My mind was pretty blank until I decided to open my eyes. However, for some reason I couldn't make anything out when I did. Wherever I was, it was pitch black and the ground was completely flat. I mean seriously there wasn't a bump to be had anywhere. I didn't know what in Tartarus was going on. So after a few seconds of this not being able to see anything crap I said “What the fuck is going on here?!” and my voice echoed around like crazy. But surprise surprise nothing happened beyond that weirdness.

I shook my head a few times and made an effort to stand up. However, the second I finished getting up a strange light started shining down not far from me. So well being the curious idiot I was I fought against the screaming alarms in my head and walked closer to it. The nearer I got the more bright the area around me became until I was in the center of it.

At the center of the light there stood a tall mirror with a thick black border around it. It looked like one of those fancy mirrors you find in designer clothing stores. I swear Manehatten is lousy with the things. However, this one was pretty different in that the mirror itself was completely black. It was somehow blacker than the darkness around me which sort gave me the creeps. But after a few seconds it then got even weirder. The mirror’s surface rippled for a bit and then stopped, showing me a reflection of myself with the endless dark behind it.

At first I didn't really think much of my reflection until I leaned in and got a closer look. And then it slowly dawned on me. There was something really off about the eyes in that they were all black. It was as if they were nothing but pupils. Some thought nagged at my mind as if I've seen those eyes before, but brushed it off. Then only second later my reflection’s eyes undilated and my heart proceeded to drop. The eyes were the same dark purple color as mine, but the pupils were not round, they were slitted.

I jumped back in shock and my reflection did the same, but I didn't fail to noticed something else was really off too. When I opened my mouth I discovered the reflection’s top canine teeth were longer than usual and ended in sharp points. Upon noticing this creepy fact I walked back up the mirror to where my face was almost touching the surface.

I stared for a second and then started making random expressions with my face. It started to become pretty funny actually as my creepy copy would make the same funny faces. I tilted my head back and forth and stuck out my tongue only to be met with a pointed tongue from my reflection. I was really having a grand old time and even started to laugh a bit until my copy just stopped matching my movements. The expression on its face quickly faded to a neutral look. Then it just sat there and stared at me motionless.

Now this bummed me out a bit as I was having a lot of fun screwing around. However my feeling of disappointment was reaaalllly short lived. My copy started to move again, but it wasn't matching my movements. Its lips curled back and reveled its teeth before it slowly opened its mouth into a silent hiss. Its eyes then dilated to the pitch black pits it had before. Then right as the damn thing’s eyes turned into pools of black it reached right through the mirror's surface at me.

My eyes snapped open and I screamed at the top of my lungs. I fumbled with my bed covers for a second only to have somepony say “Calm down Dark Net! It was only a dream!”

I whipped my head around and saw two green glowing slitted eyes looking at me. Terror soon took over and I shrieked like a filly for a second before I realized it was just Bytes looking at me. In relief I flopped back on my pillow. “ I…oh…oh thank freaking Celestia that was just a dream. I honestly thought that was real for a second there,” I said covering my eyes with my hooves.

“Easy there Dark Net. It was just a fever dream. You started burning up an hour or so after I fed off you. I was really starting to get worried after you wouldn't wake up,” I heard Bytes say next to me.

“Fed off? Oh right…that,” I said touching the bandage on my neck. “Well anyway what do you mean I wouldn't wake up?” I added.

She pursed her lips and said “Well…you see you've been out cold probably for the better part of sixteen hours. I tried shaking you a few times, but you didn't wake-”

“SIXTEEN HOURS?! Oh shit! The commander’s going to have my head on a fucking pike!” I yelped and tried getting out of bed only to have Bytes push me back down with little effort.

“Lay back down you. You’re in no condition to get up yet. Besides, don’t worry, I took care of it. But…but I gotta say…please please pleeeeaaasee don’t make me do that again,” Bytes said and looked at me as one of her eyes started to twitch.

“Hmm? What happened? What’d you do?” I said, looking completely confused.

She tapped her hooves together a few times and said “Well you were really out cold and I couldn't wake you up for work. Now being I didn't want to leave you here alone half dead, I figured I'd skip work too. Everything was juuuust peachy until a few hours ago when your commander came by to probably check why we weren't making our rounds on system support and…”

I raise an eyebrow and said “And what?”

Bytes swallowed once and then a second time. “Alright alight I’m just going to lay this out here. That mare scares the moonlight outta me. I answered the door and her face…I mean her face! It went from ‘mild annoyance’ to ‘I’m going to destroy everything you ever loved’ in a second flat when she realized it was me. Sweet fucking Luna she could give the Baroness lessons on death stares,” Bytes shivered a bit before continuing, “Well anyway I told her you weren't feeling good and we’d have to make up it tomorrow, but she didn't say anything back. She just freaking leered at me the entire time before I just slowly closed the door again. Gah I could feel her eyes still glaring at me through the door. Yeeeeesh that was freaking scary. Pleeeeease don’t make me do that again.”

I couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Bytes’ face. She had this funny mixture of terror and bewilderment. I really wish I could say that Bytes’ experience with Gray Heart was unique, but it wasn't. I once saw her give that fear inducing glare at some poor cafeteria worker for the mistake of serving her decaf. And here I thought I had a bad caffeine addiction. It probably didn't help that the mare tried to pass it off as a joke. How in Tartarus were they supposed to know Gray Heart doesn't have a sense of humor? I really don’t think I ever saw somepony gallop so hard to replace a cup of coffee.

After a few moments I felt my stomach growl. In response Bytes just smiled and said “Well looks like somepony's hungry. Stay here, I’ll get you some breakfast.”

I half narrowed my eyes and glanced at my alarm clock before saying, “You do realize it’s two in the afternoon right?”

“Coome ooon there were these amazing looking waffles in the cafeteria. And being I can’t eat them I’m gonna make you eat them,” she replied as she started walking out of the room.

I sighed and said, “Can’t I just get a hayburger inste-”

“WAFFLES!” Bytes replied, interrupting me.

So waffles it was I guess and I apparently didn't have a say in the matter. Not like I was going to put up much of a fight anyway as I kept getting really dizzy every time I tried to get out of bed. I just ended up crossing my forelegs and waited for Bytes and these so called “amazing” waffles. Which surprising it didn't take long for her to return. She just skipped into my room with a steaming plate of waffles that were absolutely saturated in syrup.

I raised an eyebrow. “Ya know if you were trying to drown those poor things I think you've succeeded,” I snarked.

“Oh shut up and eat the damn waffles,” she replied as she started cutting up the waffle.

I just rolled my eyes and said “Yes Mommph” right as Bytes stuffed a bite of waffle into my mouth.

Admittedly the waffle was pretty good. Even the massive amount of syrup bizarrely improved the flavor somehow. However I had a bad feeling the sugar rush to follow would probably be on the levels of epic. But I could barely move anyway so I just sat there as she kept stuffing waffle in my mouth like I was some sort of hospital patient.

This continued until I realized she kept making this disappointed face every time she fed me a piece of waffle. I swallowed my current bite and said “Is something wrong Bytes?”

She pursed her lips and said “No…it's fine.”

“Hmm? What’s wrong?” I questioned.

“It's…it’s just that it’s been so long since I could eat solid food. I don’t even remember what waffles taste like anymore,” she replied and frowned.

“Umm what happens when you eat solid food?” I said honestly curious.

“If I shallow solid food I usually proceed to violently throw up. My body isn't designed for that anymore,” she said, frowning more.

I thought for a second and said “You know you don’t have to shallow it. You could always just chew it and spit it out afterwards. There’s a garbage can next to my computer desk.”

She looked puzzled for a second and opened her mouth to say something, but immediately closed it. She then just sat there thinking before saying “No, I don’t wanna waste your food.”

“Bytes…It’s a single bite of waffle. I’m pretty sure I can manage,” I replied half narrowing my eyes.

This just caused her to go back to her puzzled look for bit before a large smile spread across her face. She then plopped the plate of waffles next to me and walked out of the room. Upon returning she came back with my garbage can and placed it next to herself. She then picked up a small piece of waffle and stared at it for a second before putting it into her mouth.

Her eyes lit up like a hearts warming eve tree as she started chewing. “Oh sweet Luna this is delicious!” she said before she spat it out into the garbage can. To which of course she grabbed a second and third piece and did the same as with the first one.

I looked at her practically hugging herself after each piece. I don’t think I ever saw somepony so happy to spit out half chewed up waffle pieces. But I just kept looking at her until I remembered what she said about her and solid food. “Umm Bytes you may want to slow down there,” I said concerned.

“Iph canph! thiph isph greaph!” she said with her mouth full of waffle.

Now I had no idea what in Tartarus she just said. So I made the mistake of saying “Ya know you really shouldn't talk with your mouth full.”

Without thinking she swallowed and said “Oh sorry. I said this is great!”

I must have made a face because she just said “What?” before it slowly dawned on her.

She proceeded to say “Uh oh” as her eyes widened in shock. She then stuffed a hoof in front of her mouth and galloped out of my bedroom. In short order I was then serenaded to the lovely sounds of pure awful coming from the bathroom. It stopped only long enough for Bytes to say “It was still fucking worth it!” before continuing to produce some really wonderful noises.

After she probably threw up everything she ever ate ever, she then stumbled back into my room still looking pretty sick. Without a word she made me move over in my bed before getting under the covers herself. The only movement she made in the next minute or so was to move my garbage can closer to the side of the bed.

I just chuckled to myself as I wrapped a leg around the shivering Bytes. I was really afraid to ask what condition our bathroom was in. Knowing Bytes’ usual dietary habits it probably resembled a violent murder scene from a horror flick. Well not much I could do about that now, at least she got that out of her system. But one thing I do know for certain was that Bytes was now banned from waffles.

I don’t remember what happened really after that as I think I must have passed out. I don’t remember falling asleep. What I do remember was my head was freaking killing me and I laid down and closed eyes for a second. Then before I knew it I woke to Bytes snoring right in my ear and drooling all over the pillow. Wait no she was drooling all over me too.

I sat up, looked at my alarm clock, and tried to shake Bytes awake. To which she let out a low growl until I shook her harder and said “Bytes wake up.”

“Alright alright I’m up I’m up,” she said after smacking her dry lips a few times. Her stomach then grumbled probably due to being empty from the day before. Within a few seconds she looked at me as her eyes started to dilate.

“Ooooh no. Not that again. You. Fridge. Now,” I said pointing in the direction of the kitchen. She gave me a pouty face in response, but I just more firmly pointed again.

“But but yours tastes better,” she said trying to pout even more.

“No! One that pouty face doesn't work when you look like a cat eyeballing a mouse. And two I still haven’t fully recovered from last time. So as this mouse wants keep on squeaking. You. Fridge. Now.” I said firmly.

“Fiiiiine,” she huffed getting out of bed before adding “Also I'd advise hosing off the bathtub before you use it. I umm…I didn't make it to the toilet,” as she walked out of the room.

It was going to be one of thoooose mornings. Well it didn't take me long after getting out of bed to realize that horror flick scene I thought the bathtub was going to be in was pretty spot on. It was somehow even all over the wall. But anyway after I cleaned that nightmare out of the bathtub, I took a shower, tossed on one of my black t-shirts, and had a nice healthy breakfast that consisted of a can of Flat Line. It was then I realized that I rarely actually eat breakfast. Probably because I’m never up early enough to have it called that. Oh well the rest of the late morning didn't go too bad as we started to make our tech support rounds.

Everything was going just perfect. Bytes helped with some issues and kept the stupid at bay. The problems were actually problems not PEBKAC errors. They didn't even take that long to fix. The day was actually shaping up to be pretty good. Well until I had Bytes go get me another can of Flat Line out of our fridge as I went the next computer issue.

As I was walking down the hall it didn't take long before I had the feeling I was being followed. At first I thought it was just my imagination until I thought I heard a hoof step that wasn't mine. I looked around and there was nopony else in this hallway other than me. So the next corner turn I took I quickly spun around and stomped my hooves a few times. And just as I suspected a pony walked right around the corner.

I pointed and shouted “AH HA AAHHHHHH!” right as the barrel of a rather large silver revolver was stuffed up against my nose. I went cross eyed for a moment before I realized there was a very irritated looking Commander Gray Heart holding said gun. She soon glanced down at my neck and said “That’s a nice looking bandage you got there Dark Net.”

Now I find it reaalllly hard to say anything when I have a gun practically crammed up my nose. Especially when the mare that’s carrying said gun is known to be trigger happy. But, I somehow managed to blurt out, “Y-yeah t-thanks. M-my collar had screwed up and shocked m-me a day ago.”

Her eyes narrowed before she said “Bullshit!” and slammed me up against the nearest wall. She then quickly leaned in and ripped my bandage off with her teeth. A second later I felt the barrel of her revolver pointed up under my chin. I then heard her chuckle to herself before she said “Ya know. I would've believed you, but shock collars don’t make puncture wounds. So I’m willing to bet you and that little vampire bitch are getting all cozy huh?”

I looked down and glared at her before growling out, “You stay away from her!”

She just laughed and stuffed the barrel of her gun further into the underside of my chin. “And what are you going to do about it? Oooh I bet that bite itches like all Tartarus. I should know,” she said right before she uncovered her left shoulder reveling bite scars all the way up to the base of her neck. I never really noticed those before probably because she always wore the collar up on her leather trench.

She then covered her shoulder again and said “Now I’m going to tell you a little story and you’re going to listen. But first, do you know how the vampire infestation got started in this area?” I just shook my head before she added, “Well it seems those bastards must have buried that fact further than I thought.”

She pushed the gun into my chin again and said “I guess we’ll start from the top to really drive it into your thick head. The vampires are formed from a blood curse that each of them carry. The act of them just feeding off you won’t turn you, but the idiot that drinks their blood turns into one of those monsters after a couple of hours. Nopony at least that I know, knows where the curse originally started from, but we do know how it started here.”

She took a deep breath and continued, “Forget what you may have heard. It wasn’t caused from greed or lust for power, but a sheer act of desperation from a simple familymare. She was a doctor of a small village four hundred years ago when an unknown plague ravaged it. Story goes while she tried to keep it contained, eventually even she started to show signs of the disease along with her husband and children. That was when the deal with the demon was made.”

Gray Heart paused only for a few seconds and continued, “The mare at wits end because nothing she was doing was even remotely helping got visited by a slitted eyed monster. The monster offered her a cure and all she had to do was let it feed off her. In a panic she accepted the offer with little hesitation. So after the creature had its fill it turned her and then told her to feed her blood to her family. And just like that her family had recovered that night like some sort of magic. It wasn't until she had ‘cured’ the entire village that she realized the terrible price.”

Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't seem to looking me. It was more like through me or just focusing on her thoughts. “When the light of the sun came up the next day half the villagers were reduced to ashes from the sunlight, including her family. The others that hid were driven mad from blood thirst. Those very same villagers had then scattered in search of victims to prey upon and so the cycle started. But that’s not the end of this little tale. This is where mine starts you see.”

Then I saw something I never thought was possible, Gray Heart eyes’ starts to tear up. She struggled to keep her steeled composure as she started talking again, “My husband was coming home from work one day when he was attacked. One of those monsters bit him before they stuffed a bloody leg in his mouth. At first we thought it was just some cruel prank until the change started to take over. He really tried to fight it, but the thirst got to be unbearable over the next few days. So in an effort to protect our son I let him feed off me.”

Tears started to flow down her face. She then swallowed a few times before continuing her story, “Each day he grew more tormented because he saw how weak he was making me. Then one day in an act of guilt he brought home a gun that had special silver bullets. He told me to use it on him if he ever tried to harm anypony. At first I refused until one day I came home from the market to find him feeding off our son. I grabbed the gun and told him to stop, but it was too late. Our…our son had stop breathing. Whatever was left of my husband that day had begged me to shoot him before I pulled the trigger. With nothing left to lose, I started this organization to stop this scourge once and for all.

Gray Heart wiped the tears from her face before pulling out a second revolver. It wasn't very big, just looked like a smaller version of the one she had pointed at my chin. She then pulled her gun away from me and shoved the smaller revolver at me. “This is the very same gun I shot my husband with all those years ago. Truce or no truce, do us all a favor and shoot that little vampire of yours before she hurts anypony else,” she said before turning and walking away.

After she left I slid down the wall holding the revolver in my forehooves. My mind went completely blank as I stared at the silver horror in front of me. Then after sitting there for the better part of twenty minutes I got up and started walking down the hall, still holding the gun. Tears began rolling down my face as I kept replaying what Gray Heart told me to do. Bytes wasn't some monster. She was a friend, no she was more than that. I couldn't admit it to myself until now, but I loved her. I didn't care what she was, I really loved her. She was the only pony I ever got this close to and she made me feel happy even though I was stuck in this living nightmare. But what I think hurt most of all was that her feeding off me was my idea. I had tried to save her from Gray Heart only to have her end up in the cross-hairs anyway.

I kept stumbling around corners and I hadn't realized where I was walking to until I ended up at my room's door. After wiping the tears from my eyes I undid the locks and walked in only to find Bytes in her computer chair staring at the floor. In a panic I stuffed the revolver I was carrying behind me, but not before Bytes noticed it.

Her eyes looked like she had been crying as she said “What…what ya got there?”

I really tried my best at blocking out my thoughts as I faked a smile. “Oh…just some…item Gray Heart wanted me to hold-” I started to say, but Bytes interrupted me.

“You don’t have to lie, Dark Net. I…I heard the whole thing,” she said placing a can of Flat Line on the desk in front of her. “Do…do you think I’m a monster? I…I…I won't stop you if you do,” she looked straight at me with those green slitted eyes before stuffing her face in her hooves.

“Bytes…please don’t cry. Please…I…please don’t…” I said right before a red hot rage flared in me. I howled at the top of my lungs before I grabbed my computer monitor and whipped it at my room door. “IS THIS WHAT YOU FUCKING WANT HUH GRAY HEART?! ” I yelled. “YOU'RE SO FUCKING MISERABLE YOU GOTTA MAKE EVERYPONY JUST AS MISERABLE AS YOU ARE?!”

I sat down and stared at the revolver in my forehooves as tears flowed down my face. “Fine. FINE! You want somepony killed you heartless bitch?! Then fucking fine, but it ain't gonna be Bytes! It’s…it’s not gonna be her,” I said as I started to lift the gun to my head.

I heard Bytes yell “Dark Net! What are you doing?!”

“Good…good-bye, Bytes. I…I love you,” I replied with the barrel of the revolver pointed at the side of my head.

I then closed my eyes, but right before I pulled the trigger Bytes screamed “NO!” and tackled me to the ground. She then slapped the gun out of my hooves before easily pinning me. “What in fucking Tartarus are you trying to do?!” she yelled in my face.

“You heard the Commander! She wants you dead for feeding off me! I won’t…can’t fucking do it,” I yelled back as more tears flowed from my eyes. “You’re the best damn thing that ever happened to me! I’d rather shoot myself than shoot you! I can’t…I can’t go back to feeling so…so hollow like I was before. I…I love you…I just can’t fucking do it…”

She grabbed the sides of my face and yelled “Look at me!” I closed my eyes and tried turning my head, but she yanked my head to face her before yelling “LOOK AT ME DAMNIT!”

My eyes were cloudy, but did as she said. Her green eyes were bloodshot probably from crying as more red tears fell out of them. She then stared down at me as she said “Well I’m not going to let you do it either because…because…” a sad smile crept up her face, “…because I love you too.”

Bytes took a deep breath and said “You said you felt so hollow. Well I did too. I felt like that ever since The Baroness had her goons pin me against that sleazy bathroom wall outside a LAN party right before she sucked the life out of me. You said before you made a mistake that probably cost you for the rest of your life? Well this was mine. I bragged and bragged about my computer skills and got turned into…into this…thing.”

She closed her eyes for a second before she opened them again and continued “At first I thought you were just some arrogant asshole. Most ponies either hate or are freaked out by me, but not you. You didn’t give a flying fuck. You pretty much treated me like a regular pony with a strange eating disorder. The last three months have been the best days of my life. I'd wake up to find myself smiling again for no reason at all.”

Red tears started to flow out of her eyes again as she said, “You’re the only pony in ten long years that I ever ‘touched’ because I was afraid of hurting somepony. You even let me feed off you when I couldn’t control myself. You let me feed off you for fuck's sake. I could’ve killed you but you more worried about my safety than your own. You even had me taste real food just so I could remember what it was like.”

She rubbed her eyes and sniffed a few times. “So fine. If you’re going to shoot yourself then you’re taking me with you. I can’t go back to being without you again. Because I really love you too,” she said before picking up the revolver next to us. She then laid down on top of me and put her head to the side of mine. I then felt her put the gun in my hoof and pointed it at other side of her head.

It would’ve been so easy. One trigger pull and the bullet would’ve gone right through Bytes before going through me. Both of us wouldn’t have to worry about this Tartarus pit anymore. No more worries. No more pain. But then something happened. In that horrible dark moment an intense feeling of clarity overtook me. My eyes went wide open as I realized that I didn’t want all this to just end. I’d just barely begun to start really living and here I was going to kill myself and the only pony I ever truly loved. I didn’t know how we were going to make it out of here, but I didn’t care. I just pushed the revolver away and hugged Bytes with every ounce of strength I had as we bawled our eyes out.

Now I’m not superstitious pony. I know I’ve heard of weird stories of strange things happening. It’s usually when there’s no hope to be had anywhere and it just seems that the situation had somehow wronged existence itself. So in response existence pushes back in an unpredictable way to fix it. Now up until this point I’d of said it was a bunch of bullshit until it happened to me. Something unexpected happened that filled me with both overwhelming joy and one of the most deep seated feelings of terror I’ve ever experienced. The overhead speaker outside my room squealed three times before saying in a weird flat mare’s voice “Self-destruct protocol activated. The complex will self-destruct in T minus ten minutes.”

Bytes fumbled off me and screeched “WHAT?! WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN?!”

I scrambled to trying to get up and screeched back “IT MEANS WE’RE ABOUT TO BE BLOWN STRAIGHT TO TARTARUS. WE NEED TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” Then my heart sank into my hooves. “OH FUCKING CELESTIA! MY COLLAR! I CAN’T FUCKING LEAVE THIS PLACE WITHOUT GETTING FRIED!”

Bytes then slammed me back to the ground and whimpered “I really hope this doesn't break all my teeth.” She then slipped her fangs under my collar and bit down. After only a second or so of struggling she bit right through the collar and yanked it off me. As she did that I wondered why we didn't think of doing that sooner, but moral peril overrode those thoughts in a hurry.

As Bytes was spitting pieces of broken shock collar out of her mouth I said “Alright alright there’s a door at the end of the hall that leads to an small elevator to the surface. We need to hitch a ride on that thing. I’ll grab the gun to fight off any awful we might experience. You go grab a blood bag for the road.”

Without arguing Bytes sped to the kitchen for a blood bag. But right as she opened the fridge door the kitchen ceiling started to collapse. Me, powered purely on adrenaline, sped over to Bytes and shoved her out of there before the ceiling fell on me. My ears rang and my vision started to go black. I tried to get up, but a burning pain flared from my stomach. The last thing I heard before passing out was Bytes screaming “DARK NET! NO!”

I don’t know how long I was out before I woke up. After fighting off a headache I tried to sit up. As I did I remembered that awful pain I had in my stomach from before, but nothing hurt anymore. In fact for some reason I felt pretty great. The only odd thing was my mouth had a weird metallic taste like I've been gnawing on a piece of steel. Then my tongue started to feel really off for some reason.

I just shook it off thinking it was just shock until I looked up at the sky. Now it was pretty obvious that it was nighttime, but for some reason the stars were really bright. Also the moon looked like it was a silver sun hanging in the sky. Now I know it was a pretty long time since I've seen the night sky, but I don’t remember it ever being like that before. However, I managed to pry myself from sky when I panicked thinking about Bytes. I looked around and there she was not far facing away from me. She was hugging herself and staring straight forward while crying as she rocked back and forth.

She her lips were barely moving, but I heard her loud and clear, “He was dying so I made a choice. He was dying so I made a choice,” and she kept repeating it like it was some sort of chant.

I was afraid to disrupt her, but I tapped her shoulder and said “Umm Bytes? Are you okay?”

I noticed my voice came out a bit funny before she spun around. At first her eyes brightened up but then quickly shifted to fear. She fumbled on her words, but managed to spit out “Y-y-you w-were dying s-s-so I m-made a c-choice.” She then pointed at decent sized flat piece of shiny metal half covered in blood.

Now I was still pretty confused by this point until I moved closer to the metal and ran what she said over in my head a few times. I scratched my head before looking down at my shirt. The front of it had a hole right in the middle where my stomach was, but I was fine under it. Then it all clicked into place. The metallic taste in my mouth, the bright night sky, the part where I wasn't still impaled, it all made sense. Frantically I grabbed the shiny piece of metal with my hooves and looked my reflection.

My heart sank as I saw a pair of slitted purple eyes staring back at me. The very same ones I had in my dream. I then opened my mouth and there sat the same pointed tongue and pointed canine teeth from the dream as well. Bytes’ statement made a lot more sense now. I was dying so in an effort to save me she turned me into the very same thing she hated most about herself. The piece of metal fell out of my hooves as my mind overloaded and went blank.

The only thing I thought of to do was just walk over to Bytes and sit down. After a minute of silence Bytes spoke up, “I’m…I’m so so sorry. I didn't know what else to do. You had that piece of metal in you and you were bleeding out all over the place. I…I didn't know what else to do.”

I sighed trying figure out how to talk properly with two new pointy teeth. Then just as I was about to say something I saw a glint of something right in front of Bytes. After looking closer, it was the small revolver Gray Heart gave me. I sort of knew the answer to this question, but I asked anyway, “Umm Bytes. Why’d you bring the gun?”

She looked away from me and said “Sometimes a pony is too far gone to turn. I…I just couldn't go on without you so I…I…” but couldn't finish what she was trying to say. She didn't have to, I already knew. I wrapped a leg around her back, but as I was about to move closer I heard some coughing behind me.

As I spun around I saw it was Commander Gray Heart. Her mane was charred and the right side of her face was covered in blood. Upon noticing us she yanked out the big sister version of the revolver I had in my possession and pointed it at us. Her eyes twitched as she growled out, “I knew you couldn't do it! IT WAS YOU! YOU DID IT! YOU…you…” but it trailed off for a second. Then her face changed into pure rage as she looked at us or more likely me. “YOU FUCKING IDIOT! YOU HAD HER TURN YOU?!” she screamed as us.

I swallowed hard and said “Y-you don’t understand. The ceiling collapsed on me. She didn't have a choice.”

“YOU WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER OFF DEAD!” she yelled back in response. “WELL I GUESS I BETTER FIX THAT!”

But right as she was about to take aim her eyes went from rage filled to surprise. As I looked closer I saw the point of a sword sticking out her chest. Then I saw somepony behind her, but didn't recognize them until they spoke.

“You've been a thorn in my side for far too long,” said Baroness Von Frosty herself. I then saw her lean in closer to Gray Heart’s ear and say “Say hello to that husband of yours I turned all those years ago,” right before she twisted the sword's blade.

Gray Heart tried to fight but only for a second before collapsing lifeless on the ground. And while I didn't like her in the least, watching her die like that reaaallly pissed me off. “You’re the one that turned her into that…that monster?! Also what about the other vampire faction?! You needed her!” I yelled.

The Baroness didn't even look the slightest bit angry. She just tipped her head back and laughed and laughed and laughed. “HAHAHA you foolish little colt. There IS no other faction. There never was. It was purely a façade to get at her,” she said pointing at the body of Gray Heart. “Years ago I had a bit of enjoyment turning her husband. Oh watching those poor…little…dears suffer really warmed my heart. I hear he even ate his own son HA! But she had to go and become a problem. Oh well problem solved.”

I was absolutely fuming as I screamed “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!”

She tilted her head and laughed before saying “HA such a silly little colt. I’ve been doing this for almost four hundred years! Boredom becomes an absolute bother when you can’t die. So every so often I destroy happy little families like the one I had. It’s an absolute delight watching them suffer like I did.”

The gears in my head spun for a bit until I remembered what Gray Heart told me. I narrowed my eyes and said “Waaaait a moment. Four hundred years? You’re the familymare doctor that started this whole mess to begin with aren’t you?!”

To her credit she was taken back for a moment and looked honestly surprised. “Well well well! It seems there are a few who do remember. You’re a smart one you are. At first when I met you I was just going to drain you dry for your insolence. But seeing as Bytes turned you, you’ll make an excellent little hound of mine. And your face, ooooh so fierce. I’ll have to keep you on a short leash heh heh. Do make sure he comes back with you Bytes…or else,” she said before she turned around and started walking away.

At this point I was so angry I could barely see straight. She was the one that started this whole mess to begin with. Who knows how many lives she ruined or destroyed in her awful existence? She really was the type of monster that Gray Heart had been gunning for. This was not going to continue. This was for Gray Heart and the countless others like her. I picked up the small revolver next to Bytes, took aim, and pulled the trigger.

The gun flared and The Baroness stumbled for a second before putting a hoof to her chest. She then turned her head and looked at me with eyes full of fear. She must have realized that she had made a terrible lapse in judgment. She said she couldn’t die and was stupid enough to actually believe it. So I wasted no time and emptied the other five chambers on her.

She did manage to dodge one but the other four hit their mark. Not bad shooting for somepony who only fired a gun a few times. I guess playing all those first pony shooters really do pay off from time to time. Either way little miss ice block collapsed to the ground and tried crawling away. Now I’m not a cold hearted pony and I don’t enjoy watching others suffer like this. But in her case I just didn’t feel sorry for her in the least. I just grabbed Gray Heart’s large silver gun before strolling up to her and pointing it at her face.

But just as I was about to empty the gun on little miss demon spawn, Bytes walked up next to me. And you know what? It just didn’t feel right. So I smirked, flipped the gun around, and passed it to Bytes. She looked at me in confusion before I said “Make it memorable.” And it was actually a bit interesting when Bytes’ face went from pure confusion to one of the most evil grins I ever witnessed.

Bytes then grabbed the gun, thought for a second, and said “This is for turning me against my will!” before unloading the first round.

She then said “This is for forcing me to turn Dark Net!” and unloaded the second round.

She then said “This is for everypony else you ever turned!” and unloaded the third round.

However at this point Bytes seemed to lose her train of thought before she said “And this…this…Ahh you know what?! Fuck it! This is for fucking everything else! I hope you rot in Tartarus you frosty hearted bitch!” and unloaded the gun on The Baroness until it just clicked.

Bytes just sat there pulling the trigger until I took the gun away from her. Shortly afterwards The Mighty Baroness just crumbled to dust and blew away in the wind. And I have to say it again, I just didn't feel sorry her. At least she couldn't hurt anypony anymore.

But as for Bytes and myself? Well us having at least a bit of compassion for Gray Heart we discovered where her husband and son were buried and buried her next to them. Then after that we decided this little underground war needed to stop. So we grabbed whatever piece of tech we could get our hooves on in the old Heart Stake complex. It seemed that when The Baroness set off the self-destruct it malfunctioned somehow and collapsed only half the place which was fortunate. But anyway after we setup up a base of operations we hacked into the late Baroness’s computer network and downloaded everything. Then combined with all the information we could get from the Heart Stake’s computers we uploaded everything to the net using random proxies.

In the matter of hours the net exploded until it eventually spilled over into the real world. For five straight years Equestria was thrown into a state of chaos that would've brought a tear to Discord’s eye. However the end result was worth it. In all the madness and disorder the world actually had to acknowledge that vampires existed. Support groups and shelters were setup to help with the issue and eventually it all just evened out.

The best part was that nopony figured it out that it was me and Bytes that did the initial drop of information. Well almost nopony anyway, because you know when you dream the same dream for several years straight the Princess of The Night sooner or later visits you? Yeah, she really wasn't happy for the methods we used, but she didn't seem to judge us as much as I was thinking she was going to. Turns out she was the original progenitor of this vampire blood curse from her old Nightmare Moon days and she didn't know how to fix it. And well being she felt pretty guilty for what happened to Bytes and myself, her and her sister promised not to bust us in exchange for a favor every so often.

But anyway I got a can of Flat Line with my name on it and a certain wife of mine named “Bytes” that needs a major humbling in “Hooves and Steel”. Heh maybe I’ll finally beat her after all these years. Either way, Dark Net signing off.

*** User Disconnected ***

Author's Note

In an effort to end this story on a good note this is the longest chapter I have ever written on this website so far. It was completely worth it. I really hope everyone enjoyed Byte Nights.

P.S. For anyone that does not know what PEBKAC stands for it is "Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair".