Bytes sped through my door the very second I opened it. She didn't even give a backwards glace as she practically barreled through me to get inside. Wow, Baroness Von Ice cube really freaked her out for some reason. I made a mental note to figure out what is going on with that later. I then turned back to Mrs. Frosty and the Commander only to find them giving each other death glares.

The amount of hatred in their eyes combined probably could’ve incinerated a small animal. So doing the smart thing for once in my life I actually kept my damn mouth shut. I’m not even sure if they knew I was still even there anymore. Not that I was really complaining for not being the poor bastard for all that anger. Luckily it did not take long before the two slowly separated and they more or less walked backwards still glaring at each other. I wasted no time as I slipped back behind my door and frantically locked all three dead bolts.

“Who in Tartarus was that?” I said talking mostly to myself. To my surprise it was answered, but not the way I’d hoped.

“How should I know? I’m just some fanged loser,” a sarcastic voice said behind me. I bashed my head against my door a few times in response.

I then bashed my head against the door once more before saying back, “You see I’m trying to find an easier method for cooling the server racks. And being Baroness Von Icicle back there could suck the remaining heat out of a glacier, I figured I’d offer her a job.”

Bytes snorted once and sounded like she was laughing to herself.

After a few seconds I rubbed my face before turning around and saying “Alright, I know we got off on the wrong hoof here-”

“Wow! You should really pick up your award,” Bytes replied glaring over her shoulder for a second while unpacking her things.

I raised an eyebrow, “My what?”

“You know. Your award. You won first place for ‘understatement of the year’…”

I rubbed my face some more, “Alright I know I was being an asshole bordering on royalty, but-”

She let out a single “Ha” before stating “Wait! No, I had it aaaallll wroooong. THAT’S the prize winner.”

It was pretty obvious that I pissed her off. I’d unfortunately gotten really good at doing that down the years to others. Maybe it was my bitterness at getting stuck here or even just I’d just gotten so worn down the years that there wasn't much kindness left in me. Still, it wasn't Bytes fault that this happened to me and she really didn't deserve the abuse. For all I knew she got roped into doing this sort of job just like I did. She, just like me, probably didn't pick to work with somepony they didn't know, but was forced. So in an attempt repair the damage I've caused I was going to say something I don’t say nearly enough.

“Bytes…I’m…s…s…sorry,” I said struggling to say the words.

She looked taken back for a moment, but raised an eyebrow and said “What was that? I don’t think I’d heard you right.”

I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and lowered my head. “I said I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I’m not the kindest pony sometimes and you don’t deserve it. I've been stuck here for far too long with no way out, but that’s not an excuse to take it out on you. Please, I’d really like to start over again.”

She sighed, “Alright, that apology will have to do for now. But what do you mean you've been stuck here? And what’s with that metal collar on your neck?”

A surge of fear flared through me as I flinched remembering that damn thing around my neck. I opened my eyes and lifted the collar of my black t-shirt to somewhat to cover it. I then said, “You ever do something so damn stupid that you get to pay for it probably for the rest of your life?” Bytes didn't say anything, but put a hoof to the side of her neck. I took another deep breath and continued, “I broke into this place’s network five years ago and they beat the daylights out of me. Now I’m forced to work here. The answer to your second question is this collar’s what keeps me here. If I try to leave the complex I get fried like a hay burger. You can probably guess how I figured that one out.”

Bytes continued to be silent so I was the first to speak again, “So how’d you get conned into working this gig? And what was with Baroness Von Frostbite out there? She’s seriously only one of the few ponies to really give me the creeps.”

After a moment Bytes chuckled a bit and looked up at me before saying “Truth be told I’m stuck with her like you’re here. She calls herself “The Baroness” and I got tricked into being what she calls her ‘little hounds’. She controls the underground blood supply in the city and without it…well let’s say that wouldn't end well for me. She’s only working with you ponies because somepony is encroaching on her turf.”

Hmm that always figures. At the end of the day it always boils down control and power. It seems little miss Baroness got herself a bit of a problem with both and is leaning on Heart Stake to take care of it. However, now that Bytes brought up her side of the story I figured I ask something that’s been eating away at me for a while.

I pursed my lips for a second and said, “Well that explains a few things, but there’s something I never ended up getting any information on and I've tried pretty damn hard. Where’d this vampirism come from anyway? Someponies say it’s a disease. Others say it’s some kind of curse that can transmit. I can’t imagine it’s only in this city either.”

“Your guesses are as good as mine. The only time I asked The Baroness on any of that, I got back hoofed into a wall. Then she rattled off all sort of insults and shut off my blood supply for three days,” Bytes said before shuttering and hugging herself.

After looking at her for a minute I didn't have the heart to ask her any more questions. She sounded like she really didn't have a good life in the least and pressing her further would just be outright cruel. Maybe later I could get more answers.

“Well anyway now that it seems you’re going to be here for the long run I’ll help ya get settled in. This little place is like a small hotel room with two small bedrooms, a tiny kitchen, and a tiny bathroom. You can have the other spare bedroom I don’t use. Also you can connect your laptop I see you have there on my computer desk. It should be big enough for the two of us…I hope,” I said thinking for a moment. I then looked at her small cooler she brought with her and added “I assume that thing contains some sort of blood container and needs to get refrigerated right?”

Byte gave me a fanged grin and said “Well if it’s not cold then it’s gonna spoil. And then I need to find a substitute.”

“A substitute?” I questioned, but she only looked directly at me for a second before it sunk in. “Oh right. Walking juice box here. Got it. Well then please feel free to move a few of my many cans of energy drinks out of the fridge. I’d rather have a warm drink then a cold shriveled up body.”

“Excellent choice! Besides with you sucking down all those energy drinks I’d probably get a heart attack feeding off you,” Byte said while moving her cooler to the kitchen.

I smirked, sat down in my computer chair and replied with, “Heh, don’t say that to the Commander. Otherwise I may end up some sort of experimental weapon.”

After that I just sat at my desk for a little bit staring off into space before I heard Bytes say something from the kitchen. “Sweet fucking Luna you have a lot of energy drinks in here. I mean there’s no food just drinks. Nothing but drinks from top to bottom. Waaaait a minute ‘Flat Line’? You actually drink Flat Line? I thought this crap was outlawed for giving ponies chest pains.”

“Correction, they tried to outlaw it. However the leaders of that little study got reported by a random somepony to the authorities,” I said and smiled as I popped open another can of Flat Line. “You see it appears they were blatantly accepting bribes from Flat Line’s competitors. Also it seems somepony wiped out all the study data they had on their database. Including the back-ups…imagine that…” I heard Bytes laughing to herself in kitchen in response

Now I normally don’t go out of my way to bust ponies like that. It takes way too much time and effort to break through firewalls and gain admin access. In this case it took me about three months to do so. However when some dumbass decides to try and cut off my favorite caffeine fix I get a little Tartarus bent about it.

As I listened to Byte’s laughter I took another sip of Flat Line and then hugged the can before whispering, “Don’t worry my little darlings. Daddy will take goooood care of you heh heh heh.”

After Bytes unpacked her things she went to setting up her laptop. It was probably going to take a while and I had some downtime anyway so I decided to play my favorite video game. Ahh the wonderful “Hooves and Steel” the RTS edition. Not many online players were able to beat me as I had played the game for longer than what would be considered remotely healthy. Probably helps that my sleeping patterns are pretty shot so insomnia was always my faithful ally.

Everything was going as usual. Some poor idiot was trying to fight me and was losing units at an alarming rate. Then just as I was about to smear them across the map I saw a new player enter the game. The name read “The Crimson Mistress”…uh oh, not good. The Crimson Mistress was sort of an urban legend on here. She would pop out of nowhere when somepony was losing and obliterate their opponent. She never chatted. She never tied. She always just ripped some poor bastard a new one before going off into the abyss somewhere.

However this was the probably the first time she met somepony like me. I was an expert at this game and I would not go down without a fight. I...wait a minute…where in Tartarus did all those damn units come from?! No no noooo she’s capturing everything! Keep your head Dark Net! KEEP…well…that...was something. I just got beaten like an old rug.

I just sat leering at the monitor before I heard some laughter next to me, “You know Dark Net you really suck at this game.”

Confusion set in as right before I looked at her. For some reason she was giving me a smug look before faking a yawn. I then looked at her laptop’s screen and said “What do you mean ‘this game’? What are…you…nooo no no no. You’re the ‘The Crimson Mistress’?! You’re the one who makes ponies piss themselves on here?!”

She then took a bow before giving me the same smug look. “I want a rematch!” I yelled.

Bytes then yawned for real and said, “No can do mister sore loser. This day really wore me out. I’m going to bed.”

It was then I did something I thought I would never do. The only thing I've never done for anypony else on the entire planet. I got up, stomped over the fridge, grabbed two cans of Flat Line, and stomped back to my computer chair. I then slammed the second can in front of Bytes before growling “Sleep is for the weak! I want a rematch. Pleeeeeaaase. You’re the only pony to beat me so damn bad.”

She half narrowed her eyes and then glanced at the can of Flat Line. “Is stuff even safe to drink? I mean we vampires can sort of drink other liquids like tea and coffee, but this…”

“Awww the mighty Crimson Mistress beaten by a little can of Flat Line. Well in that case you forfeit and I win. Yaaaay me!” I snarked.

Bytes’ face scrunched up at my comment. Then without warning, she grabbed the can and tipped it sideways. I then saw her tilt her head back before she sunk her fangs into it. In two swift gulps she drained the entire thing and complained about it tasting like “lighter fluid” before crushing the can with her forehooves.

I didn't know what else to say except, “Are you ready?”

To which I got a simple “You’re going fucking down!” from Bytes. And that was all I needed to hear as the games begun.

I had no idea what happened next. The only thing I remember was waking up drooling on my keyboard with a "You Lose" message and a server disconnect notification on my monitor. My mouth was dry and there were at least half a dozen empty cans of Flat Line next to me and Bytes each. She however was still out like a light. Her mane was a mess and the top half of her body was sprawled out over the desk in front of her.

I wasn't sure how to wake her. We really needed to start the day otherwise the damn Commander was going to get on our case. Or better yet Baroness Von Permafrost. Not sure which one would be worse. Either way after several trials and errors involving me almost getting bitten several times did she finally wake up.

“Wha…what happened…Oooowww my heeeeeead,” she groaned.

Ahhhh the feeling of the Flat Line crash. I had many a day like these and they all involved an amazing night of gaming previously as well. Such is the cost of greatness I suppose. Or as some users of the drink say “With great power comes great withdrawal symptoms and nightmarish level migraines”. I didn't care, it was always worth it in my opinion. Though I’m not sure Bytes would agree at the moment.

Anyway, it was a real task to get Bytes moving that morning, but I discovered one useful piece of information. Half awake and grumpy vampires make the greatest stupid question filters known to pony kind. You see we had a loooong day of tech support and Bytes wanted nothing more than to go to bed. So when some poor bastard would delay us, she would glare at them and make the most bone chilling hiss imaginable. Then you know what happened next? The source of the problem just up and disappeared. Usually in reverse. At speed. And knocking everything over along the way.

So this continued for a few months. Me and Bytes would game till we dropped, and then our daytime jobs got a whole lot easier. It was probably one of the best times of my life. I finally had somepony I could talk to and not be alone all the time. I even started to notice I was smiling as I passed by other ponies in the hallway instead of my usual scowl. Everything was going perfectly until one day.

I was lying down in my bed from a headache when I heard Bytes talking in the next room. I turned my head to see if I could make out anything, but only heard, “I’m not going to fucking do it. I can’t. I can’t do it.”

It was strange as there was nopony else was in here as far as I was aware. I got out of bed and peeked out of my bedroom doorway. Bytes was sitting next to her laptop with a flash drive in her hooves. She then put the flash drive partially in her mouth and snapped it in half. I walked up behind her and cleared my throat.

She spun around and made a face of terror. I had obviously caught her red hoofed doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing. Now given it was a flash drive, what she was attempting to do could only fall into three categories. It was either download something, upload something, or a combination of the two. All three of which could be pretty bad.

I sat down in my computer chair, rubbed my face, and said, “Care to explain what you were doing, Bytes?”

She fumbled and stuttered, “I-I-I can’t. I couldn't do it.”

I raised an eyebrow, “Couldn't do what?” Then when she wouldn't talk I firmly said “Spill it!”

“P-please don’t be mad. The Baroness wanted me to upload something. But, I…you…please please don’t be mad. I didn't do it. I broke the damn thing instead,” she said with red tears pouring down her face.

So upload it was. Now given that she didn't know what she was uploading from what she said, we will assume it was a virus of some sort. Though of what nature was anypony’s guess. However, for some reason I just wasn't mad at all. I figured I would've been fuming or at least slightly pissed off, but I wasn't. I just looked at those tear soaked slitted green eyes and I melted.

In turn I just said “It’s fine. I’m not mad. You destroyed it before it could damage anything,” before getting up and walking into the kitchen.

Bytes followed a minute later to find me against the far wall of the kitchen. She then got closer to me and wiped a tear from her eye. “You’re not mad at all? How!? I could've destroyed everything for all we know! I mean come on! I’m mad at me! How are you not?!” she said in a cracking voice.

I just shook my head and said “As soon as I figure that out I’ll tell ya. But I’m not mad at all for some reason.”

She moved even closer to me until our faces were pretty close together and just said “How?”

My heart started to beat faster and my face started to heat up. It wasn't from anger, but something else. Then I had finally discovered why I wasn't angry, I liked her. She was the only pony to somehow put up with me for months. I’m not sure if I could put up with me for months.

Then, without really thinking, I put a hoof to the side of her face, leaned closer, and closed my eyes before kissing her on the lips. She shuttered for a moment before leaning into it herself. One kiss turned into two and then it got a tad more heated. However something happened that quickly became a problem. One of her fangs had lightly pierced my lip.

I opened my eyes from the small amount of pain to see two pools of black staring back at me. She let out a low growling that didn't sound friendly in the least. It only lasted for a second before she pulled away from me frantically swearing and cursing over and over again. She then ran to the fridge and scrambled through its contents before swearing even louder while she slammed the fridge door shut. I then saw her lean back against the fridge and slide down it covering her eyes.

“Bytes? Are you-” I started to say as I took a step closer but she stuck out a hoof to tell me to stop.

“P-p-please d-don’t come near me! I-I-It’s not sa-afe! T-there are no blood bags left in the fridge. Getting…hard to control…” She said half growling half pleading.

I got a bit nervous, but I managed to say “You’re out? Maybe I can get you another one.”

To which she shook her head back and forth while still covering her eyes. “Th-they are g-g-one till ToMORRow. I DIDn’t g-grab ONE when I SHOuld HAve. S-sTAY awAY FRom Me! NoT SAfe For YOU!” she said her voice getting more strained.

She was violently shaking now. I couldn't imagine how hard it was to restrain herself. What was more worrying wasn't even for my own safety, but hers. If the Commander found out Bytes was going unstable truce or no truce she’d be killed on the spot. Gray Heart has a low tolerance for that…go figure right? I just couldn't let that happen. It’s hard to admit but Bytes was probably the only friend I've really ever had. She was a pretty good kisser at that. So I decided to do something monumentally fucking stupid.

“Bytes, we might need that substitute idea,” I said rubbing my face.

“W-what are YOU TAlking abOUT?

“I’m a walking juice box remember? If the commander sees you like this she’ll have you killed on the spot. I can’t…won’t let that happen. Now you vampires normally don’t kill your victims. You just drain them and leave them a bit tired for a few days. I could live with that. Couldn't be any worse than a Flat Line crash,” I said with a grin.

She uncovered her eyes to reveal those two black pits again. “Y-you’d do that for me? Y-y-you bareLY KNow me and yoU’D DO THis?” she said struggling and I could tell her will was really breaking apart.

“Yeah…I guess I would. Soooo how does this whole thing work? I probably have to grab some bandages and some antiseptic. But anyway how you want to do this before I regain my senses?”

“A b-bed wOUld be EAsieST,” she replied looking at me with those black pits of hers.

So the bed it was. I gathered up a few supplies from the bathroom before going back to my room. Then for some reason she made me take off my black T-shirt. It was probably for the best. The shirt was black, but rip marks tend to stand out more than blood stains. After that, I laid down on my back on the bed and tried reeeaaallly hard to relax. I was being pretty unsuccessful, but at least I was trying.

My body started to shake more as she slowly crawled on the bed before looming over me. Her eyes were really scary at the moment. They were completely unblinking and all black. After a few seconds she lowered herself on top of me. I was thinking the worst so I squeezed my eyes shut to block everything out. But to my surprise instead of biting me, she kissed me on the lips. And it got pretty passionate in a hurry. Not that I minded of course as it felt really good.

Then she broke the kiss and I thought this really was it. It was time for a whole lot of pain and awful. But again that didn't happen. She just kissed my chin, then the side of my neck, then my chest before working her way further south. My face soon scrunch up in response.

“It…it’s not like I’m disliking what you’re doing. B-but my…n…neck is up heeEEEEEERRRree,” I started to say when she began kissing a rather sensitive area.

She just looked up for a second and said “P-please l-l-let me do this. I really need this as much…as I know you do.”

I would have been absolutely stupid if I said “no”. I don’t even remember the last time I had this done to me. Was it six…no maybe seven years? Also to make matters more interesting, for some reason the sheer danger I was in made it feel even better as she was kissing me down there. It took me no time at all before I got uncomfortably hard. But she wasted no time as she stuffed it right in her mouth.

I was having some pretty mixed feelings by this point. On one hoof it was probably the best damn thing I ever felt in my entire life. But on the other the feeling of the sides of her fangs on both sides of “me” was both enticing and scary. I didn't really care though as my mind was pretty scrambled from the amazing sensations.

As I was started getting close to cumming, she stopped, making me groan in disappointment. However, it seemed she had something else in mind. She crawled up to where our faces were almost touching and then thrust me inside of her. To which I have to make a correction on my previous statement. This was the best damn thing I ever felt in my entire life.

My mouth gaped wide open as my breathing sped right the Tartarus up. Also my heart felt like it was beating right out of my chest as she kept thrusting me inside of herself. Then with what little control I had left of my body I opened my eyes to see her staring down right at me. Her black pools of eyes were unblinking as they stared and her lips partially curled back revealing her fangs. This of course my made my eyes open to the size of dinner plates as the pure terror set in.

I was absolutely terrified beyond belief, but for some reason I was so unbelievably turned on. But that wasn’t the best part. As I got close to cumming again she leaned in and whispered in my ear “Our kind can’t get pregnant. So don’t you dare pull out,” and felt her pointed tongue lick the side of my neck.

That was the final thing that threw me right over the edge. I gritted my teeth and squeezed her close as I came inside of her so much I thought it would never stop. I then collapsed back to the bed from exhaustion. My breathing was still heavy and I could feel hers was up there as well. She then took a few more breaths and said “Alright try…and relax. I’m…going to…feed now,” and I didn’t care in the damn least. She could’ve said she was going to suck me completely dry and I would’ve just smiled as I died a happy stallion.

After a few seconds I felt her fangs glide right above my metal collar before they slowly sunk into my neck. Which, to my surprise, didn’t really hurt that much at all. I once bashed my leg into my computer desk that felt worse than this. So there I laid, still deep inside of Bytes while I felt her swallow every few seconds. However after a minute or two of this my vision started to get pretty blurry and my body got colder.

In response I said in a ragged voice, “Careful…Bytes. The juice box…is getting a little…low on juice.”

She just nodded and pulled her fangs out. I wanted to look at her, but my vision was going dark and I couldn’t make anything out. The only thing I heard was Bytes saying “Mmmm you tasted nice,” before I passed out with a smile on my face.

Author's Note

There we go, a few more pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place. I certainly hope you all enjoyed the ending of this chapter.