Shimmerverse: The cult of Chaos · 8:29pm Jan 12th, 2015
Or the cult of Discord by outsiders, the cult of chaos is a faction in of itself that serve Celestia.
Before we can talk about the current cult, we must go over a little backstory and know how.
The world of Equis is split into three realms: The Living, The Dead, and The Astral Plane. The Astral Plane, unlike it's brethren, is nothing but energy. It's where magic and all other sorceries can be derived from. In it of itself, it is broken down into many subgroups:
Magic, which is the largest and easiest to access realm
Druidic, or nature magic.
And lastly, chaos.
Before Discord's reign, the realm of chaos was a very enigmatic realm of the Astral Plane. So few could knew about it and fewer still could tap into it, that it was considered merely a thing of legend.
However, upon Discord's creation, the barrier between the realm of chaos and it's compatriots loosened. Whereas it once was strong and firm, it became bent and filled with havoc. Discord's 'birth' created such a storm that some of it condensed into actual beings. The first chaos daemons. As such, anyone who taps into the realm of chaos without Discord's permission, or more scientifically called 'Warp', have the chance of, unfortunately, meeting such a creature.
The cult of chaos itself was created by ponies who could tap into it freely under Discord's gaze. Of course, there was a problem. The minds of ponies are naturally harmonic. Using even the slightest bit of chaos magic, or warp, will break a pony both in body and mind. This led to a natural 'crazed' reaction in the pony populace with a large section of it during the rein of the chaos god, to be totally and utterly mad.
This went on for generations until the arrival of the two sisters.
Whilst Luna rallied all those with sound minds to battle and led the fight at the front lines, Celestia instead used a calm hoof to pull the ponies out from the brink of madness. It worked as ponies from all over flocked to the benevolent mare who could ease their troubles and make them smile again. Not fake, mad smiles, a real smile.
However, there were some that fought for the sisters that did not want to give up their powers. Some couldn't begin to think of a life without chaos. After Discord's defeat and imprisonment, the sister's argued over what to do with any and all chaos loyalists. Luna wished to slay them all, while her elder sister wished to end the bloodshed. Eventually, they came to an agreement that the chaos loyalists would be put under Celestia's watch. She formed it into a more stable group that would follow her through the ages.
The cult of chaos.
The cult still isn't popular to this day among most of the populace who feel uneasy about any and all chaos magic. It is not uncommon for chaos loyalists to be ostracized and such, though this is heavily discouraged by Celestia herself who loves her ponies like children. While the cultists do worship chaos as much as Celestia, only some are allowed to use the chaos realm.
They become chaos magi. Each and every pony, whether unicorn or not, can become one. There is a trade off however. Each acolyte is taught by one instructor. Before the ritual to make a pony into a chaos sorcerer can begin, they are branded on their right cheeks with Celestia's mark. This is not just a mark to show that they are what they are. No, it is a mark to keep a pony's mind intact and resistant to any and all daemons that call the warp their home. Once done, they are taken deep within Canterlot, to the last and only opening from the realm of the Living to the realm of chaos. {As all others had been sealed by the sisters.} The acolytes are then made to gaze into the schism.
They are all driven mad by it, with only the brand keeping some semblance of sanity left. They are then free to use their gifts.
The cult of chaos preaches for changes and diversity. They believe creativity and uniqueness are key to living a happy life and love to destroy social norms and break out into their own. As such, many leading members of the music and art communities are in fact part of the cult. It is also their belief, that is shared by no one else in the world, that Discord was not all bad. {This gets them much scorn, since Discord tormented countless numbers for his games.}
Notable members:
Vinyl Scratch; Ponyville's leading chaos cult leader
Twilight Sparkle; acolyte and praised as one of the strongest chaos magi of all time
Nonsense; Twilight's master and the pony who introduced her to the cult after her entrance exam
Ditzy Doo; chaos loyalist and one of the more outspoken members of the cult. Despite her beliefs and low status, she's well liked by most of the populace as they see her as harmless. (Content to be Ponyville's leading mailmare and proud mother.)
Screwball; mother of Vinyl Scratch, Long Play and Diamond Tiara. Some have said that she herself is a chaos daemon, but none have proven it.
Chief; leader of the cult of chaos
Long Play; Vinyl Scratch's big brother and commander of Equestria's Sound Knights.
Wait... Vinyl Scratch and Derpy are cultists.
They're the bad guys?!
2718307 Chaos Loyalists.
Celestia believes that chaos is an integral part of the world, so she kept them in her stead. They aren't bad guys. (Those are chaos extremists who follow the 'real' Discord, instead of the concept of him.)
Derpy and Vinyl are both good....though Vinyl is quite vicious.
2718310 Ehhh... I won't like them.
If they aren't bad why are they cultists? Shouldn't they be just religious followers instead?
2718316 You saw Ditzy in the chapter. She's her old, regular self.
And it's called a cult, more so because the followers didn't feel like changing it and Celestia wasn't one to press that issue.
2718327 Hmmm...I'll be suspicious of them just in case.
2718332 That's pretty much how all of Equestria feels about them and why they are ostracized. Though, the antics of rogue splinters and how loyalist chaos magi usually act deter ponies. {Remember Twilight? Typical behavior for them.}
2718340 If they f*ck around with me I'm killing every last one of them.
I'd pick up my blade, crossbow and...you know the rest.
2718316
2718327
Cult: An organized regions faith that believes in a higher supernatural entity and ritualized worship. Examples of major modern cults include all sects of Christianity, Judeism, Islam, Shinto, and Hindu. Examples of non-cult religions include Budism (which believes there is no higher supernatural authority) and Discordianism (which rejects ritualized worship).
As an RL Discordian, I'd recommend at least checking out an overview of our religion. I'm not saying you need to buy a Principas Discordia and read it through, but at least read a primer on Wikipedia or the like. You can find plenty of ideas for a fictional chaos religion there.
2719083 I mean cult as in the more modern usage of it.
And not just the bad usage of it either.
2719797 That is the modern definition of cult. If you mean the colloquial definition, then that has very negative connotations. Ultimately though, I fail to understand the point you are trying to mak, especially in light of your earlier comment that "cultist = bad".
Also, under both definitions of cult, proper and common, the Cult of Chaos doesn't pass. They do not ritually worship a higher authority, and they are not a secret hidden sect of worshipers. Hence why the name is perfect.
2720021 I'm still going to be wary around them.