Afterlife

[Goat-kun 2,530]

Ponies seem to be familiar with the concepts of angels and demons, even the undead. Is there an afterlife waiting for them? Is there an actual Tartarus hiding somewhere beyond the reach of an equine mind? We name things after Hell. Does Equestrian jail-zoo follow the same logic?

[SharpWit 2,778]

I think we could view things being undead in two lights. A reanimated equine corpse could be the result of a spell, and rather than actually being brought back to life they're just a vessel operating off of a spell, similar to computer program. Another option could be the same way we view things in our reality, where we have a concept of the undead and nothing more than that.

The same could be applied to Tartarus maybe given the Greek basis and Mt.Olympus being a real place, (not currently aware of an exact physical location for the Greek underworld as I'm not that well read,,,) or with Tartarus being a bit of a synonym for Hell, and the ponies have a place for that, just as we have Arizona.

I'm a little biased as an atheist though so I'll take the course of an alternative explanation for the afterlife. I like to imagine the world of MLP has having faiths but as there are living demi-gods amongst the world's inhabitants, everything is present in the there and now, and there isn't anything truly beyond.

But then again we know there to be other planes of existence from the show so I'm not really getting anywhere here.

[Sepul-Coloratura 762]

I don’t think there are actual heaven and hell, but what matters is that if they believe in the afterlife while living. Equestria is based on the fundamental concept of what is good and bad, and I’m quite sure that they believe in divinity, spirituality and afterlife.

But also, for them, morality is directly connected to the problem of their survival, so I don’t think they need to be told about an imaginary concept of their moral consequences. Morals might be treated like engineering. If they misbehave, Equestria turns into hell quite quickly and vice versa. 

[HedonismBot 242]

Consider that "Magic Duel" basically established that age-reversal spells are possible, just requiring an exceptional level of magic talent. Pre-alicorn Twilight tried one on a flower and almost succeeded. So the unicorns have basically unlocked the secret to immortality - in theory, any pony with a moderate to severe case of old should be able to get cured. Yet there's no reference to anyone actually having that done, suggesting that at least most ponies prefer to let nature take its course. To me, this feels like a fairly significant piece of evidence that they believe in some form of afterlife.

[Goat-kun 2,530]

On 10/28/2020 at 3:38 AM, SharpWit said:

I think we could view things being undead in two lights. A reanimated equine corpse could be the result of a spell, and rather than actually being brought back to life they're just a vessel operating off of a spell, similar to computer program. Another option could be the same way we view things in our reality, where we have a concept of the undead and nothing more than that.

The same could be applied to Tartarus maybe given the Greek basis and Mt.Olympus being a real place, (not currently aware of an exact physical location for the Greek underworld as I'm not that well read,,,) or with Tartarus being a bit of a synonym for Hell, and the ponies have a place for that, just as we have Arizona.

I'm a little biased as an atheist though so I'll take the course of an alternative explanation for the afterlife. I like to imagine the world of MLP has having faiths but as there are living demi-gods amongst the world's inhabitants, everything is present in the there and now, and there isn't anything truly beyond.

But then again we know there to be other planes of existence from the show so I'm not really getting anywhere here.

These things couldn't have come from Greek and Judeo-Christian mythologies. And even if one was to claim they are from some unknown stories from an unknown land from an unknown time there is still that awkward fact that such FIM stories tend to be true. A probable explanation, as far as a magical world is concerned, is that divine places and beings have become definitions of themselves. It's no longer "An angel is X from mythology Y," but "An angel is simply an angel."

 

Of course, due to FIM's vagueness we cannot talk about what's canon but about what can be canon. So when someone says: "X isn't canon," they are often thinking: "I don't want X to be canon." For me, divine beings are very useful tools and I lean towards their inclusion due to practical reasons.

 

P.S: There be spirits and magical pony girls. Who gives a hoot if you're an atheist.

[Dreambiscuit 10,582]

Ponies do have an afterlife. It's called G5. 

[Narcissus 356]

1 hour ago, Cistbiscuit said:

Ponies do have an afterlife. It's called G5. 

But whether that's Heaven or Hell depends on the quality of the writers. 

[BornAgainBrony 2,398]

On 10/27/2020 at 9:38 PM, SharpWit said:

I think we could view things being undead in two lights. A reanimated equine corpse could be the result of a spell, and rather than actually being brought back to life they're just a vessel operating off of a spell, similar to computer program. Another option could be the same way we view things in our reality, where we have a concept of the undead and nothing more than that.

The same could be applied to Tartarus maybe given the Greek basis and Mt.Olympus being a real place, (not currently aware of an exact physical location for the Greek underworld as I'm not that well read,,,) or with Tartarus being a bit of a synonym for Hell, and the ponies have a place for that, just as we have Arizona.

I'm a little biased as an atheist though so I'll take the course of an alternative explanation for the afterlife. I like to imagine the world of MLP has having faiths but as there are living demi-gods amongst the world's inhabitants, everything is present in the there and now, and there isn't anything truly beyond.

But then again we know there to be other planes of existence from the show so I'm not really getting anywhere here.

It all gets into the realm of speculation but I'd say there is almost definitely an afterlife in Equestria. What that entails though is open to interpretation. The most obvious proof of any kind of life after death we have is AJ's parents appearing in the form of comets or meteorites blasting across the sky together. We know ghosts are part of their pop culture too but that doesn't prove anything.

But let's look at other 'realms' that we already know exist there.

Limbo: Where the Pony of Shadows was trapped. Limbo is another word for Purgatory, the space between Heaven and Hell in some cultures; usually a place for souls to be judged before being sent to their final destination. We have no idea what's there since we never get to see it.

Then we get into some new-agey stuff which is responsible for much of how most people imagine the afterlife in the modern age.

Luna's Realm: Dreams are real. We don't just fall asleep and hallucinate, our conscience actually goes somewhere else. Others can visit us and we can interact with each other there. Other beings that we don't see in the waking world also inhabit this place, and some of them can be quite terrifying. This realm is often referred to as the "Dream Time" and it's a concept that is probably just as old as, if not older than Heaven/Hell. The popular term for it today it is the Astral Plane, a place that can be visited at-will by those who have trained their minds for it. Depending on who you ask, the Astral Plane might be where we actually go when we dream, but there can also be some intermixing with places such as Limbo; some who claim to explore the place have talked about encountering the dead. But there's another connection to the Astral and that's what seems to be typically called...

The Celestial Plane: Seems to be a fan-made name and I'm not sure what the writers officially decided to call it, if they had an idea for it being rooted in mythology at all. Being that Twilight ended up there after drinking a potion given to her by Zecora though, we can start there. After drinking the potion, Twilight "travels in time" in her mind. She can't interact; she is only there as an observer. This seems to fit well with the tribal concept of the Vision Quest, which usually involves drinking or inhaling something intended to induce an altered state of consciousness. Eventually these visions take Twilight to a different place, a sparkling void in deep space, where images of her past flash by on floating video screens. Celestia is also there waiting for her, congadulating her for taking this monumental step forward. This could easily be another clue about the Astral Plane, and is probably a nod to the "Akashic Records," a sort of ultimate Library of Alexandria in the collective consciousness which includes a perfectly accurate history of everything that has ever occurred all the way back to the birth of the universe. Twilight returns from this Vision Quest with a fresh pair of wings; but given the symbolic nature of such a transformation, what is being very strongly hinted at here is a common element of Eastern philosophies, also adopted by the New Age: ascension to a higher plane of existence. In pop culture, wings are often associated with ascending, or simply dying (or both).

Finally, the most obvious one: Tartarus. There's little wiggle room for this one. It's a firey volcanic underground place where bad creatures are sent, apparently forever. It's also guarded by Cerberus, the iconic three-headed beast from Greek Mythology who is tasked with the job of ensuring no souls escape from the underworld. Venturing there without being banished there, and having to pacify the dog to do so, was part of the journey of both Orpheus and Hercules; the former charmed it with music and the latter wrestled it into submission. Being that the Mane 6's journey into Tartarus at least shares 'some' similarities to Greek tales, the most logical conclusion is that this is actually part of the literal underworld, and the holding place for the worst offenders. What we have to remember is that Hasbro had a very fierce hard line against death. As Jim Miller once told me, "They wouldn't even let us kill a turtle," which was a reference to how "Tanks for the Memories" was handled. Tank was originally meant to die in that episode. That leaves us to read a bit between the lines of what was Tartarus was actually meant to be. What do we know about it, besides the obvious. There's no hint of a warden besides Cerberus, and Cerberus doesn't seem like a particularly good caretaker for the prisoners. They're all in cages, and some of them have been there for a LONG time. In other words, they're not eating. Thankfully that also means they're not pooping, and sleeping in their own filth. How could they be there all that time without eating unless, OH.... because they're DEAD. That's right. You step through those huge metal doors, you cross over into the afterlife. Fortunately for the Mane 6, they figured out a way of getting back.

 

[Sonic Shimmer 4,135]

On 10/30/2020 at 9:53 AM, Dreambiscuit said:

Ponies do have an afterlife. It's called G5. 

Unless they were evil in life. Then they go to G3.