Survival was the only life that I have ever know. From beginning to days end, all I have ever know is struggle.

I grew up on the streets, no parents to care for me; no mother to hold me, no father to scold me. The streets were my home, the cold, my blanket for the night; hunger, my scolding for not doing better. I often embraced these feelings at the end of the day.

For the better part of my life I cared only for myself. I had no friends on the street, not even the other orphans cared for my company; though, I was sure my temper had a hoof in that. My tendency for being quick to anger was, for all of my life, the biggest enemy I had. Not even my mouth could rival my temper when it came to causing trouble.

My anger cost me more than just the company of another. Sometimes it did get me noticed, though not in the way I would have liked. Because of my anger, I endured beating after beating; I vividly recall a time when I was beaten so severely that I became known as “the horse of another color.” Thankfully, that didn't last for long.

After several years of beatings, I started to change. My new stature helped to keep most of the younger thugs away, the rest were kept at bay by my newly developed mass of muscles. My dark white mane grew longer as well, among other things.

I took the good with the bad. In addition to my physical metamorphosis I also changed mentally. I found myself thinking more of mares, a thought that seldom crossed my mind before then. I also became moody, and found myself taking offence more easily than usual.

It’s funny, I gained many advantages, but I wasted them. I changed from a little colt who would try and escape trouble to a stallion who made trouble. Being pushed around for so long has that effect, I suppose.

For all it was, I don’t regret a moment of it. True, I became a testosterone fueled brute, but life had a  funny way of fixing problems. It was because of  chance encounter one winter that everything changed for me. On that day, that cold winter day, something happened that set into motion a series of events that would change my life forever.

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