>Burns and blisters
>Your own skin splitting
>Your own blood boiling in your veins
>Yet before these things can bother you they vanish
>A trait you once savored and cherished
>The ability that had saved you countless times and allowed you to save those you cared about in turn countless times
>Your immortality
>You remember a pony from long long ago tried explaining it to you in ways you could understand
>Your forceful breach of the dimensional rift between your old world and here created a temporal lock
>You were locked in the prime of life with no way to undo it
>Everyday for what's felt like an eternity, you've remembered that kernel of knowledge
>It's all you can remember about that pony
>What was their name
>What did they look like
>You knew that once upon a time you knew their name
>But not anymore
>Your blood's boiling again
>Of course, as soon as you notice it's gone
>Forcefully pulling yourself out of your own head you lift your eyes to scan the horizon
>Same as everywhere else
>Barren flat earth, cracked and withered, the only noticeable landmarks being the collapsing crags in the distance
>No plants grow, the heat's killed them all
>No clouds offer any shade, the heat's completely eliminated all the water vapor in the air
>Then you hear it again
>The crackling of fire
>You clamp your hands over your ears, desperately trying to block it out
>But it's in your head now, the tongues of solar fire slithering into your brain
>Reminding you of the reality you tried to escape in your mind
>As your wracked nerves cause you to tremble, you turn your head
>Despite being so far away, you could swear the sun was inches from your nose
>The peaceful ball of light and warmth from a billion years ago is gone
>Replaced by a mad titan of plasma and radiation
>You could feel your retinas burning and reforming again
>It means nothing anymore
>Your body may have been time locked to remain the same way, but your mind wasn't
>Mental adaptation has allowed you to no longer feel pain
>A sweet surcease from the world, ultimately hollow
>This is the way it's been for millions of years
>No ponies, no-
>There it was again, you knew that you knew about other species before
>You met them, watched countless of their generations be born into the world and watched them turn to dust
>Even the concept of time has turned to dust in your mind
>There's no life here, no time, no dust
>Just you
>You and the only thing that's stopped you going mad
"Not a thing! Pony! She's a pony! Alicorn!"
>Smacking yourself a few times you try to resolidify that knowledge of her
>Celestia
>The first face you saw when you were first pulled here
>She had been a steadfast constant in your life
>Even more so when it was discovered you were immortal
>You still remembered that day, at least fragments of it
>Most of it was her
>"Anon-"      "-onely is our li-"   "-uld stay if you wan-"
>It was like trying to catch the spots in your vision
>They were only there when you didn't pay attention
>That's why you spent most of this past decade in your head
>It helped you remember her
>But you were sick of your own company after day one
>You so dearly wanted to go back to her
>Yet, ever the coward, you just fled faster and farther, until you were lost
>But you were close again now
>You could feel it
>Feel her
>The last immortal
>Once more your eyes trace the horizon and there you see her
>A single white dot painted against a barren landscape
>Dragging your feet against the desert floor you slowly make your way over to her
>After days, or months, or seconds passed, you weren't sure anymore, you finally arrive at her side
>Her ivory coat as pristine as ever, her feathers still sharply pointed down
>Even her mane's remained the same
>The shimmering flow of ethereal light
>It can still mesmerize you like it did when you first met her
>You try to take a breath to calm your nerves
>But you're reminded of the lack of atmosphere as your lungs ring hollow
>With a brilliant burst of gold Celestia's horn bursts to life and cool air rushes your system
>The rush of fresh cold air invades your system, and your decades starved, hollow body sucks in the air too rapidly
>The air reactivates systems in your body you forgot about
>The system overload feels like a hole's been blown in your chest, and it isn't healing
>Collapsing to your hands and knees you sputter and cough and breathe trying to help your body correct itself
>Eventually your body finds its equilibrium and you feel your strength returning
>Taking one last gasp you chance a glance up at your oldest friend
"Hey Ce-"
>Your interrupted as over a ton of celestial white fur, soft downy feathers and ethereal hair envelops you
>As you press your hands into her to stop you both from collapsing onto the ground you feel her shake and sob
>Pushing her back to regain your balance, you do your best to wrap the entirety of your being around her
"Hey Celestia"
>You barely whisper it into her neck but the hitch of her breathe and new waves of tears tells you she heard
>"You remember me"
>Her voice is broken, unsure and trembling, nothing like you remember
>You have no reply
>Your cowardice, your failure, everything, and yet all she cares about is her name on your lips
>At least she's still the same mare
>The same mare who sacrificed everything she was to try and fight the sun
>The same mare who failed but planted her hooves, gritted her teeth and kept fighting
>The same mare who lost everyone as they used themselves to slow it down
>The same mare you failed
>You tried locking the sun in time, the same way as happened to you
>But it was fruitless
>Like that pony said all those eons ago
>No way to undo it
>If that wasn't enough, you ran
>When all that was left was the two of you and the dust you lost your strength and ran
>But she held you all the same, and you held her
>And you were never letting go again