//------------------------------//
// Book One; Chapter Four 
// Story: What Happens After Dusk 
// by Tiaa OwO 
//------------------------------//


Book One; Chapter Four


The Hunt

Flash sat on his computer and looked up 'The Other World' on Google. He expected almost nothing to come up but he was surprised by the many informational websites that popped up. Caramel and Rashel watched him click a site from over his shoulder.
"Uhh, what are your names again?" Flash asked. Caramel said nothing.
"I'm Rashel and this is my boyfriend, Caramel."
"Oh yea."
"You saved him from a vampire, hello!" Flash smiled sheepishly.
"Right. It was kinda on impulse, you know? Instinct." Flash looked at the screen and read about three lines. He stiffened. His eyes flicked to the couple and back to the computer. He gulped.
"So... uh... vampires aren't the only thing I have to worry about, huh?"



Maxii petted the small child gently. The kid whimpered but did not move. He wouldn't dare. Maxii was cold-blooded. She would rip his esophagus out before he could even utter a word. The boy was beautiful. His glowing eyes and golden hair with a sharp chin and an adorable smile. He was skinny but tough. His hands were rough from work and only the ring on his right hand indicated what he was. It was a ring with a black lily. Which meant only one thing.
The boy was a shapeshifter.



Dark elves, fairies, ghouls, Old Souls, goblins, fauns, and dwarfs. There were so many different Other World people that Flash had never even heard of. Dark elves had sharp ears, like cats, and fairies had elemental powers, and ghouls were damned humans who didn't change properly into vampires... It was too much to take in. Flash stood up abruptly and turned around with wild eyes. His breathing was heavy.
"What are you?" Caramel blinked.
"What do you mean?"
"You're not ponies. What are you? Vampires? Like that girl?"
"I am a pony." Caramel said simply.
"How can I believe you?" Flash eyed them both. Rashel sighed.
"I'm a werewolf. Caramel's telling the truth. He's a pony." Flash's eyes narrowed. He doesn't believe me, Rashel quickly realized. Caramel frowned. Oh yeah. Caramel could feel her surprise. But why was she surprised? She was never certain that Flash would have welcomed them without hesitation in the first place. Rashel was about to say something but Caramel gave her a look. He shook his head. Rashel sighed.
"If you don't believe us, Flash, you can go. Just remember that we called you here for a reason." Caramel said.
"Other than to help you out..." added Rashel. Caramel raised a brow at her. She blushed.
"We need your help." Flash stared at them long and hard.
"With what?"



Maxii herded the shapeshifter boy outside into the night air. The boy shivered and clung to his mistress. Maxii smiled down on him.
"What's your sisters name again, Keell?" Keell blinked and shrugged. "Oh c'mon, you can tell me."
"Ayona..." Keell shivered again. "Mistress, why do you want to know?" Maxii laughed casually.
"I just want to know. Now, do you want to know why I brought you out here?" Keell shook his head. "To hunt!" Keell's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Really?"
"Yes. But you must obey my every command. Your prey is very specific. An earth pony that smells a lot like a werewolf. You know my friend, Rashel, right?"
"Yes, mistress. Can I have the heart and liver?"
"Of course. You can also save what's left for later. Just let me have some blood." Keell grinned. He was a shapeshifter, after all. They required flesh. Maxii led the young shapeshifter outside and waved her hands impatiently. Keell didn't need to be told twice. His body started to change. Thick fur started to grow and his ears sharpened. His muzzle shortened while his teeth grew sharper and his feet grew into paws. Claws extended and a long, rounded tail emerged. His fur was golden and decorated with spots that clearly indicated what her was.
A leopard. Maxii clapped her hands together.
"Whoo hoo! Let's get a-hunting!" she did a little dance out of the joy of getting new prey. Keell let out a leopard-y mew and stuck his nose up in the air. "Here, baby, sniff this." Maxii let the boy sniff a necklace that she had snatched from Rashel a few years back. Keell sniffed it and was off. He kept to the shadows of the still just-darkening town. Maxii ran alongside him. Speed was no problem for the young vampire.



Flash, Caramel, and Rashel stopped in front of the precinct. Rashel sighed.
"Can you guys please just tell me why you need my help? Like, what for?"
"You ask too many questions." Rashel said. She smiled. "Come to us when you feel like you want to listen."
"But-"
"You have to agree to help us first." Caramel stated firmly. The couple turned and left the young detective frowning at their backs. He opened the door of the old, sagging police building and saw that only a guard and a rookie like him were in. He couldn't find Iona, which was odd. Flash turned around to close the door when he saw a big cat and a humanoid figure run past.
"What the...?" he started. The rookie looked up from his paperwork.
"What's wrong?"
"What?" Flash grabbed his .40 caliber pistol and dashed out the door. "Stay here!"
"No, wait, you took Iona's gun!" the rookie called. Flash ignored him and tried to follow the two creatures. He managed to find them when they stopped. The pony turned around and Flash froze. It was the same girl who had attacked Caramel before. She grinned at his shocked face. He aimed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. Maxii dodged the bullets easily.
"You remember me! How wonderful to know that I'm famous." The big cat growled. "Why don't you have some fun with this one, baby? I hear pegasi are yummy-yummy." She petted the leopard and it purred before turning to Flash with a murderous look in its eyes. The leopard licked its jowls, showing its jagged teeth and pounced. Flash tried to step to the side but the leopard got him. He was knocked down on his back and felt the pain of claws digging into his chest. The leopards tail swished side to side in anticipation. Maxii watched with a maniac-looking smile plastered on her face. Suddenly, there was a howl.
"Took her long enough." Flash murmured. Maxii's smile vanished. A huge black wolf crashed right into the leopard. Flash instantly tried to get up. Maxii was at his side in an instant. She tilted his head back forcefully and sank her fangs into his neck.
"GAAAH!!!" It felt like pain shooting through his veins and he felt weak with every passing second. She was drinking him dry! A growl and a whimper came from the tangle of fur that was Rashel the Wolf and Keell the Leopard. Flash let out a weak mewl.
"Stop. Right. There." Everypony froze. Maxii stopped her drinking to get a good look at the one who was interupting her meal. That would be her next target. Keell was pinned underneath Rashel and they stopped to look too. It was Blueblood, looking like quite the badass in his his black jeans and leather jacket. He lifted a knife and smiled. Flash didn't understand why Maxii stiffened. The knife was sharp but wooden. The blade looked like a toy despite the sharpness. Blueblood raised his hand, perfect poise, and threw the knife. Maxii smiled. He had thrown it wrong. It went left when she was right. The white unicorn, however, didn't stop smiling.
"Come at me, monster!" Maxii's heart sank a little when the last word reached her ears but she shook it off.
"Damned hunter!" she shrieked and lunged for him. It was a mistake. The same knife that had gone the wrong way came speeding back like a boomerang. It pierced her in her back, just above her hip. She sunk down to the ground and gasped in pain. Keell lifted his big, furry head and let out a low roaring sound. Rashel then took the opportunity to grab his throat in her jaws and bite down.
Hard.
Keell whimpered once, then went limp. His body changed back to his pony form.
"Keell!" Maxii wailed and ripped the knife out of her back. She glared at Blueblood with new found hate. "How dare you... you... lowlife scum... violate my body with your weak weapon!"
"Weak, huh? But I see blood." There was blood. It pooled out of the young vampire like a small waterfall. She stared at her own blood in horror and glared at the unicorn again. She hissed and started to go. Rashel, now in her pony form, stopped her.
"Oh no you don't. You've committed horrible crimes and besides," she gestured to Maxii's current state. "You're hurt. I can't leave a friend, no matter how horrible, injured like that and not help."
"I say you should finish her off. She's a filthy beast." Blueblood said. Rashel glared at him. Flash was still watching everything in silence, shocked from the whole thing.
"Just who do you think you are?"
"Hunter Blueblood. Former Prince Blueblood from Equestria."
"You hunters are just as bad as misguided Other World people like Maxii."
"Maxii?" Blueblood blinked. "Is that her name?"
"It's none of your business!" Rashel helped Maxii to her feet. "Leave, hunter. Your work here is done." Blueblood opened his mouth to say something but closed it as Maxii looked up at him.
Those eyes, he thought, those beautifully almond shaped eyes...
He turned to leave but not before looking over his shoulder.
"This isn't over." Maxii, hearing him, chuckled darkly.
"You bet it isn't."