Author's Note

The basic story is very much the same as the original "The mare in Gold" but with several changes to the events and characters, which will be shown more on the next chapter.

Chapter 1

A gigantic three headed beast with black skin, red eyes and sharp fangs let out an aggressive roar. The head on the right was a lion’s, the one on the left was that of a bull and the middle was a dragon. This was known as a class s hellhound, an extremely rare species only found in the dead lands. How it managed to come thousands of miles to the woods just outside a small village was anyone's guess, but right now, Twilight and her friends needed to stop this thing before someone got hurt. They each surrounded the beast, ready for any moves it might try on them.

Twilight learned of this creature thanks to reports from her royal guard, which she recently acquired from Celestia herself. She had ordered them to fall back and guard the town’s people with everything they had, while her and her friends handled the hellhound. This was normally considered too dangerous for a princess to handle, but Twilight rebutted that she and her friends needed some more combat practice.

The hellhound roared at the Alicorn before blasting her with a burst of fire, but thankfully she managed to block the attack with a magical force field. Applejack acted fast with Rainbow Dash, each of them ran and flew around the creature’s legs with ropes in their mouths. While all this was going on, Rarity and Fluttershy worked on a net they were going to use to trap the beast. The hellhound stopped firing his fire and charged at Twilight, only to trip and fall on his face thanks to the other ponies tying him up.

“Nice job girls!” cheered Twilight, but soon the monster looked at the rope and fired flames at them. Burning them and breaking free, she probably should've known the hellhound would try that. Since that didn’t work, it was time for plan B. “hey ugly, catch me if you can!” shouted the mare gaining the beast’s attention with a few blasts of her magic to his face.

It was probably one of her more stupid ideas, but it was all Twilight could come up with. But it technically worked, the beast looked at her angrily and charged right after the princess. She quickly turned around and flew away, needing to time this right or she and her friends would be dog food.

The mare continued to fly away, but made sure to stay just close enough for the beast to keep up. When she was a few more yards away she gave a quick signal with her magic, letting Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy know to drop the net right on the hellhound. They quickly threw the net down below them, right on top of the monster before he managed to chomp down on Twilight with his fangs.

The hellhound struggled against the net, twisting and turning and even trying to bite through the material with the fangs of all three of his heads. But the fabric wouldn’t dent, so he tried his fire next. But after several attempts, it was clear this net wasn’t only strong but fireproof also.

“It’s a good thing I managed to get plenty of this fabric just in time.” Rarity stated, standing with the others as they watched the hellhound try to break free from their trap. “That material was special ordered from the dragon lands, Ember was so kind in allowing me a chance to acquire the material for a line of dresses for some of the female dragons.” she added, but was still disappointed that she would need to wait another month before getting anymore of that material.

“It’s a good thing we came before the hellhound managed to go on a rampage in that village, who knows if those ponies would make it out alive.” Twilight sighed with a breath of relief, thankful none of her friends got hurt in this ordeal. However, there was still something on the Alicorn’s mind about this whole situation. How did this hellhound get here from the dead lands in the first place?

Rarity walked right up to her friend when she noticed the look on her face, something was troubling Twilight. “Darling, are you alright? You seem a little troubled, even after out victory.” the Unicorn stated, very worried for her friend.

“It’s nothing really Rarity, I just wonder how this creature managed to cross thousands of miles here without anypony knowing. Surely the scouts would have noticed it long before that, but it’s like this thing appeared right out of thin air.” Twilight explained to the best of her ability, but even she couldn’t fathom a guess how the hellhound showed up without alerting her guard sooner.

Applejack joined in on the conversation, she also had a strange feeling about this whole situation. “That’s a mighty fine question twilight, you recin someone brought this fella here?” she asked, it was possible the hellhound was brought from the dead lands to rampage on the town’s people. But the question is, why?

Rainbow Dash flew right above her friends, staring down at them. “I bet it was Chrysalis or Trixie, those punks are gonna get a beating of a lifetime from me!” the Pegasus decaled with a frown, but Twilight shook her head at the notion.

“I don’t think so Rainbow, Trixie isn’t the same as she was before and Chrysalis hasn’t been seen for months. But regardless, our first priority is to inform my guard to transport this creature back to his home.” the Alicorn informed her friends, who all nodded in agreement. However, Twilight was definitely going to do some research on the topic. Whoever did this might try again, in which case she needed to be ready for it.

Since their job is now done, the group decided to head over to that village and inform the chef that the hellhound wouldn’t bother them anymore. Twilight would make sure to inform her guard to retrieve the creature immediately, and transport him carefully back to the dead lands.

The moment everypony arrived back at the village Twilight ordered her guard to head for the hellhound, and start the process of transporting it back to the dead lands. The chef of the village was extremely grateful for the courageous and heroic actions of Twilight and her friends, so much so that he announced a celebration dedicated for the six. This made Twilight blush from all the attention, and tried to explain that wasn’t necessary but the chef insisted. All of her friends also thought it would be fun for a party before they got back home, so the princess gave in and accepted the idea.

The chef leader was from a long line of ponies who lead this village for over a thousand years, this small community was actually older than even Canterlot. There was also a notion that any pony outside of their own town was greedy and cruel, but thanks to the actions of Twilight and her friends the ponies changed their minds on that. Twilight was amazed by the historical value this small town had to be so long lasting yet be cut off from the rest of the world for so long was practically hard to believe.

The whole town helped to start the celebration, everything from gathering and cooking food to even setting up the tables and chairs. Twilight and her friends offered to help out, but the chef wouldn’t allow any of them to worry about it. This was a festival meant to honor them, so it wouldn’t be right for him and his ponies to ask them to work. Applejack didn’t really like the idea of doing nothing to help, she was a farm pony for crying out loud. She believed in hard work and lending a helping hoof, but Rainbow Dash didn’t mind as this gave her a chance to take a quick nap before it was party time.

The town’s ponies even put up a bar in the middle of town, something Rainbow Dash was the most excited about. She wasn’t an alcoholic or drunk by any stretch of the imagination, but she did enjoy a few drinks to have a good time.

When it was finally night time everypony was starting to celebrate with the six, and it sure was a large celebration. There were over a dozen different kinds of delicious foods made of the most fresh fruits and vegetables, not to mention many drinks and wines that placed stars in Rainbow’s eyes. Everypony was having a great time, Twilight really thanked Celestia that she agreed to stay for the celebration. All of her friends were going about their business, enjoying themselves while talking to the village ponies.

Applejack was helping some of the ponies with the food, she refused to not do her part for this party. She also loved all the different foods they made, some of which she had never seen before. One of the mares explained that many of their recipes were passed down since the beginning of their village, which meant these were over a thousand years old. To somepony like Applejack, learning about such old and treasured recipes was a dream come true.

Fluttershy was playing with some of the fillies and their cute pets, which were mostly baby bunnies, foxes and oddly enough fruit bats. Twilight was curious on this, enough that she asked the chef how the idea of bats for pets came to be. As it turns out the village believed the bat was the greatest of all animals, as it represented the moon and night to them. Now that Twilight thought about it, there were actually a few statues of bats, owls and even Princess Luna herself around this small community.

Rarity was seen just a few feet away from Fluttershy, talking to a few mares about their outfits. Which looked like regular dresses, only with a night theme and a slight bluish glow coming off them. The mares explained the fabric was made of silk from moon spiders, which made them both extremely durable but also had the effect of the outfits releasing a slight glow based on the personalities and emotions of the wearer. Rarity wanted to add this material to her next line of clothes, mixed with the dragon fabric her dresses would be both beautiful and indestructible.

“And the duck said, quack to you!” laughed Pinkie Pie as she was telling jokes to a group of ponies. And based on all the uncontrollable laughter, she was doing a very good job. Twilight smirked at this, that Earth Pony loved to make ponies smile no matter where she went.

Rainbow Dash was seen right at the bar, gulping down her fourth glass of hard cider and chatting it up with a cute mare with a red coat and yellow mane. A couple of weeks ago Starlight had a conversation with Rainbow about dates, Twilight didn’t know the full conversation but did learn from her student that Rainbow prefered her own gender over male. That was a little of a surprise for all of her friends, but they all supported her nonetheless.

Twilight loved that all her friends were having such a good time, it really made her heart feel warm knowing they were enjoying themselves and were so happy.

“Everypony is having such a great time, I can’t wait to tell Spike all about tonight.” Twilight said to herself, watching all her friends enjoy themselves. However there was something that bothered her, and that was the whole ordeal with the hellhound. She still couldn't forget about that thing even if she tried, there was no way it traveled all the way here from the dead lands by itself. It had to have been brought here by somepony, but who could do such a thing and for that matter why would they do it?

A hellhound was a dangerous creature, they were vicious and some of the most deadly in all of Equestria. But besides their size and claws, they had something else that made them pretty much a predator for ponies. Their natural defense against magic, which made normal magic not on the same level as a Alicorn useless against them. That was the only reason her magic worked at all, if she was still a Unicorn her and her friends would have been toast right about now. But that only made Twilight even more worried about who brought the hellhound here, as there is no way any of the other princesses would do such an act.

The mare actually reconsidered what Rainbow Dash mentioned earlier, perhaps Chrysalis did have something to do with the hellhound going rampage in the woods. The ex queen did have magical power somewhat equal to Celestia, and she has proven to do the unthinkable from time to time. But as soon as Twilight thought that, the sooner she remembered that hellhounds hated Changelings even more than ponies and loved nothing more than to kill them for either food or sport.

This was making Twilight think hard on the subject, who in Equestria could have enough magical might to transport a hellhound all the way here? And for what purpose would they have, or goal in attacking a small village?

“Don’t you just love these necklaces the ponies made for us Darling? They are just too kind!” Rarity laughed giddily as she continued her chat with the ponies, but moved her head to catch Twilight’s attention. Before the celebration began, the village ponies made each of them a necklace out of shells and leaves.

Twilight smiled and reminded herself this was supposed to be a time for relaxation and fun, she could worry about all the other stuff after she returns to her castle. But right now she felt her throat was a little dry, and her stomach gargled with hunder. Now that she thought about it, she had nothing to eat or drink for hours. She had better get something quickly, before she fainted and wound need Rarity’s famous fainting couch.

The mare quickly pardoned herself from the other ponies at her table, and made her way to the bar. She noticed Rainbow Dash was still chatting and laughing with the same mare, only her cheeks were a little reddish. Twilight noticed several empty glasses around the Pegasus, without a doubt Rainbow had a little too much to drink.

The Alicorn was going to have a serious talk with her friend when this was all over, Rainbow needed to handle her love of drinking before she becomes an addict. But for now the purple mare would leave it be, but only until she got herself feed and drank something. But just when she was about to call over the bartender and place her order, she received a tap on her right shoulder. She turned around on her seat and was now face to face with a mare, only this was not any ordinary mare.

This was none other than the daughter of the village chef, Twilight recognized her from when she and her friends first got to this small town in the beginning. Her coat was the same color as gold, and sparkled as though it was made of the same metal. Her main was colored a shiny silver, that seemed to sparkle in the moonlight. She had bright red eyes, each looked like rubies sparkled with beauty. She wore a long silver dress, with black around the bottom and light blue stars imprinted all around. She was a Unicorn mare, which allowed her to levitate a glass of a colorless liquid in her golden magic. She wordlessly offered Twilight a drink of the liquid, which her dry throat begged her to accept.

Twilight was thirsty beyond rational thought, so she kindly accepted the offering and took the glass in her own magic. The village princess smiled and watched with great intensity as Twilight gulped down every last drop of that liquid, it seemed to give the purple princess a great deal of pleasure from it.

This was definitely not water, and although Twilight wasn’t a big drinker like Rainbow dash she knew alcohol when she drank it.

The taste of this strange drink was like fresh strawberries mixed with milk chocolate, with a hint of caramel and cinnamon. To put it simply, this was by far one of the best drinks Twilight has ever had in her life. But she made a mental note to not allow Rainbow Dash a sip, that pony would definitely become an alcoholic if she tried this golden beverage.

“M-my word, this is delicious!” Twilight moaned with red on her cheeks, she eyed the empty glass and felt just a little disappointed that there was no more of that sweet juice. It was totally addicting, not to mention it made her whole body feel warm and relaxed.

“‘Im very happy you liked the drink Twilight Sparkle, my name is Sadri by the way.” the mare beamed at the princess with a smile, truly happy Twilight liked the drink. But something about her posture made her seem she was a little embarrassed, she kinda looked like a mare who was standing next to the stallion she liked in school. “I-i-i was wondering, w-would you like to dance with me?” she chef’s daughter asked, gained Twilight’s attention.

The purple Alicorn looked around her for a few seconds, everypony seemed to be having a great time dancing with somepony else. She also noticed a large group, including most of her friends dancing around the pond in the middle of town. They were all in a large circle, and seemed to be enjoying themselves. “It would be my pleasure to dance with you Sadri, lead the way!” Twilight announced with a smile, making the mare beam with happiness.

Sadri took Twilight’s hoof with her own and lead her to the dancing circle, the golden mare seemed very happy about the situation. Twilight felt a little light headed though, the drink must've been a little stronger than she thought it would be. Her whole body felt like it was laying on a soft pillow, just devoid of all tension and filled to the brim with gentle care.

Before the princess knew it, she was brought to the middle of the dancing circle and had her hooves locked with those of Sadri, the two mares just danced and laughed like there was no tomorrow. Going around in circles and back and forth, with was a great deal of fun. Twilight heard her friends laugh and applaud her, which really made her even happier.

The two of them continued their dance, until Twilight slipped and brought both of them down to the ground. But it didn’t bother them, in fact they just kept laughing away. Sadri tried to help Twilight up along with herself, but failed and landed right on top of the mare.

Twilight looked up to see a warm smile on the golden mare, she seemed really happy to dance with the princess. Before she knew it Sadri brought out a golden locket from her dress, it had small multi-colored gems embedded on it and had silver trimming on the sides. In the center was a bright and glowing sapphire gemstone, shaped like a crescent moon.

Sadri levitated the item with her magic to Twilight, offering the jewelry to the mare. “I want you to have this Twilight…” she said softly and with a large blush, and something about the way she spoke her words made her sound like she was seconds away from crying with joy. “Please accept this….please accept..me...” the mare practiclly begged.

Twilight was surprised by this gesture, she had never received a gift like this from anypony before in her life. She didn’t want to seem rude or ungreatful to the kind mare, especially with how well they acted with one another. So without a second’s thought, Twilight took the locket in her magic and wrapped it around her neck.

“Oh Twilight, you’ve made me the happiest mare in Equestria!” cried Sadri with a warm smile and tears going down her face, Twilight was confused for a moment before suddenly the unexpected happen. Sadri leaned closer and locked lips with Twilight, giving her a possonit kiss she had never known before. The alicorn looked speechless and confused, before her mind went blank and she passed out into slumber.