Sometime after being sent to Equestria by Luna thanks to a portal she generated, I wake up in a room which was well lit by the sun's light and with a marble floor which was well-polished and perhaps as white as snow itself. Realising I woke up, a mare turned to face me with a bright and almost motherly smile on her regal face. In a way, it was far more... natural than Luna's. As always, I was sleeping on my belly and she laid down too, looking at me. From the looks of it, the mare's coat was brushed very well, her wings well-preened and her mane seemed to move by itself, as does a flag being waved by the wind. She had a tiara on her head and... I kind of figured out she was Royalty so... whatever I did or said had to be presented in a way which was suitable for a mare of this calibre and status.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" the mare says softly, that smile still present on her face.

"Yes, I did. Can I please know where I am?" I ask while sitting up with no kind of problem at all. That is very weird, for my back is always in pain whenever I try to sit up without the support of my arms.

"You are in Equestria, my dear, and this is my room. Welcome to Canterlot Castle, um..." she says calmly, trying to find out my name with a deliberate kind of uncertainty at the end of her sentence.

"The name is Enlightened, your Majesty. May I please have the honour of knowing the name of the mare who was so kind to greet me here?" I ask again, trying to be as polite as possible and not this angry, foul-mouthed and frustrated version of myself because... it just wouldn't be right.

Her eyes widened in realisation and shock at the same time. She didn't take her tiara off, for goodness sake! Fearing I might have done something wrong, I get a little closer to her using my... wait, these aren't arms, they are hooves, for fuck's sake! Thank goodness I didn't say these words out loud or... crazy stuff would have happened. The both of us were trying to
regain our composure and after more than a minute of silence, I try to restart our tiny little conversation:

"Did I do something wrong?" I ask her.

"Oh, no! You haven't done anything wrong! I realised I didn't take my regalia off. Seeing you sleep tempted me to take a little nap, that's all. Forgive my manners: I am Princess Celestia, Diarch of the Sun and co-ruler of Equestria alongside my younger sister Luna, whom you met in your previous dream. She used quite a lot of magic to generate the portal which brought you here: she's sleeping in her own room as we speak. I'm sorry for the fact that she wasn't there to greet you properly but..." Princess Celestia says but I cut her off from continuing her sentence by shaking my left front hoof.

"After what she has already done for me, she has more than earned her rest. She will need it because she has to raise the Moon for many more times," I say a little bit matter-of-factly.

"Come on. Let us get something to eat," Princess Celestia says to me, teleporting my wheelchair right to where I was. Some of my things were on the seat of the wheelchair: my laptop, its battery charger, my phone along with its battery charger, my favourite camouflaged headphones and a little djembe I bought in an Albanian market some years ago. These were the most important things to bring around for me and... Luna brought them here for me. Celestia carefully levitated them aside and levitated me on the chair's cushion. I quickly put the brakes off by pushing the brake levers backwards with my front hooves without much of a problem, then press and turn the anti-tip device button with my right front hoof with seemingly no problem at all.

You see, when you use a wheelchair for many years, certain things come spontaneously to me, even without realising I'm doing them. I am quickly adapting to what I feel it is a new body and I need to figure out what kind of movements I can do with it so I look at the wheels of my chair only to find out that both hand rims are gone.

Having no other choice than putting my hooves on the wheels to have that little bit of grip on the back tyres needed to hold the wheelchair steady for a moment for my front hooves to deliver just enough power to push it. I do just that and my wheelchair thrusts forward: as I gently tap the back wheels to make the chair slow down, I can see a bright and proud smile form on Princess Celestia's face as she opens the massive golden doors of her chambers with her magic.

Being the polite mare she is, Celestia motions her head forward for me to pass ahead but I reject the offer shaking my head and pointing my left hoof in a mockingly noble manner, prompting that she should be the one to walk out of there first. All I hear from her is a small giggle, followed by the light shaking of her head as she walked out. I made damn sure to stay with her as she speaks to me:

"Are you always that nice to mares? You truly are somepony special," Celestia says, a little teasingly by my book, but that's alright.

"Well, I would not go that far myself but thanks anyway," I say, trying to be modest and humble.

"You are too modest, my dear Enlightened. Now, let us go over to the balcony and get something to eat because I'm starving," she says to me as her stomach growls furiously, making me jump out of fright.

I'm a little surprised that she noticed me jump. Every step Princess Celestia took could be heard as her hooves moved at a relatively fast pace across the finely-polished marble pavement of the castle which was her residence. As we went towards the main balcony of the castle, I looked up to see that maybe what looked to me as many hundreds of finely-crafted golden chandeliers hung above our heads with some pieces of diamond hanging from them which were reflecting some of this early-afternoon sunlight, making them shine beautifully as they created a rainbow of colours.

"This castle is truly amazing. There are so many beautiful things here. I bet I could push myself here for days and not even know half its wonders!" I yell enthusiastically as I can finally see where that balcony is: exactly at the end of this massive corridor.

When the both of us arrived there, the view I have from the balcony was stunning to say the least. From this high up, I can see the entirety of a city, a city I presume is Canterlot.

"Oh my God... what a stunning view. This is incredible. I have to give you ponies credit because I never thought that you would be able to build cities this complex," I say, smiling as I look at Canterlot from below. Something was really,really strange though. Usually, my eyes would be closed with the sunlight this strong, as my eyes are photophobic, but with this new body, my eyes feel comfortable, as if nothing happened. Now, my eyes see things clearly even from afar, with a high degree of definition as well, as one of the side effects of spastic diplegia is myopia.

"After we finish our meal, I would like to have a visual acuity test, if the royal oculist isn't too busy," I say with a serious tone of voice.

"Yes, but after we eat. Do you like anything special?" She asks me, eager to fill her stomach with anything her personal chefs prepare for her.

"I am much of a glutton myself. I can eat pretty much anything you throw at me. Do you?" I ask back with the same amount of tease in my voice as she did in one of her questions from earlier.

"I'm afraid my doctors put me on a rigorous diet which doesn't include sweets but I know a few ways to... bend the rules," Princess Celestia said with a naughty smile, a smile which seems to be almost in the brink of evil.

Princess Celestia sets up a table with her magic and calls her personal chef, Neat Dish, to prepare something quickly for the both of us.

All I could hear was the frantic clapping sound that Neat Dish's hooves made. My hearing was so focused on the coming Neat Dish that when Princess Celestia called me, I jumped out of fright again.

"Enlightened, is something wrong? Can I know why do you jump like that?" She asks worriedly.

"I've been jumping like that ever since I was a little boy: this usually happens when I'm too focused on one thing, I zone out and it just... happens," I say while trying to look away from her.

"Every single pony has fears, Enlightened. It is up to us to overcome them and grow day by day," Celestia says to me, even though I can sense her fear as she told me her words of wisdom... as if she had felt an enormous amount of pain before.

"I can totally agree with that. Life is a constant fight and it is up to you and only you to face it and try to become a better version of yourself, despite how painful it may seem. You have to move slowly down this treacherous path called life: day by day, bit by bit, step by step," I say as I lower my head in thought.

But before Celestia could continue our conversation further, Neat Dish arrives. As she was trying to catch her breath from her long gallop, I take the time to memorize her features: she has a lime-green coat brown mane and eyes. Neat Dish was dressed in what looked to be like a stallion's chef's uniform: the hat had a hole in it, from which her horn came out and... the hat was in an awkward position, for it was leaning with the exact angle as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Despite her strange appearance, it was clear that she took care of herself, as her body was well-built and proportioned.

"Whoa... I have a keen eye for detail and... why am I starting to pay attention to the bodies of mares? Boh, I don't know... but time will tell," I think to myself as I discover my heightened observational skills.

"Neat Dish, I would like you to meet Enlightened, our new guest here at Canterlot Castle. Enlightened, this is Neat Dish, the youngest chef to ever appear on the cover of Equestria's top culinary magazine, Haute Cuisine," Princess Celestia says, introducing Neat Dish to me. She, on the other hoof, is blushing a little as if she's... kind of surprised that somepony would mention her accolades.

I put my brakes off, manoeuvre my wheelchair out of the table with a swift ninety-degree turn to the left and go to meet Neat Dish. I was a lot smaller than her, who was standing on all fours.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am. My name is Enlightened from Earth, wheelchair sportspony and university dropout," I introduce myself to her while extending my left hoof: she smiles warmly at me, extending her hoof so it could wrap around mine, shaking it lightly.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir. I was just about to give you the menu my assistant chefs and I made for this week: would you like me to accompany you to your place at the table?" she replies, preparing her horn to push my wheelchair back to the table with her magic, which I immediately noticed.

"Yes, I would love to be accompanied by an accomplished chef such as yourself but... in a normal way," I say as I'm smiling to her.

"What do you mean by "normal", sir?" Neat Dish asks, surprised of my rejection.

"It's not that I don't appreciate your help but... I would like to push myself with my own hooves, not be pushed by magic," I say truthfully, hoping she would understand.

And understand she did: as I got to the table, Neat Dish just made sure to follow me as I tried a little sprint with a lock-up of my chair's right wheel to "park" it. I put my breaks on again and looked at Princess Celestia, who was apparently pleased with the level of skill I was able to attain with this new body so far, for she was smiling at me.

"Here is the menu: please take your time to choose," Neat Dish wisely advised while giving the menu of the week to the Princess of the Sun and I.

I was surprised to see that Princess Celestia didn't even need to look at the menu to find her choice, as she smiled at Neat Dish and apparently waited for me to make mine: I quickly go through the dishes and after a couple of minutes, I find it: salad, chicken nuggets and fries. Mmmmh... just thinking about it makes me salivate. I need to keep it cool, though.

I nod and Neat Dish brings up a notebook and a quill, inkwell included, with her magic.

"What would you like, Princess?" Neat Dish asks her, ready to write down her order.

"Just the usual for me, please," Princess Celestia replies, much to my utter amazement at the situation I was witnessing.

And just like that, the smiling young chef wrote down her Princess's order. Judging by the time taken to write it down, Princess Celestia's meal is good, robust and above all full of kilocalories, probably because she must raise the sun every single day.

"Did you find anything on the menu that you like, sir?" she asks me, ready to write down my order as well.

"Yes, I believe I have: I would like a salad, chicken nuggets and some fries to go along with it. And please, I don't want to hear this "sir" nonsense: just Enlightened," I say as she writes it down quickly.

Neat Dish smiles and then says: "Alright then: your orders will come to you in about forty-five minutes. This won't take long," and with that, Neat Dish teleported herself to the Royal kitchen, not before giving us some still water.

"Enlightened? Are you there?" Princess Celestia asks me as I look in front of me, lost in thought.

"Yes. I'm here: I'm just trying to figure out what I can do with this new body I have. And after that, I want to try to walk," I say as I bring my head down again.

"Why do you believe life to be a fight, Enlightened?" Princess Celestia asks me as we look into each other's eyes.

"I say that life is a fight because life itself is hard. When I was growing up, I did physiotherapy as a sort of game, without paying much mind to the pain it brought. As the years went by, however, it was more about pain than gain, you know? I fought hard for every single thing I achieved. Even the smallest thing, such as moving around my flat with the aid of crutches was... big for me: there's this... satisfaction which is almost impossible for me to express into words. Life is a fight because... you have to work very hard to achieve your goals, no matter the time it takes to get there," I say with a confident smile on my face.

"Now that is a valuable lesson to lesson to learn, my little pony," Princess Celestia says with a smile of her own.

"Yes, it is, although it took many years for me to learn this," I say to her while smiling back.

After that little conversation was over, we patiently waited for our meals to come. It almost felt like my stomach was desperately pleading to be given food, for it growled furiously. When the food came, it was a wonderful feeling for both my eyes and my nostrils: the food was presented very well and the smell of it was fantastic.

"Here we have the Princess's order..." Neat Dish says, positioning the cutlery in place, along with her meal, "And here we have yours, Enlightened," she says as she positions my dish in front of me with the corresponding cutlery.

"It looks and smells delicious, thank you," I say as I look at the food before me and take in its aroma.

"You're welcome. Hope you like it," Neat Dish says, ready to leave.

"Leaving already? Please take a seat," I tell her as Princess Celestia makes another chair appear with her magic.

Neat Dish smiles and takes a seat. I look down at the dish before me in a dumbfounded state. Alright, I'm going to eat: but how given that now I don't have hands to hold the cutlery? I try doing a wrapping motion with my left hoof and somehow I managed to it. And so, with this kind of uncertainty, I extend my left forehoof to the fork, wrap it around the handle and lift it.

I dive in and take my first bite, piercing one of the chicken nuggets with the fork and let the flavours work their magic: my taste buds were in complete ecstasy, as that one bite carried Neat Dish's passion for cooking. At the hooves of the right cook, even the simplest of dishes can be a work of art: and that was certainly the case.

"Ma è... squisito! So much flavour... WOW!" (But it's... delicious!) I enthusiastically yell after swallowing.

Noticing my foreign dictions, Princess Celestia finishes her bites and turns to me, cleaning herself with a napkin first.

"It's been many years since I last heard somepony speak Ponytalian. Could you teach me some in the future?" Princess Celestia asks me.

"But of course. Now let's eat!" I say and dive in to finish my meal in about a quarter of an hour.

I have a small hiccup and then... a powerful burp escapes my mouth. I hold my belly with my hooves and tap on it lightly as Princess Celestia and Neat Dish giggle.

"Cosa c'è? Can't a guy show his appreciation for food by burping?" (What is it?) I say, crossing my hooves in a seemingly hurt way.

"Princess, I think that here we might have the finest example of a culinary critic," Neat Dish says, hoof under her chin in thought.

"Sono una buona forchetta!" (I am a good fork!), meaning that I like to eat.

Princess Celestia finishes and releases an atomic bomb of a burp: her belch was so powerful and long that I laugh wholeheartedly, clapping my hooves together.

"Now that is what I like to call a burp, Princess," I said the last word with a little bit of sting in my voice, to see if I made her "angry".

Princess Celestia's right eye twitches: seeing the "imminent danger", Neat Dish teleported herself and the table away from us.

"Corri!" (Run!) I tell myself as I start pushing as fast I can and Celestia starts going after me.

Author's Note

It is done! Sorry for the delay. As always, I am so slow doing things and I apologise for that: see you next time, everybody!

Arrivederci! (See you!)