.
Well, a Nomura joke. I'll take it.
Hey, if people can worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster... (Yes that's a real thing. Pastafarianism, look it up.)
5322762
Not exactly. It's more of a... parody to religion to showcase how silly the concept of religion is.
5322762
Well, I know that Yen Sid was the magician / wizard from Disney's Fantasia, and that the name is Disney spelled backwards.
5323210
Which is why I'm wondering. He's in Kingdom Hearts. And the Sorcerer's Apprentice short is canon.
5323211
He's such a minor character in Disney proper, and not at all a thing in FF7 proper, so the name works out.
5323211
I think that's for Johann von Goethe's family to decide and not Disney.
5324020
I meant the Fantasia short.
So, after taking the later "The Human Archives 4" into account, it likely is indeed both: Celestia's only encounter was with the video game, but she's seen enough to understand that she's part of the World as Myth and therefore could reasonably assume that Aerith was a real person somewhere (past tense because Sephiroth is an asshole).
(... Well, while there are many characters in fiction who deserve sainthood and remembrance, I must say, that Aerith is definitely amongst them!
Also, multiverse theory makes EVERYTHING weird sometimes.)