"Red Skies"

Prompt: A Fleeting Glimpse

The world was red, both earth and sky, and a dim white sun shone overhead. The unicorn, Willow Whisper, stepped carefully as she moved through unwrought iron rusted into sand. The land was covered in it, and the bitter chill against her hooves was a constant reminder. Her horn ached with the effect of keeping her air bubble intact, even as she felt the magic bleeding out of her into this alien environment. She glanced back, sighed with relief that the portal home was still open. How long had she been here? immortals had no regular sense of time, but she guessed only a few moments. She took another step, and her spell flickered, her head spiking with pain.
She staggered, and the spell failed completely, blasting her with cold so fierce that it burned like fire. Her fur was coated with frost in moments, and the very air choked her. She struggled to stand, head swimming as if she were drunk on strong wine.
“WILLOW!”
She knew that voice…
Willow turned towards the portal, saw her brother’s terrified face. The unicorn stallion screamed her name again, but his voice was fading…
Everything was fading…
Blind and deaf, she tried to stand, fell again, resorted to dragging herself through the rust-sand.
Everything was a haze of pain, but even that soon faded.
She was terrified, but couldn’t fight anymore. Was this what death was for mortals?
A sudden spike of pain in her barrel brought her back with a strangled scream.
Willow coughed, gasping for air. There was grass under her body, and something large and scaly wrapped around her middle, squeezing in tight, rapid pulses. The sky overhead was blue, star-filled, and the air was clean.
The head of a feathered serpent moved into view, his forked tongue flicking in her face.
“Sorry,” he hissed, ”Think I broke a rib. But your heart is beating again and you’re breathing.”
“You idiot! What were you thinking?!” That was Ash Song, her big brother, sobbing. He wrapped his neck around hers in a hug. “Don’t ever scare me like that again!”