Varchild (31 BE-EY 22) was an officer in the armies of Pegasopolis. He is considered a microcosm of the rapid cultural changes that took place over the course of the Tribal Unification and the early days of Equestria.
Varchild was born in a griffin slave corral. Liberated as a yearling during the Third Griffo-Pegasopolitan War, he was raised in the traditional Pegasopolitan manner: he was placed in one of the free-roaming, half-wild herds of foals that rampaged across the streets and skies of the city-state, where the brave and ambitious could distinguish themselves and the unworthy would make themselves known. The still-unnamed colt rose through the bucking order with incredible speed. By the age of five, he had bitten, kicked, and wing-slapped his way into leading his herd.
This rapid ascent did not go unnoticed by the colt's elders. He became one of the youngest pegasi to earn the right to a true name and military service. Varchild selected his name based on the faint memories of his earliest days, choosing a Griffish word meaning "One born of conflict."
At the beginning of the Fourth Griffo-Pegasopolitan War, Varchild was nine years old and a trained if unbloodied hoplite. During the conflict, he greatly distinguished himself, both through valor in combat and in the single-minded determination with which he gave others the salvation he had received. Such heroism saw him rise through the ranks of the military nearly as quickly as through his childhood herd. By the war's end six years later, Varchild had the rank of primary, with five feathers of five pegasi each under his command.
Of course, this final war against the griffins marked the beginning of the end for the Three Kingdoms Era. Griffins were the last major menace to Dream Valley, and now the few remaining on this side of the Saddlantic would avoid ponies for centuries to come. After centuries of defending themselves against external threats, the ponies had hostility ingrained in their culture, and the only ones who they could be hostile towards were one another.
Pegasopolis's highly militarized culture meant that it was already poised for the extortion and terrorism that would mark its contribution towards the coming of the windigoes. Varchild now directed his troops not against griffin reivers, but earth pony settlements that refused to pay tribute to the pegasus city-state. The towns were sacked, though Varchild was actually one of the less cruel raid leaders, keeping lost lives and ruined crops to a minimum. His reputation protected him from his superiors' displeasure, but these tactics still put a halt to his advancement, and patience was wearing thin with him by the time of the Great Freeze some fifteen years later. This likely contributed to his choice to join Commander Hurricane's Peregrines and seek out a new land.
Hurricane thought little of Varchild's soft heart, but Private Pansy understood and respected his pragmatic attitude. As the chief of logistics for New Pegasopolis (or, as she put it in her memoirs, "chief of everything Commander Blowhard couldn't be bothered with,") she made Varchild the first wing-commander of the new city-state, giving him authority over virtually all of the surviving rank and file. In this, Varchild would be the salvation of the pegasi.
The Second Freeze was of a necessarily much greater intensity, encasing a more temperate region in an even greater chill. So great was this cryomantic calamity that it even overwhelmed the innate pegasus resistance to temperature extremes. The barracks and bivouacs of the pegasi were designed with this resistance in mind, and thus they offered virtually no shelter against this incredible cold. Varchild was the one to swallow his pride and order them to seek shelter with the wingless.
While not everypony could huddle together with the preternaturally powerful student of Star Swirl himself, the catastrophic conditions were such that many saw the same wisdom as Varchild. Doors (or, in some cases, chimneys) were opened to the pegasi, and many bonds were formed as the Fire of Friendship was ignited.
In a moment of irony, Varchild found himself weathering the catastrophe in an earth pony homestead. Such was his gratitude that, after the founding of Equestria, he dedicated the rest of his life to repenting for his crimes against his fellow pony. Today, he is best remembered for his method for doing so: he vowed to create a life for every one his troops had taken.
The results of this quest can be seen even today. Commander Hurricane's virility is widely popularized, best seen in the rather inaccurate statement that he is a direct ancestor of roughly one seventh of all living pegasi. However, genetic analysis has determined that Varchild actually is a direct ancestor of approximately four percent of today's earth ponies.
Great work, again. I love the daily updates, they keep me alive.
"Chief of everything Commander Blowhard couldn't be bothered with."
It's so unlike Fluttershy, I love it. So many people just treat the founders as slightly different versions of the Bearers, it's nice to see at least a glimpse of how much they didn't have in common with their character/actor from the Hearth's Warming play.
One of the stories out there makes a point of saying that someone as brash as Pansy or Rainbow Dash are WOULD be seen as being a wilting flower by Commander AlphaBlowhardDoofus.
"And that's why Varchild is my hero." -- Thunderlane, age 12
5197051
Er, you may want to look into a new means of life support. Only two updates left, after all.
5197124
Culture needs to be taken into account. Pegasopolis is basically Sparta in the clouds; it just isn't going to yield someone like Fluttershy. However, between historians looking at accounts through the lenses of their own societies and the character compression needed to turn a complex living person into a character of a not-Christmas pageant, that's what the show gives us.
That being said, I think Chancellor Puddinghead really was that crazy.
5197257
I definitely had that in mind when writing this. I think it's the same story that gave me the "Hurricane fathered one seventh of pegasi" thing. Can't recall the story off the top of my head, though.
5197269
I am very strongly tempted to append this to the story, because it is fantastic.
5201172 You have my enthusiastic approval to append my quote to this chapter.
5201172
Not that I expect daily updates, but this is just a fun series. I'd like to see more of it occasionally.
Ok..i did not expect that ending.
Be kinda funny if Jackie and Dashie were related via Varchild, that is a number of Pegasi who parents were Earth Ponies had kids who had kids who had kids who became Rainbow Dash's parents while the Earth Pony siblings of those Pegasi had kids who married into the Apple family.
Goddamit. XD Varchild: he fucked.
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The card churns out an ever-increasing number of babies. My hands were tied.