Unit designs (stage 1) Cult of Discord · 11:33pm Jul 18th, 2014
The Discordian cult was founded more so around Discord's followers, than Discord himself. (Who cared little for them but as playthings.) Still, they view him as a sort of father figure. (Papa Discord. :D)
Scyclers: Ponies morphed by the powers of chaos. Their lower halves have been replaced by that of a unicycle, while their top halves are similar to clowns. They have rows of long dagger like teeth. From their elbows up, instead of an arm, it’s been replaced with a long scythe.
Scyclers are quick and merciless. They aim to cut and dice up their opponents as swiftly as possible. Even with their weird body design, they have agile and acrobatic.
Their manic laugh and gleeful attitudes as they serve Discord doing inhumane acts cause even the most stalwart foe to shake in fear.
Masochists: Twisted ponies who have turned to self-mutilation and the torture of others to sate the powers of chaos and their lord. Almost every inch of their bodies carry scars. They do not wear any set of clothing, for that would conceal the ‘offerings to chaos’.
They are used as torturers. Enemy units and criminals fear being sent to them, lest they spend endless days of pain and anguish. Pleas of mercy are ignored. Masochists believe that the screams of pain are instead a way the body says ‘thank you’. “To bleed oneself and cause oneself pain is the ultimate way to appease chaos.” They have also created a serum which they inject into their ‘guests’ which makes them extra sensitive. Which makes the agony all the more excruciating.
Sometimes, they will even offer up parts of their own bodies. It is not uncommon to see ones without ears or legs. Those who offer of their legs however usually replace them with long, curved blades.
Cultists: Basic foot soldiers of chaos. They fight with anything they can find, be it utensils, planks of wood or just their bare hooves. All aspire to please their ‘Uncle Discord’ and gain his attention. Cultists wear random pieces of clothing and paintings all over their bodies. (Some do, some don’t. Some dress like gentleman or some like deranged hobos. The cultists prefer being different.)
All are known for their manic glee in doing anything in their beloved ‘Uncles’ name. Be it pulling a simple prank or killing an enemy. They will do it with a smile on their faces and revel in the chaos.
Discord’s Chosen: Ponies who have actually won Discord’s approval. They are ascended into a Draconequus. Their chaos magic is amplified tenfold. They are the leaders of Discord’s armies and can drive whole cities into insanity.
Though Discord called them draconequi and they look like them, they are not a true Draconequus. Their powers, while great, pale in comparison the Draconequus of old and Discord himself. Still, no one with a sane mind would attack them without a second thought.
Needle Hawks: Coming up to the shoulder of a pony, Needle Hawks aren’t used as aggressive pawns. Instead their role is that of a scout and ‘giving sight’ to those far away. Its body resembles that of a hawk. It has no head. Instead it has rows of spikes or ‘needles’ as cultists refer to them as. Even though it was mainly used as a scouting unit, sometimes it was used as a skirmisher. Firing upon quick time units (pegasi) and others. The needles were coated in a sort of puss, so infection is quick to set in and will most likely be fatal unless cured immediately. Needle Hawks are never without ammo as it seems that they actually create ammo within themselves. This makes it so they can fire endlessly.
It has only one leg, so it was also nicknamed ‘Hopper’ due to when it was on the ground it had to hop around. On its chest is a large jewel which scryers of the chaos army can watch on from a distance without putting themselves in danger.
Killing them is tricky. Their small size and quick nature make them hard targets. As well as their nasty habit of exploding upon death. One should be clear of them, for the ‘needles’ and pus that lay inside their bodies will most likely slice right through anything in the immediate area. (A living bomb in a way.)
Destructicorns: Ponies whose prowess in destructive magic exceeds that of normal unicorns are ‘ascended’ into these forms. They take the form of black alicorns, with red manes and red stripes along their bodies. (Yes, I’m doing this.)
Usually commanding large groups of Smashers, these pawns will do everything in their power to destroy their enemies in Discord’s name. Their destructive magic makes defense against their attacks nearly impossible to stop. And their will, will not be bent and their bloodlust cannot be quenched. They will bleed the enemy and crush their skull. BLOOD FOR CHAOS!
Of course given this nature, they aren’t very bright and one way to kill them is to trick them…which isn’t hard. You just have to do it quickly, else they’ll blow you to pieces.
Their role as army breakers is well earned. Of course, given their bloodthirsty nature and usage of magic, teleportation, levitation {that doesn’t involve crushing something.) and other such magic are beyond them.
Their presence on battlefield will be quickly known for they have a habit of shouting everything they say and the fact that they can’t stand to go through an hour without blowing something up.
Their commanders find them frustrating to command, since tactics and strategies of chaos will sometimes be thwarted by an overeager Destructicorn thrusting itself and its troop’s into an obvious trap. So, they are often kept in a living coma in between battles.
Smashers: Large, heavily armored cultists who have performed well for the cult of Discord. As fitting their name, they revel in the act of crushing an enemy. Huge maces are preferred weapons, but axes are chosen as well.
They’ve been morphed slightly, giving them long reptilian tails with mace like end and thicker skin.
Their armor is enchanted, giving them extra protection.
Again, like the Destructicorns, Smashers aren’t bright…In fact they are very stupid. Though it doesn’t matter, they are walking behemoths that’ll crush their enemies one way or the other.
Fates: Ponies who have exceeded the limits of a regular pony in several ways of magic ‘ascend’ into this form. Fates form is that of an alicorn version of the pony with two heads. Each head resembles that of a Cyclops in the fact that each has only one large eye in the center. They are known as ‘Fates’ for they can perceive the future. The downside is the fact that the future is ever changing. The two heads will bicker and fight one another on what is to come.
Still, their magic expertise is not to be trifled with. They excel at every type of magic and can perform several spells at once. They can outsmart the wittiest of foes.
The downside to their magic is that the loss of a head will throw the other into disarray and unable to think straight.
Candigos: These are the gentleponies of Discord’s servants. His cavalry. Of course, instead of a living creature to ride, they instead ride upon pogo sticks in the fashion of candy canes. Their weapon of choice is the glaive.
Candigos are always neat and tidy, which offsets them from all other sects of chaos. (Who are all about disorder.) They have a sense of order and conduct and are Discord most trusted servants because of this. (Order is best when conducting a war.)
They are his eyes and ears and can quickly engage and retreat from advancing armies. Used mostly as skirmishers, they can hold their own in combat. Even without their pogo sticks, they can fight with several hoof to hoof techniques and any sort of weapon. (Though when fighting on hoof, they prefer the sword. Specifically rapiers.)
They treat enemies with respect and dignity and treat POW’s well, unwilling to give them up to their other chaos brethren.
The creation of the Candigos and their orderly conduct was by Discord himself. He felt that a fully chaotic army would not hold itself together and that he needed ‘some’ order. The problem was that very few of the other chaos cultists listen to their esteemed colleagues and gave them a wide birth. This more often than not left the Candigos to fight the enemy alone.
Chaos Mirrors: Circular mirrors that have eight arrows pointed out from it. The mark of chaos. These sentient mirrors are used as communication devices between Discord and his Draconequi generals. They have a mind of their own and will pull pranks on their masters. Such as distorting pictures and voices, and even creating new images and scenes.
They are known to corrupt and twist users, causing them to go insane.
In dire circumstances, draconequi can use them to attack enemies. During these time, the middle of it will sport a wicked smiley face. It moves with incredible speed, floating in the air and slicing through opponents.
The loss of a Chaos Mirror is a blow since there are only so few. (One for every Draconequus Discord creates) Discord severely punished those who lose them. Thus they were rarely used in combat.
The Trotting Dead: Undead corpses. Their purpose is just canon fodder. If a chaos commander needs more troops fast, he can resurrect the more ‘undamaged’ corpses. (The ones with enough of a body to move and a head attached.) As with all ‘zombies’ cutting off or shooting them in the head kills them.
Quetzalcoatl: These creatures are descended from Discord’s own pet. They are massive flying serpents that can easily turn the tide of battle themselves. Due to their size, very few creatures can harm them. They are even known to devour dragons whole.
With all chaotic creatures, they come with a surprise: they can shoot rockets out of their nose. Of course, due to their chaotic nature, most miss, but they can cause confusion in line and still damage those they do land a hit on.
Please tell me more about it. What's it look like? What's its name? What happened to it? Was it intelligent? Was it bigger or smaller then a Quetzalcoatl?
Will we ever get to see colored versions of the last four? Particularly the Quetzalcoatl?
2298498 The artist didn't have the time to finish the last four before they left. I could ask my friend to redo them, but currently, their working on Nightmare Moon's forces.
It looks pretty much like the pic. (I imagined it having a combination of gold and light green coloring.)
Rocket, a nickname Discord gave his pet, was one of his first creations having hatched him. He's much larger than a normal Quetzacoatl and it's pretty much as intelligent as any other animal in Equestria. (Meaning, like Angel and whatnot, but unable to talk.)
Currently, while a few Quetzacoatl still roam Equestria, Rocket is imprisoned by Celestia, though she takes good care of him.
am i to assume that needle hawks and phoenixes have a heated rivalry
2304476 That might make for an interesting idea.
While these are certainly cool character designs, it seems to me to miss the entire point of chaos to have classes of characters who all share fundamental similarities. I also don't really see what good armies tend to do for Discord; he's not good in groups, he's not an inspiring leader, and he has sufficient power to take out his enemies' armies all by himself.
I'd think that if Discord had minions, he'd have a small number of powerful minions who are freakishly different from each other and from anything else in Equestria, rather than character classes of similar minions. Also, his minions would be crap at working with each other because in addition to chaos he is the spirit of disharmony, so his minions would probably mostly interact with each other by squabbling. Except that maybe there's a psycho pair who love each other, like Spike and Drusilla or Mickey and Mallory, because love is also chaotic.
What is this for? Is this a game or a story?
2380030 Oh, you're right on the mark about them being disorganized. Discord doesn't command the armies or really anything other than telling them things like.
"Stop the sisters, rebels, whatever."
He just points them in the direction he wants them to go and lets them take care of the rest.
The main reason he has armies is because the ponies 'want' to fight for him. He doesn't care if they kill each other or how many die. He just found the chaos that the war brought amusing...that is until the sister's actively tried to stop him.
You have to remember that a part of this was based off warhammer when I was thinking this project up. The gods of chaos and their minions squabble and fight amongst each other all the time. They even ruin one another's plans just for the hell of it, but they still get things done and are a force to be reckoned with.
This is a part of my 'Shimmerverse' if you're wondering.
Though, there are some troop choices I added later and haven't contacted the artist for. (Since she's working on the basic 'Nightmare' forces right now.)
Are you planning on doing this with King Sombra's forces?
3121429 Planned, but I don't know if the artist is still accepting. I mean, she said she'd finish the Nightmare Moon troops and well....Perhaps she forgot.