Odyssey in "Equitis Humi"

So, you want to know why I have a strange tattoo on my hand and I seem to be returning from a front line? Well, I don't know how much time you have, but if you have plenty, then I will tell you a very particular story, about how I went in another world with a tormented mind and came back with more knowledge and with a relieved soul.

Now, the night before my coming to that world, I was with my few friends drinking some rice wine: we were discussing about our choices and regrets. In my group almost all complained that they didn't said "No" to some things when they were younger, like when they said "Yes" about doing a private school run by nuns. At the time I regretted only one thing: not having the possibility to pass that seven years of masked laziness that are called "Childhood" reading books: my mother forced me to have contacts with other kids, but how you could socialize, if you feel the others are too stupid to understand you? Why try to stop a kid from learning to read? I started to be misanthropic already to 6 years: after all, in your little mind, all works for cause=reaction, and this can mean that you will hate people because YOU think that they will try to grab you away form your favorite things, only when I felt a void in my life did I search for other people, and I was blessed by someone for not being attacked by anyone.

Anyway, when I said my regret, everyone in the room said that my mother's method was a bless for my future, but I doubted it.

After almost on hour, we disbanded, and I returned home, going straight to bed, and here is where  my arguing started: now, because I know that you don't want to know ALL the thinking, I will just say briefly that I ended up wishing to restart my life, knowing all the things that I learnt in my life, for then try a different approach: the next day, I was in a hospital.

I don't know how it happened, or how it could be even possible: a moment before was sleeping in my simple bed with my young man body, and the moment after I was in the hospital, welcomed by the EGC sounds and in foal's body.

Yes, you heard right, foal, but you will know more during the story.

When I woke up, I had already recognized where I was, but I didn't know, plus, my eyes hurt so I could not check better what happened while I was "asleep". Few minutes later, I heard the sound of hooves on the ground, Well, hard hospital slippers, no doubt I thought, but soon I was proven wrong.

A soft, calm voice started to talk:"Good morning, sweetheart, are you awake?You slept for six hours... can you tell me something about you?"

I tried to move fast my hands to do the military greet, until I found that my "hands" were stuck and seemed fingerless, but I supposed that were just stuck, so I simply answered "I am Aeneas Verne from Holystone, from who I have the pleasure to receive medical attention?"

"Nurse Redhearth, here to serve, anyway, do you rember something about the incident?"

"No.. I only rembember i went to sleep in my bed and waking up here..."

"Right, you might have a trauma amnesia. Anyway, you were found near a the Apple's orchards at 02:00 p.m. by a group of mares, they saw you laid down with an hurt look and with two or three bleeding wounds, we transported you to the hospital and did the appropriate medical exams: you broke your left hoof and a rib; you will stay here for a week.

We tried to find your parents, but in vain, but don't worry: we will find them soon"

"Wait... what? Hoof? What I am, an horse? Plus, I am adult and I have the money for pay the recovery!"

"Don't be silly, you are still a foal"

That said, I found the force to open my eyes, and what I saw shocked me: the Nurse was an equine, a pony for the recod  sake, I was a pony and the whole room seemed overall bigger and childish-looking than the usual paint works in a hospital; what I saw caused me to  faint.

Some time later, I opened my eyes, but this time the Nurse seemed a bit more worried, and was talking with an equine medic with a weird mane who looked like a muffin. I tried to read, but I was shortly afterward been interrupted by a whisper coming from a near place: I rotated my look and saw an orange filly with a purple mane, her wing was bandaged and several minor wounds covered her "torso".

She said "Hi! I am Scootaloo, who are you?"

"Greetings, I am Aeneas Verne, what do you desire?"

"Well, might ask a question? I suppose that you are a 4 years old, but you seem.. grew up for your age: you can read, you are very formal in talking and you seem too much calm about the whole situation, even if I didn't heard any reassuring word coming from anyone from your bed: how?"

"Well, I am a quite smart and mature foal for my age, but this thanks to the training that gave to me my family: never fear anything but the fear, be polite with everyone you will meet. I can read only because my parents were librarians", very big lies, but was better to disguise.

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the horse doctor: while Scootaloo tried to bury herself under the blankets in fear, I simply rotated and give a sign of bow, then the doctor talked to me "So, it seems that your parents aren't aware of your disappearing: we are trying to find them, but we didn't found them, could you name and describe them?"

The situation was critical, so I recalled the rules for pretend to be a lost child while you are not: alright, first: try to give a very approximate description basing on the things that you found during your stay; second: if the situation gets hot, fake a faint and an amnesia or say that you passed part to parent in the same way.

After recapping it, I was going to use the approximate description, but I feared a "person mistake", thus, causing only more trouble.

I said:"Well, I don't think that you can contact them... they are far away from here, and I was in the hands of another mare... and it seems that she beat me while I was asleep and left me in the orchards."

"Oh dear, do you know the name of that mare ?"

"No, mostly because she looked after me for two days..."

"And I suppose that you cannot even describe her... anyway, how unfortunate, but don't worry: once your parents will return, you will return to them, for now, you will live with a foster family"

When the medic went away, the Nurse placed my medicines on the tray along with a glass of water: I drank and ate the pills in one blow.