"RUN!" Luna tells me and starts flying over the chasm. I follow behind her and get to the bridge, I try to get across it as fast as I can, but one of the boards breaks away leaving my leg dangling down. The hydra looks like its smirking as two of its heads bite through the ropes holding the bridge up.

The bridge falls down and swings to the other side while I grip the ropes tightly with wide eyes. A few seconds later, I slam into the cliff face and almost lose my grip. The hydra seems not too happy that I'm still hanging on and roars at me. I frown at it and channel two earth elements which rips out a large rock from the canyon's wall and a fire element, I charge it up as the hydra is looking for a way to get to me. I cast the spell at its second head where it knocks it out and blasts the other two heads besides it with flames.

It roars again in rage and pain. I climb the bridge like a ladder and once on top, I turn back to the hydra who looks like it's throwing a tantrum. I channel three arcane elements and fire the beam at it's chest. It starts to bloat and blister, but then quickly heals the damage.

I frown and then I channel an earth element with two air elements. I've only tested this one out a couple of times before while practising with the air element, but it's supposed to make some sort of magic air blade shuriken. A rock the size of my fist hovers in front of my stave with what looks like a saw blade of air spinning around it about a foot long.

I charge up the spell and fire it at the neck of the third head, I grin as the air blade cuts through and chops the head off.

"STOP! Thou will just make it worse!" Luna tells me.

I look at her confused and then hear a nasty sound of ripping flesh and gurgling liquid coming from the hydra. The part of the neck that remains splits down the middle where another two necks and heads regrow.

"Arg... that's nasty," I say and cringe.

The hydra roars and starts biting parts of the ruined Castle and throws them at us. Luna takes to the air while I teleport out of the way.

I frown at the hydra but get an idea, I continue to cast the air shuriken spell again and again, cutting off heads while dodging the incoming boulders.

"Will thou stop this instant! Thy plan is not working..." she trails off as she looks at the hydra. It must have about thirty heads now and can't seem to move, where was it getting all of this extra mass from?

"I'd say it is," I reply with a smirk. It has so many heads now that its body can't handle the extra weight, it also looks like it's struggling to breath but still glares at me.

I notice it's quite close to the edge of the chasm so I start blasting the cliff face under it with rocks, Luna then joins in with her own magic. It finally gives way and the hydra tumbles down the chasm roaring with all thirty heads. That sound alone will probably give me nightmares.

I release a breath I didn't know I was holding in and sit down exhausted. 'Thank you Luna for the training and ass kicking you gave me,' I think to myself with a smile as Luna lands beside me.

"How did thou know that would work?" she asks me.

I pant and look at her. "It's just common sense... if it regrew two heads every time one is cut off, then that is its major weakness. You just make it grow so many heads until it can't support them anymore," I tell her. "Can it regrow other parts like organs and limbs?" I ask her.

"Yes, that's what makes it so dangerous, they can regenerate their scales, limbs and organs as many times they want, although not their heart, but its heart is covered in a thick layer of muscle and bone, so it would be near impossible to reach," she replies.

"How common are hydras here?" I ask and stand up.

"Not that many, they tend to live alone and near the bog, unless looking for a mate," she replies.

"Good, I don't want to do that again... I don't have the mana for it..." I say and stretch. My right arm is sore from where I hit the cliff side. "Can we go back to Canterlot now? Though the camping was fun... I'm really tired of this Forest," I ask her.

"Very well, with the dragon and now the hydra, thou has proven thy strength and wit," she tells me.

We head back to the camp with no problems and begin packing everything up.

"So, has thou thought of what thee will say to our sister?" Luna asks me.

I frown and look back to her. "I'm not going to lie. Celestia is beautiful, kind, and a great friend, but won't me courting her as well as you cause problems between us?" I reply.

Luna giggles at me. "Thou are still thinking like thee art still in thy own world. Remember, here in Equestria, stallions can have around three to five partners and live in harmony together," she tells me.

I sigh and look down in thought. What would I have to lose by just asking? And if it doesn't work out, we can still be friends... I look back at Luna with a smile. "Alright, I'll ask her when we get back," I say.

"Wonderful, though I recommend asking her in private as not to embarrass her in front of the Nobles... or thou can ask her in front of them, we would love to see their looks of shock," she tells me.

"Sure," I reply with a smirk and take down the tent.

Once all packed Luna says we should head back to Ponyville and wait for a carriage to come get us. We then start walking along the path back to town passing by Zecora who is picking some plants, Luna also teases me about how I'll ask Celestia out along the way.

We make it to the edge of town where I can see a small homely cottage to the left and the town to the right. We walk into town straight to Twilight's Library while Luna greets some people along the way, though some people try to avoid us. I guess they still fear Luna or remember what I did to that manticore a month ago... our armour and weapons probably don't help either...

After a few minutes of walking, we arrive and I knock on the door. "Thou does know this is a public Library, correct?" Luna asks me.

"Yes, but it's still her home," I reply as the door opens.

It's Spike who looks up at us. "Oh.. hi, Adrian, Princess," he says with a bow to Luna.

"Is Twilight in?" I ask.

"Na, she's out over at Rarity's helping her with something," he replies.

"Oh, can we wait here until a carriage comes for us?" I ask him.

"Sure, make yourselves at home," he says and opens the door fully.

Luna and I walk in and sit on the couch next to each other, she then summons a piece of parchment, some ink, a quill, and writes the letter to Celestia.

"So where have you guys been? And why all the armour?" Spike asks.

"Hmm? Oh, we were in the Everfree Forest doing some training," I reply.

"Cool, did you fight any monsters?" he asks again.

"A few, but they weren't that tough," I reply. I think I'll refrain from mentioning the dragon.

A flash of light besides me tells me Luna sent her letter. "And done, we just have to wait for the carriage to arrive," Luna tells me.

Spike goes back to cleaning the already clean looking Library while I turn to Luna with a question that's been on my mind. "So once we get back, will you continue training me or will you give me some sort of program to follow?" I ask her.

"We must return to our duties unfortunately, but yes, we will give you a list of exercises and tasks to perform. Mayhap thou can teach the guard once thou art stronger, heavens knows they need it," she replies with a roll of her eyes at the end.

We make plans for the coming week while we wait. I'll ask Celestia to court her while Luna takes over court duties for the week to let Celestia have some time off. I'll train in the evenings while I, in Luna's own words, woo Celestia in the mornings.

The carriage arrives five minutes or so after we finished planning. I open the door for Luna as well as help her up into the carriage, much to her amusement.

She leans against me on the way back in silence. We arrive and Luna's horn glows, she's now in her black and silver trimmed dress, her armour, bags, and the mirror are now gone, along with the bow and shield I was carrying. I step off and hold out my hand to help her down. She smiles and we head into the Castle.

There's a long line of people waiting to enter the Throne Room. I can hear a few of them sniff the air and look at me with wide eyes.

I just raise an eyebrow at them and enter the Throne Room right behind Luna. Celestia looks really ragged, her hair isn't flowing as much as before and there's dark bags under her eyes, but she instantly perks up at seeing us.

"Sister, Adrian. I'm glad to see you back unharmed, but I thought you would be away for another week?" she asks.

"Adrian has proven himself after defeating a hydra in a most interesting way," Luna replies.

"I see. You'll have to tell me about it later, as you can see, I'm rather busy at the moment," Celestia says with an intrigued expression and then looks at the line.

"Nonsense, we shall take over court for the week," Luna says and elbows me, nodding in Celestia's direction.

I sigh and close my eyes. Well, here goes nothing. I walk up to Celestia and kneel before her, she raises an eyebrow at me with a confused expression. "Princess Celestia, would you do me the honour of going on a date with me?" I ask her.

Her eyes go wide and the people in line gasp. I hold my right hand out, palm facing up. She looks at my hand and then at my eyes. I can see tears forming just at the sides of her eyes and a small smile on her face.

Just as she was about to reach out, the Nobles chose right then to ruin the moment.

"How dare you ask such a thing of the Princess!" a very old looking man shouts out.

"The Princess would never degrade herself for some commoner like you!" a women says angrily.

"The thought of both Princesses courting a savage like you is sacrilege!" another yells.

"The Princess is too pure to be tainted by anypony, much less somepony like you!"

More and more insults and objections are said. I frown at the Nobles then look at Luna who looks enraged at being essentially told she's worth less than Celestia, I then look at Celestia... to see her head down, hair blocking her face... silently crying...

I snap.

I draw my sword with an angry roar and without even thinking of the consequences, channel five arcane elements through the blade. A large swirling sinister blood red and black aura surrounds the sword and I swing it in front of the person at the front of the line. The energy rips apart the marble floor, leaving red and black energy to seep out of the cut floor like a mild flame. The man at the front and the others behind him stumble back with screams of terror.

My right arm is throbbing in pain and has a few blisters along it from channelling more arcane energy than I could handle, but I ignore it as I hang my head down with my eyes closed.

"Celestia and Luna are just like anyone else, living breathing people with wants and desires like you or me. You can insult me all you want, I don't give a damn what you fucking snobs think of me, but belittle Luna or make Celestia cry again with your pathetic selfish attitudes..." I say emotionlessly and lift my head to glare at them. "... you'll answer to me," I threaten them. They as well as Luna gasp at me, I look down and see my reflection on the polished marble floor under my feet.

The whites of my eyes are black and my irises are blood red, I frown and close my eyes at the reflection with a shake of my head. I look again to see my eyes are back to normal.

I then look up and glare back at the Nobles. "Get out," I simply say.

They quickly leave the Throne Room without looking back, the guards still in the room look confused and on edge. Once they're all gone, I drop my sword and grip my right arm as it goes limp with my left hand. My arm is in too much pain to hold it any longer. I sit down and channel two life elements into my right arm and slowly heal it.

"A-Adrian? Are thou alright?" Luna asks me, placing a hand on my shoulder, her anger now gone, replaced with concern.

I sigh and look up at her. "I don't know... fuck the Nobility," I reply and Luna agrees.

Once healed, I turn to Celestia who is quietly sobbing into her hands where I gently warp her in a hug. "I'm sorry I lost my temper like that," I tell her.

She hugs me back and calms down. "It has been centuries since anypony has treated me as just another mare, but as somepony too high to reach, untouchable, or they're just not worth my time," she tells me and Luna joins in on the hug.

"You and Luna are the first friends I've had in years... right now, you two mean more to me than anything else..." I tell her. I then look back at the damage I caused to the Throne Room floor. "Sorry about the floor," I apologise.

She giggles a little. "It's alright, and thank you." Her horn glows and the floor slowly repairs itself.

"So... how about it? Still want to go on that date?" I ask her again with a smile and let her go.

I wipe her eyes with a thumb and she smiles at me. "I'd love to."

Next Chapter: Chapter 21: A Date with the Sun Estimated time remaining: 17 Hours, 52 Minutes