(This continuation of the story leads into http://pastebin.com/u/AetherPony's now-abandoned "War Attempt". The Anonymous of that story is a different human, but "Shermanon" eventually also plays a role. My Little Anon: Another Story is a separate continuation.)
а
>How long?
>Oh, how long has it been...
>This acrid miasma of choking ash invades your lungs, always
>From there, it worms its way through your being
>Physical, and even your soul
>It is binding, like barbed hooks twisting, always in a never-ending tangle
>Punishment for your self-inflicted damnation
>There is nothing you can do about it
>And despite your innate human ability to adapt,
>It always tingles with just new enough of a painful sensation to keep you hating it
>Temperatures fluctuated between extremes with no apparent pattern
>From hotter than the human body can possibly endure prolonged exposure to,
>To cold enough to chill your blood, expanding it and causing you great, insufferable pain
>Howling winds whisper through your already shattered mind
>You are always, forever, on the precipice of madness
>Why do you resist?
>Because you are Anonymous
>Your mantra used to be that you did not forgive, and you did not forget
>The former has changed
>You have learned the value of forgiveness
>Forgiveness of what Celestia has done to you
>You focus, instead, on what she did for you
>You find yourself wishing, many times, that you would have walked down a different path
>If you could only go back and alter your destiny, you would
>But that moment was, possibly, your most righteous
>After all, could Equestria handle humanity?
>Even as a human who did not fully grasp his own humanity, you seemed to bring with you only chaos
>Well, you guess that's what you were supposed to do
>But you couldn't stand it
>Sadly, this ended in a tragedy for you
>It's the norm in equine culture for self sacrifice to be rewarded
>This isn't what you had in mind
>But you resisted
>Because the memory of your friends remains strong
>It has become something of an obsession
>Perhaps you were mad, after all
>It helps to cope with the atmosphere
>This desolate, saltine wasteland of charred granite and swirling flame
>Endless layers of eternal torment at the end of existence
>Truly, you have hit rock bottom
>And there is no salvation from this
а
>Your body hangs from a series of chains
>You have become a convenient punching bag for extra dimensional creatures
>On the edge of the abyss, you dangle in darkness
>Like a marionette whose master has forgotten you
>The heavy, wrought iron links are fused to your flesh and bone through the same infernal coronas that The Boss once wielded against Celestia and Luna
>Try as you might, you could not break these cuffs
>What you wouldn't give to feel that mane once last time
>Serenity made manifest!
>But no, now, all you feel is a blunt object slamming into your stomach
>You heave, and vomit up a wad of infinite blood
>They wanted to keep you alive, forever
>To punish you
>тАЬFuckin' inbreed...тА?
>You can barely make out individual voices anymore
>But you look up once you settle at the bottom of your hang, seeing none other than the Boss standing over you
>тАЬDon't look at me!тА?
>A wrought iron baton, glowing with heat, swipes up your face
>You throw your head back, and whimper in pain
>If your friends could see you now... they would be ashamed
>тАЬYou just couldn't leave it be, could'ya?тА?
>He spoke to you with insane malice
>тАЬYou just couldn't butt out, you HAD to get involved.тА?
>He raises his baton over his head, chewing on his cigar
>You wince, knowing what's coming
>WHACK
>CRACK
>BonBon the Destroyer didn't seem so bad compared to this
>Behind him was the Dog Father himself
>You open one eye to look upon him
>He is only slightly taller than The Boss
>Well dressed
>He was tormented, too, being in this most dismal of realms
>But he has worked hard to make the best of it
>Whatever constituted 'best' in this land of agony
>He watched
>One part content that you were being punished for what you did
>A sick, twisted pleasure that you unwillingly entertained
>But the other part knew that he would have to wait a thousand millennia before he got another chance
>He never spoke that you've ever heard, oddly
>But he commanded his machine with ruthless efficiency
>You grinned at him, defiantly
>Mockingly
>The baton came down on you again
>тАЬWhy, you little shit!тА?
>The Boss said once more, and you felt your head hang uncontrollably low
>A paw gripped your collar and hoisted you into his face
>тАЬYou liking this? Huh?тА?
>тАЬHUH!!?тА?
>You winced
>тАЬYeah, that's what I thought. Well, BUDDY-BOYтА?
>He spat his cigar butt onto the ground and looked back to you
>тАЬYou've got countless eternities to think about what you've done.тА?
>тАЬWe're going to make you bleed, Mister Anonymous.тА?
>тАЬYou're going to BLEED until you bleed TIME ITSELF!!тА?
>WHACK
>CRACK
>The beatings continued
а
>As they did, they went on for what felt like hours
>But you felt something
>Something that you have not felt since...
>You look up, and there is nothing
>Except for a baton that comes crashing into your face
>But you can feel it
>Over the pain, over the sting, over the burn
>There's a warm... comfortable feeling
>It's...
>A dark blue aurora comes to your mind as foot falls dampen the howling winds
>Hope
>You didn't believe it at first
>Why would you?
>But with the falls of what you interpreted as hooves, and an increasing glow of power,
>Your heard jumps up to your throat
>The Boss, and the Dog Father, fail to notice
>Even as the source of your rising spirits is so close
>WHACK
>CRACK
>Streams of crimson flow and squirt from your body
>But despite the unholy pain
>Despite the supernatural gravity of lingering damnation
>You plant your feet under yourself, and rise
>You stand over the two mobsters, looking out over them
>Your eyes fill with thick tears
>Your mouth slowly forces its way past the internal scaring and muscle weakness into a smile
>From ear to ear, you smile and your breath picks up
>Your chains no longer feel as heavy as they hang off of you
...Luna?
>You weakly say, your voice raspy
>Your beard caked with blood
>The Boss and the Dog Father both looked on you with hatred at first
>But they both raised brows, and looked behind them
>They could not feel what you could feel
>But all three of you saw as forms pierced the darkness
>And, funnily enough,
>All three of you were equally confused
>Your eyes narrowed
>The silhouettes presented to you...
>That wasn't Luna
>But it felt like Luna
>What in Tartarus?
>With acrid smokes swirling about them, you could make out only minimalistic features
>The most catching one was that of a...
>A...
>You recoil
>No, this wasn't another dog
>This was something like you
>Something... human
>A human being
>And accompanying it?
>There was a small creature, a chimera of sorts
>It looked like one of your friends
>But it bore upon its brow the horn of a unicorn
>And, lopsided from the center, the antler of a deer
>One of its forelegs was the muscular talon of an eagle
>And swaying side to side was a long, serpentine tail
>You could not figure it out
>The two crime dogs couldn't, either
>However, a lash of arcane power -
>That of Luna herself -
>Struck your binds, and the links shattered like so much brittle glass
>Instantly, upon being free, you act on instinct
>Self preservation
>You dash forward, malicious in your intent
>The Boss turns around
>You grasp him in your left hand by the tuft of his collar and lift him off the ground
>Before he can speak, you throw your hips into a right cross into his snout
>He whines
>You don't stop
>You hit him again, and again
>You're in that place, again
>The place that landed you here
>Your eyes go blood shot
>You are ruthless
>He gives a canine squeal, dropping the baton which clattered on the floor
>You still don't stop
>Cross after cross
>Hook after hook
>You pound his face
>You are a human jack hammer
>SMACK
>CRACK
>Wet snap of bone and flesh and cartilage
>What does his brain look like? You are curious to find out
>The Dog Father looks on you with horror and immediately begins displaying his fingers
>Flames overtake his hands
>He is preparing to end you
>To send you into oblivion
>You cast away the limp sack of meat occupying your hands and prepare yourself
>But before he could cast his spell, a hand yanks the Dog Father back by the shoulder
>And your eyes widen as you watch
>Watch as a human hand, trailed by an arm that resembles fleshy patchwork,
>Bursts from his chest, fingers splayed out in claws
>Loose bones fling outward, and blood splashes across your features
>The Dog Father chokes
>And then your savior kicks the body forward, letting it fall
>You look into the darkness for a moment, wondering just what is looking back at you
>And then you both close the distance
>You are standing face to face with the source of your salvation
>тАЬI guess I'm not the only human after all.тА?