Remnant.

A world of Huntsmen and Huntresses, people who have sworn their lives to protecting the civilians of the four kingdoms. Each and every Hunter goes through vigorous training and grueling exercise to train their bodies to take massive amounts of punishment, and deal just as much.

After all, the world of Remnant is a dangerous place.

Outside the borders of the kingdoms are lands that lie almost completely abandoned. Nearly uninhabitable, very few people dare to live in the lands of the Creatures of Grimm. Those who do are naturally gifted in the ways of combat. Those who don't live their lives inside the relative safety of the kingdoms' borders. In the kingdom of Vale was one of the world's most prestigious combat schools: Beacon Academy.

Beacon was where boys become men. Students shaped into warriors. People into Huntsmen. Teams of four were partnered up for four years, learning to work together in the hopes of becoming the next defenders of the world.

One such team was team RWBY, consisting of their leader Ruby Rose and her teammates Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xiao Long, the last one also happened to be Ruby's older sister. The four made an uneasy friendship, but soon evolved into Beacon's most promising students.

Which made their fall all the more bitter.

In preparation of the Vytal Festival, a celebration of the peace between the four kingdoms, Beacon was host to students from other Academies from the other kingdoms, and a dance was to be held. This dance, meant to be a celebration of friendship and happiness, turned dark as one student departed from the festivities.

Ruby Rose just so happened to be this student. And she witnessed something she shouldn't have. For on that night, a dangerous woman's plans were coming together. Ruby saw Cinder Fall, disguised, sneaking into the Transmit Tower, a database for the knowledge held by the four kingdoms.

The leader called for her team. The four girls of RWBY arrived on the scene, prepared for battle. They confronted Cinder Fall in the Tower, only for the criminal to escape with the students on her heels. The chase led to an abandoned street a small distance away from Beacon.

It is here, where RWBY made their final stand.

The battle's events would never truly be known. As Cinder Fall walked away victorious, she left behind the corpses of team RWBY, each of the girls brutally slain in their last fight.

But death isn't necessarily the end.

And Remnant isn't the only world.

In another world far away from the one of Team RWBY, it was nighttime. In this realm, the night had once held a sinister secret- that an evil tyrant Queen was held imprisoned in the moon and would return one day. In this world, there were no Huntsmen and Huntresses. There was no Aura, no Semblances. So when that Queen returned, who would be there to protect this world's inhabitants?

On that day, six ordinary residents of the world stepped up, wielding an ancient power long forgotten. These protectors became friends forged in fire, their battle with the Queen reuniting two estranged sisters and forging new bonds between the six.

Ever since that night, nighttime had been a sign of rest, and peace. While the day brought work, the night brought sleep. But the night is not devoid of it's secrets, oh no. Many things lurk in the shadows. While citizens sleep, monsters of the Everfree roam. Not unlike the Creatures of Grimm in Remnant. These creatures rarely ever enter the land of the ponies, but inside their forest they are a dangerous foe. But a skilled fighter can easily take down a single Timberwolf, and sometimes a even a Manticore. But most of the time, that is not necessary. Magic protects the ponies, holding the monsters of the Everfree away.

Though, even if magic keeps the inhabitants of Equestria safe, it can also cause problems.

That night, shooting stars were seen falling from Equestria's sky.

A farmer spends the majority of their time outside, working out on the fields or tending to animals. Tedious work, yes, but at the same time fulfilling. After countless hours of love and care, the newest batch of crops would come in nice and healthy while baby animals would be welcomed into the world, all with the help of a farmer.

The farmer's life was certainly not for everypony, but that never stopped the Apple Family. Mother, daughter, father and son; nearly every Apple became a farmer. The Apples were no slouch, either. Nearly every crop was perfect. Each animal in peak condition.

And no other Apple Family branch represented this like the Ponyville branch, their home and farm named Sweet Apple Acres being the pride and joy of the bustling town in the center of Equestria.

Applejack Apple entered the small house late at night, her eyes heavy and her legs aching. She reeked of sweat, and it was obvious that she had been given the toughest chores of the day. But the sun had finally set a few hours ago, and the last of the work had been finished; bringing a productive day of Apple farming to a close.

The orange mare wiped some sweat off of her forehead and sighed, kicking the door closed with a hind-leg as she looked around the house. It was a simple abode: just big enough to support herself, her brother Big Macintosh, their little sister Apple Bloom and their grandmother, Granny Smith. Everypony else in the household had long since finished their own chores, leaving Applejack to finish hers while they either went back home or hung out around town. And since it was not too late in the night, Applejack could check to see if any of her friends were still awake, but she decided against that.

Besides, going to sleep sounded very good at the moment.

If she had stayed outside for just a minute more, she would have seen a bright star in the sky split into four rays of light and fall down to the surface of Equus. But the orange mare didn't, and missed the spectacular event.

Sighing to herself, Applejack lifted a hoof to remove her beloved Stetson hat from her head and placed it on the stand by the door. She stared at the hat and whispered, "Goodnight, Pa..." as she turned away and walked towards the stairs. It had been a long day. She deserved some rest.

But only seconds after climbing the stairs, something exploded outside. A loud boom roared, shaking the house to its very core. Applejack let out a startled yelp and grasped onto the handrails of the stairs to steady herself as the shaking continued. She looked around the rumbling house, noticing a picture frame about to fall off of its shelf.

The picture of her parents shook and rattled, the rumbling house bringing it ever so closer to the edge. The frame reached the end of the shelf, slowly tipping... But then the quake died down, returning everything to normal. Applejack let out a loud sigh of relief, slowly letting go of the guard rail as she steadied her breathing.

"What in tarnation was that all about...?" She questioned, looking around as three other ponies peeked their heads out from their rooms with tired eyes. Applejack turned to her family, and with the most reassuring smile she could muster, spoke. "No need to worry, y'all. Ah'll go out and see what that was all about, okay?"

Three pairs of eyes looked at her worriedly. The large, red stallion named Big Mac stepped out of his room, his soft green eyes looking down at his little sister. He didn't talk much- never needed to, really, and this situation was no different. His eyes conveyed the entire message to Applejack, who simply smiled at her brother.

"Ah'll be fine, Mac. Ah'm sure it was nothin'. Now go on, back to bed with y'all." She grinned to her family as she turned and began walking down the stairs. "You especially, Apple Bloom!" She called to her little sister. "Y'all got school tomorrow!"

She tried not to laugh as she heard the filly groan.

Stepping outside of the house, her eyes once again had to adjust to the nighttime light- or what little of it there was. Apparently the local pegasi had scheduled some slight rain for late at night, and the clouds were already in place. The air was slightly chilly, nipping at the skin under her orange coat, but Applejack paid it no heed as she looked around the area, looking for signs of whatever caused that shaking.

Years of working this farm gave her an almost photographic memory of its layout. Every tree and plant was firmly mapped in her mind, leaving no possible way for her to ever get lost in the fields. So when her eyes spotted a downed apple tree, Applejack saw it almost immediately. Slightly miffed that one of her trees would need replanting in the morning, she started in that direction.

It wasn't long before the slight amount of light reflecting from the moon illuminated a small crater, light spirals of smoke rising into the air. Her face paled, and her body stiffened. What in the name of Celestia could have happened here? Shaking her head to steel herself, Applejack ran towards the crater.

And inside, lay a creature she had never seen before.

It vaguely resembled some sort of monkey, only without any fur except for the long locks of golden hair on its head. It also wore some clothes, shielding its body from the elements while also not leaving much to the imagination, what with the low-cut shirt and short shorts. But she- and it definitely was a she, considering her chest- wore a brown, short jacket and had two golden bracelets around her wrists.

"Whoa, nelly..." Applejack muttered. "Ah think... Ah think that gal needs some help!" Narrowing her eyes, the bearer of the Element of Honesty jumped into the small crater, rushing to the unconscious female and hoisted her onto her back. "Now jus' hold on, not so little fella... Ah've got ya." The farmer muttered, the creature much heavier than she anticipated.

Applejack made her way out of the crater and started towards home yet again.

Arc One: I Burn

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