Chapter 1: A true rose has been born...

Not everypony's journey begins with a fairytale start. Some face challenges with theirselves, or with close friends... Zom had it from the very beginning. He, for example, was born into circumstances that were far from ideal. His parents are unknown to him. He has no memories of them and believes he has never even seen them...

His parents left him at a young age far from any known city because they didn't accept him. Zom was an unwanted foal and was given away from pony to pony, but nobody ever wanted him. So one day he landed in front of an adoption center. As a filly, Zom was pretty shy and afraid of others. They didn’t take much care of Zom in the adoption cetner, so he got bullied by bigger fillies because of his skin color and his muzzle. Zom looked exactly like a mare filly, which he hated for a long time. In winter, day by day, his frustration grew... not just with the bullies but with the caretakers who neglected him. Over time, Zom realized that his only chance at freedom from the pain was to escape. After several weeks of careful planning, the night finally came. He waited for everypony to fall asleep, pretending to be resting as well. As the clock struck midnight, he quietly slipped out of his room, moving like a shadow in the dark. He grew increasingly anxious from the sounds of the night, his fear intensifying with every step, dreading the thought of being caught and facing punishment…

Then, he spotted it... the weakened section of the wall he had been eyeing for weeks. The crack was small, barely wide enough for a foal to pass through, but it was his only chance.
With trembling hooves, he approached the gap. The space was tight, unforgiving. Zom gritted his teeth and pushed himself through, the sharp edges scraping his skin and hooves, leaving him bleeding and bruised. The pain was intense, but he didn’t stop. Once he was free, he broke into a desperate run, his hooves pounding against the ground, ignoring the burning pain. He ran and ran, further away from the adoption center, knowing full well that no one would care enough to come looking for him. For the first time, he was truly on his own.

Zom stumbled into a dense forest, desperately searching for food and water, his hooves still bleeding, leaving red trails in the snow. He felt like he wouldn't last much longer. After hours of wandering, he finally found a small clearing where he could rest for the night, covering himself with a few scattered leaves for warmth. Overwhelmed by the pain and his desperate situation, Zom let out a heart-wrenching cry, his voice echoing through the quiet woods. Exhausted and broken, he eventually drifted into a restless sleep. His injuries remained, though the bleeding in his hooves had slowly begun to subside as the cold night wore on.