Overboss · 6:16pm Oct 5th, 2023
Zebras have a hard time in the Equestrian wasteland. The xenophobia is arguably not as bad as when it resulted in an apocalypse, but it’s still not great. Being half zebra? Also not great.
Good thing I grew up in Glyphmark. Sheltered, boring Glyphmark.
I got away as often as I could, climbing up to Canterlot’s rubble. There was a lot to explore, but not very much to see, unless you know where to look. Like in the catacombs. Plenty to find there. Ever since I found her a few years ago, the unicorn had been my best friend.
She was also my mentor. Just like me, she had a horn that didn’t quite work the same as other unicorns. She helped me figure mine out. Helped me discover that it wasn't a useless dud.
She saved my life, and helped me find my true calling.
***** ***** *****
When the gunfire finally subsided, my parents let me out of the shelter that the other foals and I were bunkered down in. Stars and moonlight glistened overhead as I trotted outside, and I saw my parents join other adults as they began dragging dead raiders into a pile. I sat down and watched, nowhere near big enough to help.
“Guess they’re gonna burn them all together.” I muttered. “Should burn them separate, and say a few words for them.”
“They’re raiders. Bad ponies.” Another foal countered. “They don’t deserve it.”
My brow furrowed. “That’s not right.”
They shook their head and trotted away. In the distance, I saw Xenith and Xephyr talking to the orange-maned pegasus and black-feathered griffon who helped us. The griffon suddenly got upset. Really upset. Then he left. The pegasus hesitated for a while, then went after him.
*****
Guards kept an eye out, but things had died down. I found a comfy spot to lie down and watch the burning pile. It was hard, as the bodies were already charred and blackened, but I did my best to pick out individual ponies and try to say some short prayers for them.
No one ever paid me much mind, so it startled me when I heard a set of hooves land behind me. I barely had a chance to see the carapace armor covered in bones and junk before I was struck in the head.
*****
When I woke up, I was… flying!? I screamed and flailed, nearly causing the pegasus holding me to lose her grip.
“Gah! Quit squirming, you little freak!” I didn’t obey her. “You want me to drop you!? I bet a fancy hybrid like you is still worth plenty dead!”
She released me, and a blood curdling shriek escaped me as I fell towards the rocky cliffs below. Just a few meters from impact, the raider caught me again.
“You’re going to be quiet and still from now on! Understood!?” My foal-napper got the message across crystal clear.
“U-Understood!” With that, I stayed silent.
I could barely make out the terrain, but I had a feeling I knew where we were headed. Galloping Gorge, where the raiders who attacked us had come from. The pegasus mare holding me must be Achilles. I guess she didn’t want to go home empty-hooved after their defeat.
The insane ramblings she kept gabbering to herself confirmed it. “Someone will pay good caps for you… Just got to keep you locked up until I find a buyer… Then I’m getting out of here. I’ll go to the west coast. Blend in.”
*****
The ramshackle town I was brought to wasn’t dissimilar from Glyphmark, aside from the gruesome raider decor. Tired, battered raider ponies looked up with interest as Achilles dropped me into a muddy puddle and landed next to me.
“Into that cage. Now.” She pointed to a rusty metal box, and I obeyed. Its door was slammed shut and locked behind me. Aside from stains, the cage was completely empty.
“Seriously?” An unknown stallion with a gravelly voice spoke up outside. “You think someone’s gonna pay enough for that weirdo for us to get back on our hooves?”
“Shut up.” Achilles angrily retorted.
“That town has stockpiles of Dash! Why the hell didn’t you-”
The high pitched blast of novasurge rifles interrupted. I could make out the gurgling sounds of a pony turning into goo.
“All of you, SHUT UP!” No one else spoke.
*****
The next few days were miserable. Though as far as raider captives go, I had no doubt I had it far better than most. My cage was only ever opened when Achilles had meager amounts of food and water to give me. At least I finally got to see her without her helmet. Her dirty coat was black and her short mane was a mix of pink and teal. Her deep blue eyes were bloodshot, and her face was gaunt and exhausted. I could only imagine how skinny she must have been under the armor that barely clung to her.
Apparently I was staring for too long, because she told as much when she slammed a hoof across my face. She was a very angry pony, averaging a few tantrums or assaults a day. Today, as she screamed and stomped outside my cell, I got lucky. A rock, a chunk of obsidian, was knocked into my cage before it was shut. My way out.
It took time to chip away at it with just my teeth and hooves, but I eventually had a small, sharp triangle. The next step took longer. I couldn’t afford to mess up as I carved a set of runes into the stone with my horn. The design was committed to memory, thanks to my mentor in the catacombs. Matching runes had adorned my horn, but without the unicorn’s help I never learned their purpose.
Until I had, I thought my horn didn’t work. No matter how much I tried or focused, I couldn’t do magic. I couldn’t even get my horn to glow. Everyone thought it was just a vestigial appendage from being a hybrid. Thanks to her, I knew better, and now Achilles will too.
*****
The pegasus raider opened my cell the next day, at the usual time. “Got your grub for the day, freak. Enj-”
She stopped, staring at me. Me, and my new weapon floating beside me. The runes embedded in it and my horn glowed violet, matching my eyes. An instant after I heard her rifles charge to life, she let out a pained gargle as my arrowhead slipped effortlessly through her neck, severing her esophagus and spinal cord. Achilles fell to the ground, paralyzed and dying. I hopped onto her, then on top of the cage. Around me, weak raider ponies gawked in amazement. A few leveled their guns at me, but a quick flurry from my own weapon turned them into useless hunks of metal, faster than they could blink.
I cleared my throat. “Hi. My name is Zarrow. I just killed your boss.” I grinned at them as new thoughts raced into my mind. “I’m your boss now.”
A tingling sensation on my flank distracted me. I inspected my black body adorned with white bone-like stripes, and saw… My Glyph! On both sides of my flank, an abstract depiction of a bow and arrow had appeared! I took it as a sign. I was on the right path.
*****
One of Glyphmark’s guards let out a joyous cry as I came into view. “It’s little Zarrow! He’s safe!”
Dozens of zebras, my parents included, rushed out into last week’s battlefield to greet me. They soon stopped dead, their expressions turning to horror when they saw what I had.
Clutching it by her mane with my teeth, Achilles’ severed head swung under mine as I trotted forward.
“I’vef comef to fmake anf annoucefment.” The hair in my teeth made it hard to talk, so I tossed the head towards the group of zebras. It rolled and stopped at their feet.
My parents were at the forefront of the crowd, my unicorn father and striped mother gawking at me with disturbed amazement. The proud grin on my face didn’t help, nor did my next words.
“I’m the new Overboss of Galloping Gorge.”
Achilles: You're my prisoner. I'm going to sell you to the highest bidder.
Zarrow:
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Red Eye was very lucky that Zarrow wasn't around in his prime during his reign. Had Zarrow been brought to Fillydelphia as a slave, this is how it would have gone down:
I'm kind of curious how old Zarrow is here if the raiders fell in line like that.
Either way, it's good to see stuff from a zebra's point of view. Or a zony in this case. Runic magic makes sense for a hybrid.
5749390
He's 11 in this short, but he's the type of scary-crazy raiders tend to follow.
The raiders were weakened by Gritt and Calamity, and Zarrow was fast enough to disarm the raiders who tried to shoot at him. With Atlas and Achilles gone, they were quick to follow the first person who stepped up, and young Zarrow quickly demonstrated he had the strength to take the job.