Maria received a robe - it was a white fuzzy one with golden embroidery, slightly bigger than necessary. Celestia assured her they'll see a tailor about it as soon as the girl was comfortable with it. Then the princess offered to show her where she would be staying.
"How long can I stay?" Maria asked as she followed the princess to the Throne Room entrance.
"As long as you have to," Celestia replied, "Don't worry about it."
The girl nodded, feeling quite happy - like many other girls, she had once dreamed of being a princess and having her own castle. Of course, those were childish dreams she had long since grown out of, but she thought it would be good to live in a castle for a while. Not in those dingy old gray castles, but in a colorful, welcoming, and warm one. This one already seemed to fit just right.
She had never visited a castle before and wondered what it looked like from both inside and out and what it had to offer. She had seen some old castle ruins as well as more modern palaces on some photos, but actually being present in one was so much more different. She could see the scale, she could see the effort that went into building it, and she could feel the entire atmosphere surrounding it. However, she had to focus on other things for the moment.
Maria had to be conscious of how her legs moved, but she seemed to improve with every step. Her previous method of walking worked, but it was also tiring and made her wobble a bit from side to side. Instead, Celestia advised her to keep one hoof off the ground for as long as possible in between steps for better stability. With that method, the girl's speed severely decreased for quite a few long minutes as she tried to figure out how not to forget to move a certain leg so that it wouldn't simply drag behind and make her trip and fall. A few times, Celestia had to catch her in her magic, and it felt unusual - it was a warm, tingly grip distributed all around her midsection and chest. It wasn't unpleasant, however, only weird. She felt embarrassed she couldn't even walk right, but the older alicorn was patient and had never shown a hit of irritability, which mitigated that feeling somewhat. She had never been more comfortable in the presence of authority, and her respect for Celestia grew ever more the longer she was in her company. Unlike many other adults, Celestia didn't try to force the girl to meet seemingly impossible expectations way before she was ready to, she didn't ignore her words, she didn't act dismissive or even rude towards her, and she was overall quite considerate.
Once Maria figured out how to walk the proper way without tripping every few steps, the two alicorns continued on their way through the hallway. The girl didn't have to keep her walking in check as much anymore, which allowed her to look around. She was immediately amazed at the intricate mosaic on the vaulted ceiling, perfectly polished marble floors, a thick decorated carpet longer than some roads she had seen, and beautiful columns as tall as street lamp posts. Each window started from the floor and ended in a sharp arch, and every second window was stained glass, featuring one design or the other, mostly centered around day and night. It wasn't unlike the stained glass of a church Maria once visited with her mother, but smoother and more colorful, and certainly bigger in scale. The tapestries hanging on the walls were likewise elaborate, featuring different flags and emblems Maria didn't know anything about yet.
"Just how big is this castle?" she asked aloud, her voice echoing across the hall, yet it was in a way that didn't drown out the original words.
"I'm not quite sure myself, to be honest," Celestia said with a smile, glad to break the silence, "We have never considered measuring the entire castle. Let's just say that, while the Throne Room and this hallway are the biggest in the castle, there are far more rooms and hallways in other parts of it. I've never kept the count, yet I seem to know where to go each time."
"This is enormous," Maria continued, walking up to a window and looking outside. Before her gaze were towers, walls, turrets, and arches, as well as a seemingly artificial waterfall. And beyond them, was the most breathtaking view she had ever seen - forests, fields, rivers, and villages were before her very eyes, stretching far into the horizon, "Bozhe moi..." she whispered, "Kak krasivo..."
"What do you mean?" Celestia asked, uncertain of what she even heard.
"It's so beautiful," the girl translated, "Just... where are we? How high are we?"
"We're on the side of the Alicorn Peak, the tallest mountain in Equestria," the princess said proudly, "We're roughly one thousand meters above the sea level, around a third of the mountain's height."
"You use meters?" Maria blinked, "And... doesn't it mean the mountain is three thousand meters?"
"It may not be the tallest mountain in the world, but it's still the tallest in Equestria," Celestia nodded in confirmation, noting the bit about the measurement system, "It has taken many years to build Canterlot here, and no one is quite sure exactly how many. The records are, unfortunately, lost."
"It's a marvel," the girl said, still completely awed, "In Spain, there's a cathedral that has been, uh, construction... ing... for, um, over a hundred years," she blushed in embarrassment at having forgotten how to properly word her sentence there, but continued anyway, "It's beautiful, but it's not as amazing as this."
"I'm happy to hear your appreciation," the older alicorn smiled, noting for herself Maria would need to be tutored to iron out the kinks in her speech, "Are you interested in architecture?"
"A little bit..." the girl admitted with some uncertainty, not used to talking about her passion with others. The only one that truly listened to her about it was her father, and even he was more interested in various handy work that didn't scrape the scale of what she wanted to do, "I just think building things is neat, and, uh, I want to build something myself."
"It's quite a fine goal," Celestia replied, "Maybe you'll have opportunities to realize it here if that's what you want."
"I'd..." she almost jumped but managed to suppress her enthusiasm, "I'd really like that!"
"It's my pleasure," the princess nodded. She could see it could have potential, even though it was clear Maria hadn't found her true calling yet - despite being technically adult, she didn't have her special mark. Judging by what Celestia had heard from her so far, she had no idea such a concept even existed. Wherever she was from, people didn't have special marks, and they also had a place called "Spain", which sounded unpleasant. But maybe it had a better meaning than just 'pains' with the 's' being in front rather than the back.
In any case, perhaps one day Maria would be in charge of constructing another marvel of architecture and engineering like Canterlot. It would certainly be a fine idea for a palace for the new princess.
The two continued on their way while Maria didn't stop looking at all the various details of her surroundings. The plaster was perfectly applied to the walls and the columns, making the paint on top of it look smooth even when the light shone along the surface - it should easily show any irregularities or bumps, but there were none to be found. All the windows were identical in structure, their furniture straight and level. The tiles were perfectly cut to suit the width and length of the hall, making every tile the same size. The color of the decorative floor molding was the same as the furniture of the windows, making them blend together seamlessly. The paint color was picked perfectly as well, making the already big hallway feel even more open. The flower pots hanging on the walls were at the same height and distance from the windows, having no irregularities either. For all intents and purposes, the hallway was perfect from the perspective of interior design as well as implementation. The architects and the construction workers were clearly very skilled and worked together since before the construction even began.
At the end of the hallway, two guards stood. Their armor was golden, polished to reflect their surroundings perfectly. They looked almost identical, with only the most trained eye being able to distinguish the difference. Maria let her gaze linger on them - she had never seen any kind of royal guards before. In a way, they reminded her of Roman soldiers of the antiquity, but she couldn't really point out why without referencing the images of the said soldiers. They stood at attention as the two alicorns approached, and then opened the big doors without saying a word. The doors opened effortlessly without a single squeak or any unnecessary sound at all. Maria also noticed how the doors were set against each other and the door frame - as far as she could see, everything was simply perfect.
"Are you a queen?" she asked Celestia as the two walked into an intersection of the halls. There were steps leading down from where we were, and thankfully they were wide enough Maria didn't have much of a difficulty descending them.
"No, I'm a princess," the older alicorn replied, "Equestria hadn't had a queen for a long time."
"I... don't think that makes sense," Maria said slowly, "Shouldn't you be the queen?"
"It's a bit more complicated than that," Celestia softly replied, a tinge of pain in her voice, "I'll tell you some other time."
That put an awkward end to the conversation. Thankfully, it wasn't long until the two reached a guest room. Celestia opened the door to it, and what was revealed surprised the girl. For once, the guest room was bigger than the entire apartment she used to live in. Half of the wall in front of her features floor to ceiling windows, one of which acting as a door to a balcony. The other half had a large bed against it with the windows only starting from halfway up. Next to the bed, there was a sizeable nightstand. However, that corner of the room wasn't the main attraction by far: it was a fireplace in the center of a wall, a true brick fireplace that looked extremely cozy, and it would look even better with fire burning inside of it. Adding to the coziness, a sofa was placed in front of the fireplace, and it was big enough to host at least two ponies the size of Maria at the same time. Further away from the fireplace, there was a wide carpet, not too fuzzy but good enough to muffle the sounds of the hoofsteps, and it covered at least two thirds of the entire room. A small dining table with three chairs was present next to the big windows, allowing the guest to look outside while eating. And another corner of the room was taken by a beanbag chair surrounded by bookshelves. It reminded Maria of the personal library her grandparents had in their apartment. She'd likely delve into it once she had the time.
Once she had taken in the main details, she shifted to smaller ones: the walls were covered by white wallpaper with simple neutral structure. The floors were genuine hard wood except around one meter around the fireplace - it was tile instead, the same one used in the halls. Floor molding was perfectly fitted and the color of the window and door frames, and she couldn't even spot the seams. The ceiling was reasonably high with a chandelier hanging in the center of the room. However, it would be completely unnecessary during daylight hours - the windows provided plenty enough light. Then there was a door next to the nightstand, and she reasoned it led to the guest bathroom.
Overall, Maria couldn't be more satisfied with where she was going to stay - it was perfect and had everything she needed aside from, obviously, a computer and a kitchen. She silently sighed to herself - ponies probably didn't have computers and thus didn't have internet, and that sucked. However, maybe she could find other things to do than to browse endless memes, YouTube videos, or various other content that went into her head one day and then out of it the next. Although, she would certainly miss some of the games she played, namely Minecraft, Terraria, and Garry's Mod. The first was quite fun and allowed her to be creative when she had nothing else to do, the second was interesting and exciting when it came to exploration and progression, and the third was simply wacky and random. Unfortunately, the first and the third were also infested with many toxic players, and she would be glad to never have to deal with them again.
However, that left one question hanging - if there was no kitchen, how would she get food? It was obvious she wouldn't be simply left without it, but she was very used to buying groceries and cooking for herself as well as her mom, and not having it would be unusual.
"Where do I cook?" she asked Celestia.
"Oh, we have chefs who do that for us," the older alicorn explained, "But if you wish, I can make sure they allow you in the kitchen. Of course, only once you learn how to handle a knife like a pony. Safety first."
"Alright," she agreed easily, "So, um... I guess I'll just get comfortable and... think."
"It's fine," Celestia nodded encouragingly, "It must feel very odd having to face all these new things at once. It's good to be alone with your thoughts for a while, I know it well. However, would you like to eat something?"
"Yes, please," she nodded, realizing she was getting hungry.
"Do you have any allergies I should notify the chefs of?"
"None that I know," Maria shook her head, "And, um... can I have no animal products?"
"We're ponies, we don't eat animals or their products," Celestia shook her head, noting for herself that Maria have come from omnivorous species originally, "In fact, you won't find any animals in anything we make."
"That's really good to know," the girl let out a sigh of relief - she might've been mocked for her stance on it from almost everyone around her back in Russia, but at least that wouldn't be the case anymore.
"Very well, the food will be brought to you within half an hour," the older alicorn said, "A guard will be posted nearby, you can always ask him for any assistance or call me if necessary."
"Thank you," Maria nodded, and the princess left the room.
The girl sighed in relief once more, feeling a weight slide off her shoulders. Not only had she just spent quite some time with an adult, the said adult was also a princess of a nation. Saying it made her feel under pressure would be an understatement of a century. However, despite Celestia's high position, she seemed reasonable and kind, as well as welcoming. Maria imagined royalty back on Earth would most likely immediately kick her out or issue orders to detain her for questioning on sight under the same circumstances.
And now she was in a castle. A real castle, right from the pages of a fantasy novel or, in this case, a show for little girls. Maybe she should've watched it - this way, she'd know what to expect.
For now, all she wanted was to eat and rest for a while, to think about her eighteenth birthday - it was, by far, the most intense, the most unusual, and the weirdest birthday of her entire life. She made a wish, a real wish, and it was granted to her in a way that was simply impossible. It opened a lot of ways in front of her, and she wondered which one she would end up taking.
Unbeknownst to her, however, different plans were brewing all around Canterlot. The nobility, the majority of which had witnessed her appearance in the morning court, as an alicorn no less, had already begun plotting how to get in her good graces. Many foals, who were as 'free' as Maria was when she was a human, were already set up to meet her one way or another. Adults were planning on giving her expensive gifts once the time was right, to make sure she ended up liking them. They didn't know her, and most didn't care - to them, she was an opportunity to get closer to the ruling princess, to grow in power above others, and to achieve things many deemed impossible before.
Celestia herself knew it was going to happen - there was no way she could contain the fallout from Maria's sudden, unannounced appearance in front of everyone. The girl would have to learn many things in order to stay independent, and she would, by law, have to learn what it takes to be a princess. Celestia had already been preparing a protege of hers for many years, yet she couldn't miss the opportunity to guide a new young mare, one that undoubtedly would, as all alicorns once had, change the world forever. Maria was a unique case in every way, and thus she held tremendous potential, one that had to be fulfilled one way or another, and Celestia intended to provide the help the girl would certainly need to do so properly.
Many things were set in motion that day...