3737662
That really inspired me an idea of a skirmish against the Cult that went disaster, and there's one survivor. The survivor would try to hide in, maybe an abandoned fort, and have to run from the cultists. Then our survivor went mad, turning himself from prey to predator.
With some more sugar, spice, and , this could actually work...

3737590
3737662

Ok, been waiting to find some music and tbh, i love it. The first song is good for the cult in general i find. Tough, id say it fits best when if you look at my idea, when Pinkie pie is turning into Pinkamena after being resurrected.

As for the second one, I find that, the first one, is the voice of the laughing mare herself in a soothing nice way, but in reality its her going after her victims, (either a sacrifice, or maybe her going after someone to convert them) while the second version would be a cult member going after her victim, or in my world, Pinkamena herself. it seems too much of a "hunt" song for the whole cult to sing it or chant it. They would have more of a grim song talking about a better world or a grim song about happiness.

And as for pitiful, we should all note that, in the end, they are simply trying to make a brighter happier world full of joy and laughter, is that so wrong? Now, the way they are doing it....well yea that's wrong, but lets not forget, the way Equestria is at the moment, can you blame them for trying? and for going mad and joining the Cult for eternal happiness and the promise of a happier better world? and the most important part of this is that it might actually be possible? What they do is terrible but the reason they are doing it is actually a good one. Does it excuse them? No, not at all, but we have to take pity on them because they are all victims of the war who are looking desperately for any reason left to live in Equestria, the Cult simply gave them one.

3739427
In a war, the instigator's the one to blame. But in this case, there's no one to blame. If there was to blame, blame who? The sisters for vanishing, leaving their beloved ponies in a civil war? Eaither way, there's no one to blame, no one to hate. You can't hate a another faction's soldier fighting what he believed was right, maybe it's the faction's ideology, their families, or their own...

Do you think Suicide Attacks, not Berserkers, would fit the Cult's theme? If they are zealous to the Laughing Mare, if they had no standards, I can see a Suicide Bomber here...

3740408 Its true we cant really blame any of them. Tough tbh (tough this might be my own hatred of it speaking) Moon and Star were kinda trying to take control of everything and Eartborn said NOPE and tried taking it themselves, and i think this is what caused all the other factions to form. At least from my view but really there isn't anyone to blame. Or you could blame all of them.

As for Suicide attacks id say so. Tough they wouldn't go out of their way to kill themselves for the laughing mare, they are definitely willing to die for it. I think it might be mostly because death is not a negative consequence simply because your death can still fuel the power of the rest of the cult. And when you believe in something so much you are willing to die for it. But like i said, i dont think they are willing to have suicide bomber focused units, they still want to keep their numbers high, I've thought of some strategies they would use in battle and most of them require large numbers of units, they cannot spare to loose some i would say. Only if it proves to be more advantageous or if the one thats going to suicide bomb is doing it because he has no other choice. Berserker seems more like a Earthborn/Stormwing unit.

3743536
The Cult's both zealous and insane, that's why I find Suicide attacks most likely to happen by them. As such attacks would require either, in this case they've got both...

Here's my statement concerning the Laughing Dead.
1. Pun ? The Walking Dead
2. Zombie Apocalypse / Invasion ?

3743624 1. Yea, seems like it, if Walking dead existed at the time this was made then yes, if not, its just a different way of saying "the living dead" since that's the normal description for zombies. Maybe its more Living dead since they both sound similar compared to Walking Dead.

as for 2. They bring them back but they seem to control the Laughing Dead, and so i wouldn't say Zombie Apocalypse, I'm currently writing my ideas for the Laughing dead down and when I'm done, I'll post them here, i just don't have the time right now to do it, maybe later today or another day I'll do it. It explains how i see the laughing dead, what their role is, what they do, how they fight, if they do anything out of combat. So on so on.

the one thing that make me think its not "zombie apocalypse" would simply be because they are reanimated dead bodies, but do not infect other living beings. They simply kill them, there's no virus spreading trough them, only magic that's bringing them back. And so once killed they cant spread anymore then what the necromancer had brought back to begin with. So invasion maybe, since if there's a big enough army of Laughing dead then they can invade, but i don't think it would last long, every faction probably knows how to deal with them and so only extremely large numbers (like in the thousands upon thousands.) would prove to be a threat, but a cost effective one? that's a lot of laughing dead lost for an invasion that could have been handled better with more units and such. Once my notes are done I'll explain what i see them as in ED.

3744718
What if the cultists in Everfree or M&S managed to create such biological weapon? Maybe an equivalent of Joker's Laughing Gas, albeit contagious? Then a chain of events would happen by which the entire Equestria were united against the Cult, that is finding the cure.

That actually sounds interesting.

3746702 I already see the cult as being one of the "big bads" (as i like to call them) in ED. Simply because, they clearly have influence EVERYWHERE in Equestria, and are willing to do anything to make the world a, And I quote (not really but still), "Happier and more joyful world" as in everything has too be bleeding and cut open with a smile on their faces. Its clear that every faction is against them, and they are getting more on more influence to the point where if the factions don't come together, the cult might just win. Even without such a powerful weapon the factions have to eventually work together, even just temporarily, to try to stop them. It could be a biological weapon, a powerful summon, a large nationwide(is Equestria considered a nation?) attack on all factions from the inside? You name it, odds are the cult are willing to do it, and might just succeed in doing so. There's them and the changelings so far, I've got an idea for another "big bad" but so far the Cult are clearly the biggest threat to pretty much any faction, except MAYBE for Earthborn simply because the changelings are right at their doorsteps.

3763254
The cult is divided into 'cells', could it possibly be that Derpy's the only connection between the cells? I mean she's the Messenger after all. Having her leading the communication unit of the cult just seems weird for the cult, maybe it's just me.

Each cell could be operated differently, like the guilds of M&S. Maybe follow orders from the Laughing Mare as well as spreading happiness in their own way. The cult would have some diversity to it, what do you think?

For me, every factions could be big bad. Every ultimate units [The Pillar for example] are all bad enough in a battle, they're called 'ultimate' for reasons.

3764517 True, they are all separated throughout Equestria, and so them being cells would work, i personally see them as all being influenced by the same laughing mare, and so they are all very similar, possibly small difference based on where they are, however in general their beliefs and goals stay the same, their rules and units would stay the same (tough some cells having 1 or 2 unique units would be cool, depending on where they are, maybe more magical ones in the M&S regions but more Pegasus ones with the Stormwing Regions. Ect. Any ideas?) and so on. Its like one giant organism split into pieces, each one adapting to its environment but not becoming a being of its own.

Added: Btw, when i say big bad, i mean like, a major villain, if there was one, it would be them in my story

For every faction being a big bad, yes technically that's true. I just find that every faction has some GOOD in it somewhere. That they are all corrupt and bad but, somewhere in each one there's good. EXCEPT for the cult, the cult might "think good" but murdering everything else to spread "joy" is a very major threat to ALL factions. All factions could eventually go into a state of peace, uneasy peace that is but still. While the Cult would never stop, spreading itself all over Equestria, killing more ponies and creating more chaos. There's a reason why ALL factions agree that the Cult is a major threat, and out of all the units and characters, the laughing mare seems to be the most powerful, only being weakened by the fact that she is not physically in the Equestria. But even then she has influenced so many and has created so much chaos in the world simply by being connected to it. All factions could win and "rule" Equestria in their own way, but the Cult's victory would lead to the destruction of Equestria all together. It just seems like their goals are more evil then the already bad goals of the other factions. (well bad is mostly opinion in this case but, at least the other factions aren't MURDERING every last pony in Equestria to please their deity -.-) Hence why i see the Cult as one of the major threats, the other being The changelings since they want to feast of the love of all the ponies, most likely killing most in the long run. And one more faction I'm gonna make but that's for later (possibly 2 factions, i have the general idea in my head but i need to make the base of my own world first before adding them)

Finally one last question. I'm finishing up my notes on the Cult of Laughter for MY variation of ED. So, since its really long, should i make a new thread focused on us explaining our unique ideas, units, stories and such that we come up with for our own variations of ED? Or should i post it all here in the Cult of Laughter Forum, it just seems like to big of an amount and to have a thread focused on our own worlds and stories (like lets say your story changes something and people start questioning it, and you want to talk about it but you can't add it to your story, this would be the place you put that extra information) ESPECIALLY when it comes to custom factions. Considering how old the original thread for custom factions is, maybe making a new one isn't that bad of an idea. At least this thread wouldn't be used only for custom factions. Also id like to keep the original Threads for the factions as a place to find debates and stuff and ideas based on the BASE information and not our own versions of the world. Like our ideas and variations of things but its still all based on the original information. If you understand what i mean. Or if anything, should i post it for my ideas so that there's somewhere specific i can post my variation of ED? so its not all crunched up in these threads?

3776442
Trottingham's branch of the Cult might be the HQ for the Euphories as Baltimare might be for the Jesters. Maybe the Trottingham Cell have unique methods of deploying the Euphories, both quality and quantity. Where do you think the Harl-Equines' base is? It better be far from Baltimare, they are rivals after all.

Hey hey hey, having a pure evil would make things a bit dull, even though they are mad. Let me spice it up a little bit. The Laughing Mare used Pinkie's body, the body of the bearer of the element of Laughter as an anchor. Surely the powers left within her body would somehow deny that. But since our elements are already a bit corrupted, the denial isn't complete. Maybe the Laughing Mare is fighting the harmony inside her anchor. The harmony that might cleanse her cultist against her bidding. This is just my attempt on giving the cult, light. Do they deserve light?

Now that you bought up changelings, why? Why did they invade more aggressively than ever? It's as if they are... mad. Do you think the cult had something to do with the Changeling Invasions?

For your last question, it fits this thread the most. So I think there's no need for a new thread. BUT, if it's going to be longer than what you've just posted here. Maybe name the thread something like "Non-Canon Descriptions" or something along the line.

3776969
(sorry for late replies, real life stuff getting in the way a lot, hopping to get back into this soon tough, still making my notes tough so I'm still making progress on SOMETHING)
i still only have a vague idea of the areas and concentration of where each group is, i quickly looked at the map but i didn't do anything more then that. So locations is a lost for me, il look it up whenever i get a chance to see where they could be

I wouldn't say PURE EVIL, they are still victims turned evil by the laughing mare. The cult is the big bad BECAUSE of the laughing mare, sorry didn't specify that. Id say once shes gone only the pure Cult members would be left. Pinkie could rest in peace and most of the members could be freed, what happens to them after is still a mystery but yea there is a way to help the cult, like ever other faction. Its just for me I'll have "big bad" factions were their so big that its possible all the factions might eventually work together to face them. Not entirely sure if that's what I'll go with yet, still thinking of things, don't want to rush myself here, but yes there will be light in the cult, especially surrounding two ponies and Pinkie herself of course.

The changelings are a mystery, maybe something forced them, maybe they heard of Earthborns major siege on Moon and Star and choose that as a good opportunity to strike, Chrysalise (is that how you spell her name?) isn't dumb, she would probably see that as a good opening, giving Earthborn a hard time, maybe something more natural forced them. Who knows. Tough for me id say its probably my second suggestion, shes smart, she thinks things through and I'm pretty sure she would see military opportunities like that. Now I'm more interested in exactly what their goals are, sure they want to feed themselves but why go with such a straight forward approach? Changelings are amazing at infiltration, and in this chaos, they could probably easily infiltrate any factions except Earthborn (AJ One true Sight sees trough illusions, changelings appear to magically mask themselves, not physically change). So maybe the Laughing mare is effecting them? But that seems a little too much even for the Laughing mare, considering her state at the moment.

I'll make a thread like that when I'm done then, since like, every units notes is like one page long minimum (I'll shorten it to make it easier to read don't worry, its just gonna be long, like almost the same length as a whole new faction and stuff) Plus its a place for people to post their own units and ideals, goals and such for the original factions without messing up this threads style of following and basing ideas off the "Base" information, there we could be a little more creative with our ideas.

3793933
I think if the Laughing Mare's gone, either dead or destroyed, the cult would either turn peacefully or violently depending on themselves. Peacefully, they might turn into a charity group, helping those in need during these turbulent times. Violently, they rampage throughout Equestria due to madness, or risen into a new faction with proper cities and soldiers.

Maybe we could compare the changelings' situation with the situation of the mongol hordes of Genghis Khan. They wanted pastures for their herd. The changelings wanted food, and Equestria has many. There are three changeling hives in total, each lead by its own queens. Hive Chrysalis would specialize in Espionage, so she might be fighting an underground war against Whitegold's counter-espionage. For other changeling hives, this thread is a good reference concerning changelings in EQDV.

Recruiting? A loved one sharing their corruption? A child sharing their corruption?

3800185
The original song is already creepy in my opinion. Never thought there would be a nightcore version until now. The voice is too high-pitched, for me that is. Maybe slow it down by a bit as well, all for the horrifying creepiness.

3800185 It sounds surprisingly like Pinkies voice, so that's pretty cool, it makes me think of the jesters or the Harl-Equins of the cult. Or possibly even one of the prophets. Good job finding this.

I keep forgetting to post these replies TOGETHER -.-

3794804 For me, the cult is mad BECAUSE of the laughing mare, shes the one brainwashing and controlling all of them, without her the cult are just victims trying to find happiness in this world. Tough i never did put much thought on what would happen to them if the Laughing mare was gone.... Il have to think about it, though becoming a good group would be nice.
EDIT: I also wanted to add the fact that only the 6 main prophets(so not pinkies corpse) are permanently mad, since they TRULY believe in the new world and the laughing mare. Compared to everyone else who believes in it because of the Laughing Mares influence.

As for the changelings maybe we should avoid talking about them too much on other threads and talk about them on the Canon changelings thread or make our own new thread to continue before we go to much off topic.

3810102
Now here's an interesting one. . . The cultists' minds are clouded by the madness of the Laughing Mare, but what about the prophets? Do they have their own unique madness that would be believed by the cultists they lead? Maybe Derpy's cell would be the most unstable of them all, I mean she is the Mad Prophet, the Harbinger of Laughter. To deserve those titles in such a mad religious cult would only mean she's insanely powerful, yes?

Personally I don't see this being a "it's all the leadership's fault" type of evil. These ponies are broken, maybe the cult broke them, or maybe they were already broken when the cult got them, but these ponies are a un/death cult and they are going to have their party and the world is their damage deposit paid rental room that is going to get burned down in the end...

3811178 I like both ideas, of them being evil and them being good, that's why i think some of them would stay loyal to the Cult after the Laughing mare is defeated, however a large amount are mostly turned evil through brainwashing and influence from the Laughing Mare. After shes defeated the prophets and remaining members would spread out and cause havoc throughout Equestria however in smaller groups of course. Being more of a nuisance then a threat. At least that's how i see it, to each their own.

Added: I'm starting to give away to much information on my ideas -.- oh well heres another GIANT WALL OF TEXT to read, mostly shows my view on each branch of the Cult and each prophet excluding Pinkie Pie.

3810141 I had typed a lot and then i lost it all, so hear i go again (This is my point of view on the cult, I'm open to other ideas and willing to answer any questions or objections!!! regarding anything i said)

So il just keep it more simple and too the point here. For a story of mine, it explains the creation of the Cult. The laughing mare before wasn't anchored to the world or anything, she had only minor influence here and there and had a hard time communicating with anybody. However one day, she was able to communicate with Cranky. His life had been terrible at the time, loosing Matilda due to the flooding of Ponyville, he had gone through depression. it was easy to influence him, to one day have a happy world again was something he couldn't ignore. He became the First Prophet of the Laughing Mare. He eventually recruited the other 5 Prophets, who then succeeded in making a small army. Eventually the prophets were able to get into M&S territory and steal Pinkies Corpse, since the Laughing mare knew she could anchor herself to it. After which her powers grew tremendously.
After all this, the cult grew much faster and much bigger the before, becoming the cult we know of today. After which the 6 prophets left for different parts of Equestria, each making sure the cult stays loyal and to continue teaching their members, and to lead them. Of course each group WOULD be different from one another, depending on their leader and territory they are in. however, i see them as snowflakes, each snowflake (group) is different but they all have one thing in common, they are snow, they are still 1 thing, no matter how different they LOOK, they are snow. Or branches and leaves on a tree, each one is slightly different then the other, however they are all part of the same tree. Each group, is different, different relics, different sacred areas, different traditions and rituals, however they are all Cult of Laughter members, faithful to the Laughing Mare and to their mission of bringing about the new world. And they all believe in the one "New world" and nothing else. Think of Christianity however without all the different types of it. Its everywhere, there are many different kinds. but without the different beliefs. Imagine each group having their own traditions and such however they do not argue about the Laughing mare or the New world since they all agree on what it is. And so inner struggles are uncommon, normally the most common one is the Jesters and Harl-Equins, however these ones are more like a Rivalry and are settled in a specific way (Read bellow and I'll eventually explain how)

Now for the titles, I'll just say what i think each title means for each Prophet and key traits for each group, tough most groups share similar traits and these traits may not be unique to that group, it is most common and plays a larger role in the groups i list the trait in. These are my personal ideas and I'm willing to hear what you guys think.

1. Cranky Doodle: Being the first prophet, and the one who's had the most contact with the laughing mare gave him the titles of "Grand Priest of the Laughing Mare" and "Speaker to the Mare". Trained the most in Necromancy, becoming the strongest Necromancer in all of Equestria, Giving him the title of "Master Necromancer". So powerful that he can reanimate dozens to hundreds of Laughing Dead within a short amount of time, if not distracted, making him a dangerous threat. Leader of the entire Cult, will stop at nothing to reach their goal.

Group traits: large amount of necromancers, traditionally will bring sacrifices to feed the Laughing Mares power, and to create more Laughing Dead. The largest Group, Trying to gain control of New Ponyville. Creators of "Smiling dolls" and "Alicorns Mockery". Biggest Rituals are those of Sacrifice and Tribute, Sacrificing enemies while giving their own lives as Tribute to aid the cult and the Laughing Mare.

2. Derpy Hooves: The Second prophet. quickly accepting the Laughing mare and her "New World", she gained her title "The Bearer of Good News" because she had delivered a Key Message that was important to the Cult of Laughter, saving them. (I'll Write a story about this one day, its the only thing i can think of though) Shes known as "The Mad Prophet" for being even more mad then a normal Cult Member, possibly even having more faith then Cranky Himself. "Bringing Laughter to our enemies" is the same as "Bringing Death to our Enemies" for the Cult, Being the "Harbinger of Laughter" is because she is known for being one of the most fierce fighters of the Cult, wielding a halberd, a difficult weapon to use, especially in the air, for ponies, she reigns death upon her enemies, capable of fighting dozens of soldiers at once, and single-handedly killing entire squads. Shes one of the strongest warriors in all of Equestria. Hence the title.

Group Traits: Largest number of Revelers, the most brutal and insane group, zealously believes that dying in battle for the laughing Mare is the best way to help the Cult. Well known for the large number of Harl-Equins. Rumored to have been the first group to ever have Harl-Equins, Derpy now trains Harl-Equin members to use Halberds while mounted on tricycles or giant circus balls. A Common Traditions is to raid small towns and capture as many prisoners as possible, then either killing them near Pillars of joy to feed it or to send them in Carnival Contraptions to Cranky Doodles group as "Material" for their Rituals. Creators of the Military adaption of the Carnival Contraptions (when i post my notes il go into more detail on these things)

3. Lyra Heartstrings: Different from most Cult members, she is known for being calm yet very joyful, compared to the more common insane happy personality of most cult members. As a bard, she spreads joy throughout the Cult with her songs, giving her the title of "Joyous Bard", her most successful and well known song is "Joyful World", which describes the creation of the "New World" and what it is. Giving her the title of "The Singer of the End Times". Though, not a warrior, she has proven very useful by psychologically attacking her enemies, normally through her music.

Group Traits: Known for their less insane personalities, these ones prefer Joyous occasions like festivals. They tend to be a little more connected to reality, however they are still clearly insane. Music festivals are very common, dance as well as meetings are common as well to socialize between one another. Known for spreading joy throughout the Cult. First group to use Macabre Music Machines.

4. Surprise: The fourth Prophet, had joined when the Wonderbolts had disbanded for military reasons, was rejected from Stormwing due to her cowardly actions, however she escaped before they could cut off her wings. Recruited shortly before she almost ended her life. A promise of a more joyful world cheered her up. The first Euphorie, gained the title of "The Winged Euphoria" due to the fact that being able to fly for a purpose again filled her with extreme amounts of happiness, and now spreads that happiness throughout the Cult. "The Sky's Laugh" due to most of her victims hearing her maniacal laugh before falling victim to her fatal strikes, you can also hear her laugh throughout the battlefield. Founder and Leader of the Euphories. One of the most dangerous Aerial fighters in Equestria, capable of standing up to even some of the most trained Stormwing Leaders.

Group Traits: Largest Concentration of Euphories, known for sending messages throughout the Cult Groups whenever Prophet Derpy is unavailable. Normal traditions is spreading fear throughout Equestria by starting small raids on villages only to quickly leave before any retaliation can be made, slowly driving ponies away from targeted villages in fear of another attack. Also known for performing aerial acrobatics for other Cult members. Also known for kidnapping Key targets for interrogation, normally, being transferred to Prophet Screwball.

5. Screwball: Was found in the ruins of Ponyville, originally refusing to speak, she eventually grew out of her state and became the 5th Prophet. Known for her summoning capabilities, she can summon creatures from the astral plane quicker and more efficiently then any other member of the Cult. Somehow understands the Astral Plane creatures, and the Astral plane itself, giving her the title of "The Demonologist". She can speak to the Astral plane creatures, allowing for more diverse tatics with them, giving her the title of "The Astral Speaker", she's however, to insane to actually comprehend, leading some to believe shes been possessed by a creature from the Astral planes, hence her title "The Possessed", little does anybody know shes slowly breaking free of the Laughing Mares control due to an outside source of power, and is starting to build and agenda of her own. However she uses her Astral plane connections to torture and interrogate any prisoner who's given to her, turning them mad and forcing them to talk.

Group Traits: Highest concentration of Summoners, this cult is known for living with Astral Plane creatures, seeing them more as allies then war animals. One of the leaders of this group is a Puppeteer. Well known rituals is to feed Astal plane creatures Sacrifices, or to kill enemies and then send the corpses to High Prophet Cranky Doodle to be reanimated, only to be brought back so that the puppeteers can have Laughing Dead units to control. Extremely Large number of Pillars of joy around this area.

6. Pokey Pierce: The 6th prophet, very little is known of Prophet Pokey Pierce, except that hes known for being able to pick any lock hence the name "The Keeper of Keys". It is rumored that Pinkies Sarcophagus has no key and that Pokey is the only member capable of opening the lock once the Laughing mare gives him permission to do so. Hes also known for his dances and parties he host. His fighting style is unique that he almost appears to be dancing while fighting, giving him the title of "The Dancing Lunatic". rumored founder of the order of Jesters of Baltimare, he has never been seen in any of their acts or performances, nor has he ever shown any of their skills. He also never wears their signature Bronze Mask, leading to much debate on who he is. It is also unknown as to when he joined the Prophets and his story is shrouded in mystery.

Group Traits: Largest concentration of Jesters of Baltimare, which lead to the rumor of his supposed participation in founding their order, and even if Derpy is known for training them, this is where the largest number of Harl-Equins reside as well. Very well known for having parties and dances, also has many performances from the Jesters and Harl-Equins themselves. And is home to the "Acrobatics Carnival Tent" in which competitions between the Jesters and Harl-Equins are hosted to settle their rivalry every year. Also known for their "Execution games" in which they bring captured prisoners and make them spin a wheel, which chooses how they will die, which is then carried out by either Jesters or Harl-Equins.

3812734
Wow...

Cranky seems to be very emotional already in the original, losing Matilda after reuniting with her would surely skip the depression period, and jump to outright insanity. I mean more insane than those you would find in a nuthouse.

Now who would be able to carry that feat, stealing Pinkie's sarcophagus from Canterlot. The city should already have a barrier. Cranky's the first prophet and cultist, the thieves should be unicorns unless they knew how to fool the barrier. Those thieves might be all of the six prophets if we assume the founding members were the prophets themselves. If that's the case, the prophets would be extremely good at infiltration.

Cranky's a necromancer, master level practitioner. Now how much Expert level necromancers does the cult have? I think we could easily assume that Cranky would have a personal unit of expert necromancers, his students. Very Dangerous. His cell would specialize in necromancy as you stated, but crediting him of the Smiling Dolls and the Alicorn Mockeries seemed too much. I think those creations should be credited by possibly none-prophets. I think he should be credited for the Cadavre Carousel, maybe having a much bigger and more efficient versions of them. Or none at all, hmm. Oh, and the Laughing Dead.

Derpy has similar story to Cranky, she lost Dinky to the flood. I think both of them were the founding members, considering Derpy being more insane than Cranky, but Cranky has more control over the power so he's still the first, I think. Note that harbinger doesn't necessary mean the fighter's wielding a halberd, but I can relate how you came up with that. She would possibly be the best fighter the cult could have. One of her weapons could be thunderclouds, she was very proficient with it during that one episode. Harl-Equines being with Derpy is actually pretty good speculation, she would want her forces to be as proficient in battle as she is, unless she's a lone wolf/pony. The idea of Derpy inventing something new just doesn't fit her character in my opinion. But when relate to her proficiency in battle, the carnival contraptions really fits her forces indeed. Also, Derpy would have to be really fast to have the title "Messenger". It would be epic if she's the only communication line of the cult's network. How did she manage to travel? Through the Astral dimensions like in that RP thread? The Caravan? That one filly? Trying not to spoil here.

So Lyra's a silent-dangerous type, should expect more of these in the cult now. The Macabre Music Machines created by her would be her forces' specialization, support. They would be an equivalent of the M&S inquisitors, albeit the power levels measured by how well the machine was made, unlike the inquisitors', which would be measured through knowledge and skills. Maybe Lyra's cell has the most control over the madness, thus being the intelligent part of the cult.

I think Surprise's downfall could also be something around this: The Wonderbolts disbanded and cut all ties with her after a really heated argument about the reasons of the disbandment or something else. If we have her being emotionally unstable to the likeliness of Pinkie Pie, she would turn insane after losing all her friends. She was then invited to join the cult and became the first Euphorie as you stated. I think she could be Spitfire's nemesis.

One of the speculations for Screwball is that she was created by Discord. Her understanding the Astral Plane and breaking free from the Laughing Mare's will would all make sense. If Derpy's the best warrior, Screwball would be the best preacher, using the Astral connections, the source of the Laughing Mare's powers to turn madness to any minds. The pillars are the ultimate units, so I think all the prophets would have one each. Each unique from each other.

Note that Pokey Pierce's name is now Pinprick in the wiki for some reasons. I was wondering what his title meant until now, the puns. I think Cheese Sandwich would better the keeper of the sarcophagus alongside Gummy. If he's the leader of the Jesters, I suggest he would wear a special mask instead of wearing none. Maybe made of gold? The higher members of the Jesters wearing silver? Now if the Jesters and the Harlequines stayed together, would he be the one keeping the rivalries moderate? The cult is insane, so I hardly doubt they would have moderation on anything whatsoever.

3813042 Ok i plan on answering a lot of these questions/statements later, however for now since my time is very limited right now I'll just answer a small amount quickly.

Quickly added: the stealing sarcophagus thing is a story im planning on making later, so don't worry I'll show what happened in my vision sooner or later.

Whenever I credited someone for creating something, i wasn't crediting the Prophet but his group, Cranky did not create the Smiling dolls and the Alicorns mockery, only the Laughing Dead, however somepony or multiple ponies together ended up creating Smiling dolls and Alicorn mockery's hence why its in the Group Traits and not the prophets description itself. And the group now specializes in using them due to their "undead" nature. Alicorns Mockery actually play a decently big role in my version of the story ESPECIALLY for this group, you'll see later.

The creation of the cult was also very early, at least the prophets, either they found a way through the portal or the portal simply wasn't made yet at the time. I'm debating over the two however I'm leaning more over the "found a way through" which may or may not tie in with Derpy. Also i know harbinger doesn't mean Halberd, (For me the reason shes called that is because she brings "Joy" to her enemies, for the Cult, bringing "Joy" means bringing "death", so "Harbinger of Joy" Translate to "Harbinger of Death" just in a cult way, the cults view on "Joy" is very different from literally everyone else) I just for some reason see Derpy using one, maybe its an art somewhere i cant remember but i really like the idea of Derpy using it as a main weapon and teaching Harl-Equins to use it as well, I go into more details in my Notes later, also no Derpy did not create the Carnival Contraptions themselves, once again it was members of her group that did it. At least the military versions of them, as I said I'll explain that more when i post my notes soon.

3819224
So that's what you meant by group traits, my bad.

Since the prophets are the founding members, well at least Cranky is. He should be insane after Stormwing flooded Ponyville, unless he was already insane. For the latter, I found out when typing this that Pinkie's sarcophagus was stolen one year later after she died. So Cranky might have been already insane in secret, and have been worshiping Pinkie's corpse, and then the Laughing Mare, attracting others to do so as well, becoming a cult. Derpy couldn't possibly be insane at that point, she's got families, Dinky. So I think the thieves could be a group like those in Payday. Now I've never played the game, but you get idea right? Thieves for hire? Who knows? Those thieves might be Octavia and the founding members of the Nighthooves!

Most of the units would be credited to the innovative Toymakers. Sadly, Yorick didn't designate any prominent Toymakers. But those that discussed in this thread before us made some good speculations. Derpy, being the head of the Harl-Equines, using their weapons of choice would make a lot of sense. I think she could use anything as a weapon, she's called "Mad Prophet". Being called 'Mad' in a mad cult is something indeed...

3819476 Interesting i didn't know it was that early, hmmm when was Ponyville flooded? do we know? if so I'll have to rethink things if not its possible that everything escalated extremely quickly in a small amount of time which would allow for the cult to be created before the theft, because if not i might have to rethink my story a bit, of course i could just find a way to make it so that the theft happened after the flooding of ponyville but still, i personally prefer to stay as much on track while adding ideas that i like and removing what i don't like. Or possibly the sarcophagus was stolen a little before that, but eventually the cult was formed and they stole it from the thieves that stole her corpse. OR the cult was already starting a bit and stole it and later Cranky gained control, I'll have to rethink a bit of my ideas here. Anyways id really like to know when the flooding happened before i go any further. with a little research i found no time of which this happened. Ok so its clear Pinkie died early, however is it at all possible that Rainbow Dash simply got a small group together quickly enough and flooded ponyville before the sarcophagus was stolen? Actually now that i think about it it said a band of skilled thieves, its at this time the barrier wouldn't be up, and if anything, after the cult formed the body was stolen from those expert thieves..... hmmmmmmm ok my mind is racing now and thinking of a lot of things so I'll get back on this later, just if you know exactly when it happened (doesn't look like it says it anywhere) tell me.

3820597
The flooding must have happened after all the main factions have been assembled. I mean Earthborn and Stormwing went to war because of it, and M&S plotted it. Whitegold should be around too at that time, and so would the Tribes and the Cult. It is clearly stated that Stormwing flooded Ponyville, specifically Rainbow Dash, which means she had already assume the position of power.

If it was just a year after Pinkie's death, the barrier wouldn't be up yet since M&S had just been formed. These changes take time, and I don't think a unicorn-only migration barrier into Canterlot would be implemented in less than a year after M&S was formed. It would be likely that it was implemented after Pinkie's sarcophagus was stolen.

What I'd like to know is what happened after Earthborn and M&S was formed, do they went to war with each other? Did Twilight plotted the flooding to make Earthborn fight Stormwing, making a peace treaty easier to be made? But in the end, all of Equestria are now in for a rude awakening that would become a nightmare, the rise of the Cult of Laughter. I see the Flooding of Ponyville as a catalyst for the Cult. It resulted in many sad/mad ponies which would become the cult's followers, and the cult became extremely violent as a result.

Revenge is a dish best served with a smil- ing doll... Yikes!

3821282 Yea i guess so, so it comes down to the cult stealing the body back later. I can work with that.

Earthborn would have gone to war right away since Applejack wants to rid Equestria of magic, M&S is literally the core of magic in Equestria Divided, being ruled by unicorns and magic. I highly HIGHLY doubt M&S would try to get a peace treaty with them either, since they are simply 2 VERY different groups with entirely different ideologies, they are complete opposites. However, i like the idea that the flooding sped up the cults creation, il change a few things here and there so that all prophets have some connection to the flooding. Also note that they take over New Ponyville(which btw, is that on the map? was it rebuilt after the flooding went away or was it built somewhere else?), more connections to Ponyville, Though the cult would have been violent anyways due to what they believe in, this really was the key event the laughing mare and Cranky were waiting for to begin their plans for bringing about the new world. The only one that'll be a bit of a problem would be surprise, what connections does she have in Ponyville?

3821446
When I played Total War, a peace treaty for me is either "Please don't destroy me" or "Please let my armies rest". M&S would want the latter, especially against the staggering numbers of Earthborn military. Those legionnaires must be tired massacring earth ponies with their magic.

New Ponyville could be a joint effort between Earthborn and Stormwing as a peace treaty, rebuilding Ponyville. It would look similar to Ponyville, but with the element of EqD to it, I guess. New Ponyville was built to the south of Old Ponyville, I guess they could see the flooded ruins from the new town.

For Surprise's connection to Ponyville, I have no idea. She's a Wonderbolt as far as I know, so we would need a head-canon for this one. Maybe's she's Pinkie's friend or cousin, or visited the town often. For a twisted plot / story, she's Pinkie Pie herself... that wouldn't work.

Shhhhh…

The problem with the Laughing Mare pt.2
• by PoorYorickDA, May 6, 2013, 1:22:01 PM
• Personal Journal
• Mood:  Bliss
The comments on my last journal entry show that there are as many people who just want a straight answer, as those who want to keep the mystery of LM going. Since it's pretty much impossible to satisfy both groups, I will instead post a couple of useful tidbits of meta-information, which will hopefully help me paint a better picture of the entity known as the Laughing Mare, while still maintaining her aura of mystery. I will divide them into two categories, first being things that LM is, the second being things that LM most definitely isn't. Here it goes:

THE LAUGHING MARE IS:
- a powerful, godlike entity living in the Astral Plane, but not ruling it (she has her own domain, though);
- hell-bent on crossing the borders between the planes, while not really pursuing any goals in the Astral Plane itself;
- of unknown visage;
- using the corpse of Pinkie Pie as her anchor to the mortal realm when communicating with mortals;
- willing to communicate with only a handful of mortals, such as the High Prophet Cranky Doodle or The Twins;
- able to cross the planes only through a portal held by the prophesied Six Pillars of Joy;
- somehow connected to the Element of Laughter, as she appears to possess the memories of not only Pinkie Pie, but also every other bearer of the element that ever lived;
- either able or willing to only speak in riddles;
- loving and caring towards those who spread joy and laughter (i'm talking about the common folk here, not only the Cult);
- aware of the Princesses and their disappearance;
- unable to locate them in the Astral Plane;
- aware of the entity known as the Everfree Liege, acting antagonistic towards it;
- aware of the entity known as THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH (the plot thickens );
- of rather joyful nature, but her voice carries a subtle tone of regret and melancholy;
- the voice of legion;
- and many more things;

THE LAUGHING MARE IS NOT:
- Discord - seriously, no Discord in this setting, screw him;
- a direct copy of Pinkie's personality, nor a complete psycho like Pinkamena;
- insane, in the most gory sense of the word (no Cupcakes);
- immortal - she can be destroyed, but that would obviously be very difficult to do;
- omniscient;
- omnipotent;
- omnipresent;
- Surprise (seriously, someone actually had an idea like this);
- 100% malevolent, nor is she 100% benevolent but misunderstood by the Cult;
- a Chaos God;
- an agent of someone even more powerful, she's her own master;

And that's all for now. Keep in mind that all of this is information strictly on a meta-level. This means that you as the writer/roleplayer will know all of these facts, but the character you're writing/RP'ing as - will not.

Hope this helped, even if a little.

EDIT: Since some people seem to read some things wrong: THE MARE IS A BITCH. SHE MAY NOT BE A 100% BITCH, BUT SHE'S NOT NICE EITHER. SHE KNOWS WHAT THE CULT IS DOING, AND ACTIVELY ENCOURAGES IT. THE CULT FOLLOWS HER ORDERS.

That is all.

3864709 wait...is this a journal entry? ok il be shhhhh (i am now the happiest man alive at the moment if this is what i think it is)

I knew very well the laughing mare is evil, i always did, i was thinking around the fact that the cult might be more of a victim turned evil, while the laughing mare took advantage. Sorry im too happy i cant post anything to relevent today nor do i have the time but.....

me =

Right now

OK, so I'll discard all of my previous thoughts on the Laughing Mare, as these are Equestria Divided Canon. I'll share my opinions on the log one by one...

She's an equivalent of a Daedric Prince in the Elder Scrolls, the Astral being the equivalent of the Oblivion. Daedric Princes are the most powerful in the Oblivion. They manifest in either gender, although they are actually genderless. They are worshipped by many individuals and various cults dedicated to their own Princes, similar to our Laughing Mare here. Just like how the Laughing Mare having a domain in the Astral, the Princes doesn't rule Oblivion. They have their own domains. Coincidence? Would anyone be interested in filling up the pantheon of Astral Entities? Add to that, what do you think a shrine dedicated to her would look like? I don't think I've ever encountered this particular question before...

So her agenda is opening her path between the Astral and the Mortal, similar to the main plotline of Oblivion. We won't be expecting equivalents of the Oblivion Gates here. I'm not sure if the portal could only be opened when the Six Pillars of Joy are there, or any of the Six would do. I prefer the former. I wonder why she didn't care about her own plane itself, must've been some twisted-sad backstory for her. I mean, the Princes only toy with mortals, they don't often meddle in their affairs, unless it's either Sanguine or Sheogorath...

I wonder if those she would speak to are the same as her speech in riddles? She is either willing or only capable of doing so. What kind of madness does Cranky have that made him unique, unrivaled even to Derpy, the Mad Prophet herself? Maybe out of all the prophets, Cranky had the most control? The Cake twins' are obvious, they are gifted. There are a lot of head-canons to go on their talents, being blessed by the Laughing Mare won't be accepted by me. I prefer their powers sourced from someone, or something else. She speaks with Voices of Legion too... what? Does that mean her voice echos in that kind of way? Check out the TVTropes' page for this one, I still have no idea how she would sounds like. Subtle tone of regret and melancholy really contributes to the speculation that she is Pinkie Pie. Since she's not, what twisted her to be so sad..?

The Laughing Mare is connected to the Element of Laughter, somehow. She's got memories of all the bearers of the Element of Laughter. Head-Canon Time!!! What kind of relationship does she have with the Element?
My proposal, she's the wielder of the darker parts of the Element. When there's White Magic, there's Black Magic. I can assume that her fellow Astral friends would wield the dark versions of the Elements. Dark, alright? not Opposite...

She's antagonistic towards the Everfree Liege? Why? The only reason I could think of is that the Everfree Liege is also an Astral being, or was. Maybe she's jealous of the Liege being able to manifest in the Mortal realm. Same could go to the Spirit of Truth, but maybe it is being deceptive so the Laughing Mare couldn't determine what the it actually is...

So those that spread Joy and Laughter would be favored by the Laughing Mare, yet she encourages the activities practiced by the Cult. Also, her minions are twisted. Then she's innocently twisted? She's cheerful, joyful like any normal ponies prior to the Schism. If she's not twisted, then everything she encourages are made with her regrets. She might not be so evil afterall, but necessary evil. She might be trying to come to Equestria in physical form to end the Schism once and for all! But a savior could also be a dictator, most sane ponies won't accept her ways. She would have to rule with an Iron Fist for a long time to convert either the Cult into more acceptable beings, or twisting the entire Equestria into the Cult itself. I hope she won't do the latter.

I'm most curious on her methods of achieving her goal. It's like all her efforts on the Cult is to crossing between planes. It would mean that she has everything ready for whatever she would do to Equestria and her Cult.

I was asked by a friend here to post my thoughts abaut the Cult of Laughter's combat doctrine and a divagation abaut their special forces in from of a force of Smiling Dolls.

In my opinion the banana-faces madponies use 4 types of combat groups during their military expansion:
-The Circus Troop: a mockery of a fun, this is the macabrical example of the Cult's military prowness. Those warbands gather newcomers evrywhere they are, operate on hostile territory to destabilize the area and gather followers. Those terrorists are the most active and the main expanison force of The Laughing Mare.
-The Converted: when new subjects fall to the power of The Laughting Mare they don't automaticly become jesters or undead. They need to be "processed" further to become them. But sometimes such new recruits have to go on the field to fight due to no access to other forces in the area. Those individuals - whatever they are deserters of other dominions, corrupted pre-war militia or simple townsfolk - are always guided by a prophet into the party called battle...
-The Undead: When the Cult of Laughter subspects a treat it choses a necromatic cricle that prepares as quick as possible a massive ressurection ritual to rise an army of undead. When the treat turns up to be real other forces are send to slow it's march until the newly rised power of undead comes to stomp the enemies. It's only weakness is the necromantic cricle always hidden nearby, not farer from the battle than a mile...
-The Special Forces: When the Cult needs to make an attack outside of it's usual madness it uses it's Special Forces - low and middle rank mages, special undead, sane supporters of their mistress... - those all ponies create squads more deadly and "unique" than you see in a typical rolling stock of Baltimare Jesters. They are send into action when special attention is needed [or you just need an army that can do more than blow up your enemy or munch on his brain]: sieges, quick defense, capturing tactical positions and so on...

The Smiling Dolls are our belowed traitors transformed into puppets utilised as troops without the knowledge of personal space. In mine thought the Dolls are used in a variety of ways:
*Necromancer's side guards
*A fast attack suplement for zombie armies
*hound-type pet
*core for hunter and commando squads
I imagine those Dolls coming out in many models. Some people would propably say "There isn't many Smiling Dolls out there". I think many villages that supported the cult for a short time and then were converted back with a military intervention of their orginal rulers end up as Dolls. Anyway, here are the types:
- Smiling Dolls - the common model...
- Armored Smiling Doll - added metal plates, some barbed wire, a ribbon atop of that...
- Hooves Mane - with more than eight magical grenade slinging legs...
- Compact Module Smiling Doll - smaller model with bits and pieces removed to make room for augmentation...
/ Post Mortem Module - suicide bomber... classy...
/ Moon Phoenix Module - emergency ressurection with blue flames...
/ Lurking Module - protective spherical shell that enables to become a ball for a catapult or to burry as a mine...
/ Gas Module - comes in many flavors, like toxic fog and laughing gas ...
- Smiling Doll Shieldguard - a big pony with big claws used as a shield...
- Smiling Doll Captain - pegasus doll, flying with more blades and a disregard for own damages...
- Smiling Doll Chaplain - unicorn doll, resurrecting fellow dolls with blue fire...
- Smiling Scion - rhino-like living ram made of several dolls...
- Ball of Laughter - a giant ball of laughing dolls rolling over opponents and driving them mad...

But remember they're just my thoughts, there are more cannon types, like Alicorn Mockerries if we count them as Dolls.

4153034
(Its been way to long since i posted anything )
(also warning: Really really long... sorry )

The cult is probably my favorite faction, so I'm pretty glad to see some new conversations coming up considering im working on my own headcanon for them.

And the smiling dolls are my favorite unit, this is perfect.

Now i never saw the Smiling dolls as being "puppets", instead they're more like an animated object, which reacts based on very simple guidelines
(Ex: Enemy is spotted, rush in and hug them (which then kills them)) This is probably because their description states: "These disturbing automatons" which would mean that they are self operating.

However the idea of them being controlled isn't impossible. I won't get into it because i personally don't see the Smiling dolls as puppets (and that if the Canon description states something I tend to follow it without question), but the idea makes sense as long as there's a way for someone or something to control so many at once (due to their habit of "hugging" to kill their enemies, i would say that only a few of them wouldn't be that effective, requiring large numbers to go in and quickly neutralize their enemies unless they are some of your variants that could prove to be quite destructive)

What i really like, is how you came up with different types of smiling dolls all together. I like variety, and the more types of units there are, the better IMO. So I'll give my ideas on each one (which are what I think, and in no way am I saying at any point that your ideas are bad or stupid or anything like that). Now these are going along the basis that their either 1. Puppets, which are being directly controlled by someone or something. or 2. They are like animated constructs, which would mean they would follow simple orders, like "kill this" or "give this" or "Wait here, see enemy, kill enemy". Things like that.

Armored Smiling Doll: It would make sense to make something that's probably already hard to kill, even harder to kill. Though i like the addition of barbed wire to the armor, considering the armor would block off a large amount of the spikes, the barbed wires would help in eliminating their enemies. Now i don't claim to be an expert on barbed wire, however i think it would be less effective as giant spikes being stabbed through 20 different parts of your body, half of which are most likely to stab some vital organs or something important. So the Armored Smiling dolls become harder to kill with the drawback of not being as dangerous... or are they? Though they might not be able to outright kill someone all the time (They probably can, its just less likely), i know that barbed wire can still cut deep, and if you get entangled in it, well good luck getting out. If you get grabbed by this thing, odds are you will probably get caught in its grasp and be unable to break free, with the barbed wire entangling you. If you don't die from blood loss, starvation/dehydration would be next, and if somehow you got out, odds are you would be permanently damaged or at least, incapacitated for awhile, in which case the smiling doll did its job.

Hooves Mane: From what i can tell, this is a smiling doll with "grenades" (I'm thinking water balloons or something along those lines) hanging from their legs. So when they charge into their enemies, these can be detached and explode. They could either throw them (or more accurately, flail their arms hoping to hit something) or they could dash past their enemies, dropping the grenades near them. I always saw the Smiling dolls as being really fast so this would make sense.

Compact Module Smiling Doll: When you say smaller, i wonder if that would go along the lines of smaller or younger?
- Post Mortem Module (no idea what that means but): yep, can't really say no to a suicide bomber smiling doll considering how they tend to get really attached to their victims. Getting close enough to make escape impossible. Maybe the could even mix and match the Gas Module ones as well? Suicide gas bombers. Wait... mixing and matching? Il get into that later.

- Moon Phoenix Module: Now this one is interesting, never actually thought of mixing Pheonix with other creatures, though I'm unsure as to how exactly the flames from the phoenix would revive something.... especially considering how the Smiling dolls are already kinda.... dead (theres no way they're alive with all those spikes and barbed wire and such stabbed into them). It wouldn't be a smiling doll if it wasn't heavily mutilated and focused on using the weapons and other sharp objects stabbed into it to kill their targets. So how would the magical flames know when to fix them? However you did mention BLUE flames. which would indicated (considering the phoenix in MLP are red, including when they die and resurrect) that these flames have been tampered with. So does this mean that a necromancer within the Cult has found a way to use the Phoenix's fire to help reconstruct their animated corpses to a limited degree? Where does this fire come from? How does it know when to rebuild its user? or is there a container that when the magic that reanimates the dead fades, it opens and releases the fire, reapplying the spell and rebuilding the corpse. Hence the single use only. Would this fire be used in other ways? So many questions. Such an interesting concept... good job with this one.

- Lurking Module: Now i doubt the Cult would use catapults, or atleast very rarely use them. They would probably be shoved into the party canons due to their smaller size (Especially if their foals....that's a dark thought no matter how you look at it ) However being used as mines.... that's something that'd id see the Cult using....often. It would quickly scare anybody that walks into a minefield full of these... THINGS popping out at them. However the protective shell would once again, reduce the amount of large spikes that could be planted into them... maybe has small spikes along the shell? Or once again, they can be mixed with other types, like the Post Mortem Module or Gas Module to make for some deadly explosives that would be very hard to avoid.

-Gas Module: Have gas pouring out of them... from poison to psychological ones..... very simple yet highly effective idea, and could be used in many creative ways. Especially when mixing them with other types.....

Smiling Doll Shieldguard: Now this one I've put some thought into when thinking "how would a giant defensive Smiling doll behave?"
Considering the Smiling dolls seem to act in a very basic way (Charge, hug, kill), and since they are probably reanimated dead corpses of traitors to the Cult, it would make sense if they can be given other simple commands. These ones would be rare however, due to the size required to have a big hulking shield (I'm thinking Big Mac size or bigger). But who said they have to have claws only? Similar to the armored smiling dolls, these guys could have large metal shields of some kind, all over them so that they can be very effective at protecting whoever they were told to protect. However maybe these shields could be spiky, just like the shells of the Lurker Modules as a means to defend themselves as well. They could also have spiked armor of some kind on their belly so that when they hug their enemies it will kill them. But staying with your idea, having claws at the end of their hooves would allow them to increase their range when they hug, and if anypony is standing behind the victim, they will find themselves cut into pieces the moment the Shieldguard closes his "arms". Or if the victim tries to back away, those claws will still reach them, a less morbid yet still effective means of killing their victims. Imagine a giant, fully armored, spiked, smiling doll with large claws at the end of their hooves. Standing between you...and your target. Your gonna have a hard time getting to them. (It's a strange Smiling doll, but it would work)

-Smiling Doll Captain: Now, did any of use consider undead pegasus? Anyone? i don't remember ever considering that. if the wings we're left unharmed... would the corpse be able to fly? If so, a flying smiling doll, charging into battle with blades all over it, including its wings, could prove devastating when it grabs on to someone. With enough force, they might just hug right THROUGH their victim. Flying zombie ponies... how did none of us consider this???

-Smiling Doll Chaplain: Now considering your specifying this being a unicorn doll, this would imply that they have to be unicorn to work, which would mean this "blue fire" is magically created by these corpses? Though im willing to accept flying corpses, the moment the corpses start using magic, its showing some form of intelligence that i think a zombie pony doesn't really have. Instead however, they could have a smiling doll with "containers" of this blue flame, similar to the Phoenix Module, but would be ordered to go around and fix other fallen smiling dolls instead of trying to hug their enemies, similar to how the Shieldguard are ordered to protect certain ponies.

- Smiling Scion/Ball of Laughter: I put these two together simply because they are used in a similar fashion. Now, just having a ball or ram of undead smiling dolls isn't unique enough to be a "smiling doll" unit, considering the laughing dead could do the same. What i'm thinking, is how these are MADE. Sure, with enough magic you could clutter a bunch of corpses together and make it roll around like a ball. But what if you didn't need magic? What if you could, with a simple order, make all the smiling dolls in an area, connect all together and create said weapons? I see them as all grouping up and stabbing eachother, connecting and locking themselves together so that they can make whatever shape is physically possible. The question is, would the smiling dolls be smart enough to create said object? The ball of Laughter definitely, I'm simply wondering if the ram one would work? If you mix in certain types as well, you can make for some devastating combinations. Imagine a Ball of Laughter filled with suicide smiling dolls or gas ones? or maybe have a Smiling doll captain ball, that can fly? there are many possibilities with these if they can be created at will like this. The downside is that your loosing large numbers to make one big weapon. Which can prove to be less effective depending on the situation. Plus setting it up would leave the smiling dolls vulnerable.

Now with all of this, i have thought of the idea of mixing the types together. Suicide gas zombies? Suicide/Gas mines? Flying shields? Flying Chaplain? if possible, Flying Suicide Gas Grenade (Fly in the air, drop grenades to the ground (possibly gas grenades) and them dive bomb into the enemies to then explode). If we start adding varieties with small changes like this, we can make for some pretty creative smiling dolls.

Great job with this, i love the smiling dolls and i like how you came up with so much for them, and most of these ideas work or at least, COULD work if more thought is put into them. (Especially the Phoenix Module, that "Blue Flame" could be used in so many ways if it works the way i think it works)

(Wow ok, that was A LOT. Though after posting nothing for so long i had to get some ED out of my system. Thankfully there was the perfect subject to do that with. I would add more on other subjects but i feel like I'm stretching the word limit enough as it is, so I'll leave it there)

4188144 Oh, we have a conesseur of ideas here. Thank you for your possitive thinking, dear sir because the last critique wasn't so... forgiving. Anyway - glad somebody actually got intrested in it. I am a military organisation fan, so I spurt such things all the time.

Well, the Armoured Doll would have the barbared wire rarely touching flesh. It would mostly be spinned over the metal plates, so he can hug one guy and then fall on an another killing him with the wire on his back. Or he could hug himself into a ball and just roll over enemies. The barbared wire also would hurt ponies who fall on it's dead body by accident.

I actually thinked out it beeing a bit diffrent - the legs would be sewed to the body and fall off if swinged hard enough with the HM standing on the only orginal legs he possesed - the back ones. In this moment the legs would just detach from the body and be the granades, not shoot them. Not shoot ballons that propabl are filled with acid or concentraited liquid toxic fog. I saw it once in an old bowser game, it looked cool. Answear me and I shall find the game and link it to you. I'm not on tablet, so...

I see what you did there! Well, I had thought that the beefier mares and stalions are going into shock troops, so evrything awerage is left here. And the smaller thing was because the removed part on the back made the pony smaller. But I totally forgot abaut children pupets! You know what - the foals vision of this is intoxicating! I take it (home).

Crossover modules? I can smell the 2nd generation of weaponry already. But I don't think we should go that way yet - we end up stripping gigant nail guns to them...

My idea of the moon flame is so that the Laughting Mare was able to ressurect a phenix before it resurected itself. There isn't any mutation or higher magic in the blue fire. It's only a bit of those phoenix with a ligher and a system to let the fire burn the corpse. But insted of cindering phoenix fire restores life. And the Laughting Mare treats the term "life" loosely. So it generally reactivates the corpses natural regeneration and enhaces it a few haundred times. The module is also connected to the brain that works to a certain degree. When a signature of deep shock that is characteristic to extreme pain, like in dismememberment is detected the fire is turned on.
The use of this fire on a living target results in unspeakable mutations and cancers. Even the touch of the moon phoenix dust results that as it goes into the living cells and cathes fire in the mithochondries. Also necromancer would see it as sacred. So mayby the toymakers and pure necromancers are two sects with two diffrent, uncompatible combat doctrines? Necros going for quick and regular increase of army number and toy makers in keeping those numbers in the actual state? So... why not a jester pony with a flame thrower with moon phoenix dust instead of fire?

Oh, please - the Cult propably has at least 2 catapults in evry villige. Beeing shot into air goes into the concept of fun, and when your undead and don't care abaut gravity it would be a hell of fun. But true - they wouldn't build them but instead get them from renegade forces who join them. And have many siedge mashines from defeated forces. I imagne they have hole scrapyards full of those things late in war in they're capital cities.

Party cannons run for confetti that's not cheap! Laughing Mare logic! Don't fight it. Real explamation: it's reserved for living professionals so they can actually take care that they won't catch fire and burn before they reach the enemy. And dolls are old meat - dehydrated burns better than wood. That's why the catapults.
I imagine the core fun cities have entire mine fields deployed on the pre-war farm fields surrounding them.

Each of those types has a unique spike size created for his role. The spikes are one of the most important part of a Laughing Doll - I wan't gonna strip them from it.

"How would a defensive Smiling Doll behave?" He would stand with his shelds like meters from you and closeing the distance by slinding side to side by keeping you busy and thinking he wants to attack you. No - he distacts you while his friend is sneaking up by you or is clinged to his back to jump after the distance will be small enought. After the first little buddy strikes the Shelddoll charges and does the classical hug brute but 3 times faster. And when defending someone she just puts herself between you and her V.I.P. and advances. How can you even think of taking down your target when you have 1, 2 or more of those hulking monsters going for you and becomeing faster as you try to forget them and kill their sire? You pretty much can't.
The shelds are made of blades with broken mirror parts between them to reflekt enemy magic - even if you would hit somepony with the flat part you have a high chance of cutting off his hoof cause some of the blades aren't straight in place and doing the spike job.
Aren't all dolls strange? In varrying degrees?

Well my initial idea of the pegasus doll was it to be quicker than the rest and be a little more predatory and blade-y if you can get more than the ussual. The flying part came afterwards. And if you pump the magic of like 10 pegasi into the corpse you get a normal zombie to fly. The wings would in most cases be cut off and replaced by lethery steampunk ones or a helicopter thingy. Personal chpise of the creator. Those dolls would act like they still are a bit allive - they would howl and roar as the only thing in The Laughing Mares army that isn't smileing.
And of course there would be flying undead. How you think the cult would take over Cloudsdale? But opening an extradimensional portal in the middle of it and bring like 50 Grinning Worms from it? It's a good idea if you think of it but no - Flying undead. Technicly we aslo have Grinning Ghosties but they seem too wild and uncontrolled to play any role in military other than patroling wildness, ruins and no ponys land.

Crack the horn on two, pit in some Moon Phoenix Dust, glue it together, ressurect and woàla! You just created a unicorn undead who can do magic! Pinkie Pie Style!
Because the regular zombies are too dumb to do sparkles. Moon Dust regenerates some brain and lets the Laughting Mare control the zombie's magic as an antenna.
And yes for the last part. It's an army, not a random bunch of intresting dolls. Most of them is suposed to conect with the rest in sprite of prepared strategy that is predictablewhen you discover it but is always hell hard to counter.

Okay, this is fun. I start with the ball - first we take many corpses and we remove their back legs. Then we prepare them to the smiling doll ritual They would need to have the spikes only on their faces and arms to let the hole thing work. Then we sew them together with iron thread in the places where the legs were, filling in with 50cm nails to hold it together and placeing them in a special contaption. I bet in those skaffoldings there would be place for modules - mayby even more than one! Then we make a mass ressurection spell as we see our child rolling out to the world, spreading happiness and joy.
The scion is practicly made in a vastly diffrent fashion - we break the corpses into the tissues - bone, blood, nerves, etc. - and we then put them together in a new beeing in a ritual where we melt them in a witch bowl: a soulless rhino from rotting flesh. It's already augmented with spikes and blades during creation, so the only thing to do is to show him the target.
Sure - evry undead can combine. But those contraptions are less durable, less stable and much slower than those 2 tyes. So the only used one is the undead ladder basicly beeing a mountian of pony zombies on a side of a wall for others to climb it and get to the other side. Like in Israel in World War Z.

I like your thinking and presume that the Toymakers would create unical dolls to play with the battlefield as they own playgarden of doom as generals and the necromancer's awatar. But I am fairly certain that those combiners would kill evrybody before they would get a chance to self-destruct.

I too go away from this thing. I was writing this for over an hour. Quality time. I need to catch some sleep. With a net.

SUDDEN IDEA!

Ok so, weve seen in episode 13 that Luna could create a sentient nightmare creature, which at first was stuck in her nightmares but eventually broke free and started spreading through other ponies dreams.

Since the Cult of Laughter has a lot of influence over the mind of others, would it be possible for the Cult of Laughter to possibly summon some form of nightmare creature? Or a creature that purely travels through the minds of ponies to either make them go mad, or convert them, control them, things like that? Just a quick sudden idea i got after watching that episode.

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Astral creatures dedicated to the realm of Dreams are certainly possible, and also a group of mortals dedicated in that realm. Although since the Tantabus is of Luna's, it won't be strange seeing the Moon Guild in the fray.

I have a better question long to be asked: What is the nature of the Astral Plane in Equestria Divided? Away with "It's not something mortals can perceive" statement, just what is it?

The only related thing in my mind currently is the Warp of Warhammer 40,000...

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Woo! I forgot we've got a thread concerning the Astral Plane!

I'm BACK!!!

Religion breeds conflict in the form of opposing views and beliefs. Now let's look at the competition the Cult's facing.
Moon and Star - Duotheism
Earthborn - Atheism
Stormwing - (Now that's a good question! )
Whitegold - ( Decadence can lead to some strange beliefs)
Everfree - Animism

If the Cult can cross that barrier, then that pony is as well as a fellow cultist. These are their competitions, but what I'm concerned with here is their opposition. As you might know by now, there is no belief that goes directly against the Cult's teachings (Happiness and Laughter) at all! And so here now I present my argument. What if the Cult has a rival?

I'm talking about a set of beliefs that goes against everything the Cult stands for, and those preach by the Cult are likewise the same for them. What will this change? No one can deny that the Cult is potentially more powerful that the rest of the fold, and so I believe they need a counterbalance. Putting my perspective as an enemy of the Cult of Laughter, I would fight fire with fire. I would found my own cult with "a set of beliefs that goes against everything the Cult stands for."

And now what is the opposite of Laughter? Is it Sadness? But who in the right mind would want believe in something that will make you sad? Nay. It's not Sadness. It's Indifference, as quoted by the late Elie Wiesel. There can still be humor in sadness. Indifference on the other hand ignores it entirely. And so the cult that would stand resolute against Laughter would preach extreme endurance to hardships which are to be found aplenty in this divided realm without complaint, nor would one show their feelings, for they lead to weakness.

The doctrine isn't quite as alluring as those of the Cult, but there will be stoics who believe so. Having a cult that is geared towards the destruction of another Cult isn't quite realistic. What do they do if they're not out hunting the Cult? Intriguing.

: Oh, and it's not like they necessary aren't threats to the rest of the world as well. I did say fight fire with fire.