Author's Note

Before you get into the chapter, I have a few things to say.

One year ago today, the world lost Monty Oum, creator of RWBY. The man was, is and will continue to be an inspiration to everyone, including myself. I didn't know him when he was alive, but I can't deny the impact he has had on many lives.

Secondly, this chapter contains light amounts of blood. This is where the Dark and Gore tags come into play, peeps. The actual plot of I Burn begins now.

Enjoy the chapter!

I Burn: Part Three

Arc One: I Burn
Part Three

Twack.

Twack.

Twack.

The steady sounds of her fists colliding with the tree echoed through the orchard, apples falling neatly from the branches and into the baskets below. Yang didn't quite understand how the ponies knew exactly where to place the baskets beforehand, but she wasn't going to question it. Sweat formed on her brow as her punches became slower, each one bringing the last few apples down. Finally, with one final strike, the final fruit fell and landed safely in the wooden container. She had run out of breath much sooner than she anticipated, but she paid that no mind as she moved to the next tree.

Yang wore nothing but her shorts and her yellow tank top, her wrists lacking their usual golden bracelets; she didn't want to kill another tree, after all.

Looking up the front of the trunk, she raised her hands and with a grunt her first strike impacted the bark. Thankfully, she learned rather quickly that even without Ember Celica she could easily do moderate damage to these trees, so she only struck with half of her usual power. And even then she saw the occasional piece of bark go flying.

It didn't help that Macintosh’s words were still fresh in her mind.

Scowling, Yang opened her mouth as she continued punching and apples fell. “Stay away from Apple Bloom.” She imitated his deep voice, rolling her eyes. “I don't care if he is just looking out for his sister,” she punched a little too hard, causing her first to embed itself into the trunk. “I'm not gonna hurt her, dang it! I’m a sister too!”

Was. Was a sister.

That thought have her pause, her strikes slowing for a brief second before she glared and continued punching with much more vigor. The apples had long since been cleared from this tree, but Yang kept going. She needed to vent.

Her final punch left a sizable hole in the trunk but she didn't particularly care. Macintosh had told her to clear at least twenty trees (he originally wanted her to do fifty, but Applejack had doubts about the human’s strength and endurance. Yang didn't mind either way.) but so far she had only cleared six. And she’d been at this for a good fifteen minutes or so. If she had really wanted to, she could have been halfway done by now, but hey, this gave her something to do.

As she moved to the next tree, her mind began to wander. To her team, specifically. She wondered if Weiss and Blake had survived. Like before, Yang figured that they hadn't. Did they go out fighting? Most likely. Or maybe they won. Maybe they survived, and are currently mourning Ruby and herself. Or maybe they were somewhere in this world as well.

Heh. Like hell they would be. What would be the chances of that? Yang brushed the thought aside, deciding to just get the work over with and find something else to do afterwards. Maybe she could go into that town just down the road.

The day had started off rough for her. True to his word, Macintosh had woken Yang up first thing in the morning, not letting her get any ounce of extra sleep. Breakfast was awkward. Nobody, especially not Yang, really wanted to be the first to speak so they ate in relative silence. The food was nothing more than a few pancakes, which were good, but not as good as Ren’s.

Yang wondered how JNPR was doing. If her guess was correct, and if time worked the same in Equestria as it did in Remnant, the Vytal Festival should be starting soon. Would they be competing in the tournament?

Eh, not like it mattered anyway.

As soon as she was done with breakfast, Macintosh pulled Yang outside and told her to get to punching. So she did. She wanted to give the big red pony a playful punch on his shoulders, but Yang figured that probably wouldn't go over too well.

This new world, Equus. Just being outside made all of its differences from Remnant apparent. The sky was bluer. The clouds seemed fluffier. The grass was greener. It almost looked like a cartoon, really. Pastel ponies, unicorns and pegasi were definitely another factor separating this world from her own.

Overall, this work was nice. Yang didn't like it.

One final punch knocked the last apple from the last tree, sending it into the wooden basket to be collected later. Drawing in a deep breath and wiping the sweat off of her brow, Yang sighed. Her work for the day was done, so she had the rest of it to do whatever she wanted.

She could go into town. Sweet Apple Acres was a nice farm, no doubt, but she didn't really like the idea of spending her entire time in this world on this farm. Then again, she had no idea how the local populace would react to her. It was obvious that humans weren't really a thing here in Equestria, so that would be a setback.

Then again, there was always that forest just a ways into the orchard. Everfree, Applejack called it.

Yang began walking back to the house, intent on a quick shower before going anywhere. The walk back to the Apples’ house wasn't an eventful one, with only the occasional chirping of the local birds to keep her company.

This new world was odd in the way that it seemed too colorful. Ironic, as she came from a world where people named their kids after colors, but still. Everything was so bright. Even at Beacon, where looking out of the windows treated you to an excellent view of the clear blue skies, Equestria’s sky seemed livelier.

Yang entered the house with little show, briefly looking around to see if any of the Apples were around before heading up to her room. It was small; only containing one bed and a bookshelf, and the entire room was lightened by a single window. Everything in it was tiny- which makes sense, as it was all built for ponies, not humans.

Sighing to herself, Yang flopped onto the tiny bed and closed her eyes. The shower could wait. Right now, the only thing she wanted to do was lay down and rest.

Her resting didn't last for long though. Not long after she had closed her eyes, Yang was jolted awake by a hoof loudly knocking on the door. Groaning, she sat up and addressed the pony knocking, allowing them to enter.

The door swung open to reveal Big Macintosh who walked in with his usual stoic look on his face, though Yang could see that his jaw was tersely set to one side as her glanced her way.

“Hey big guy!” She said with a faux smile. “I was wonderin’ when you were gonna check up on me. I finished the work, if you're wondering.”

The red pony nodded, glancing out of the window and staring that direction for a few seconds. “Y'all seen Apple Bloom ‘round?” He asked stiffly. His voice never changed from his typical deep tone.

Yang rolled her eyes, scoffing at the question. “Uh, no.” She answered obviously. “You told me to stay away from her, remember?” She said the last part with a bit more bitterness than she intended, but she meant what she said. Yang understood why Macintosh wanted her away from his little sister, but that didn't mean Yang had to like being treated like some dangerous animal.

The pony only nodded in her direction before walking out of the room. As he stepped out of the doorway, he stopped and glanced at her briefly. “Lunch’ll be ready soon. Granny’ll come get ya.” And with that Big Mac finally exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Yang sat on the bed silently, a hand resting under her chin. “Granny... Granny Smith?” Her eyes widened in realization and she shot up from the bed. “Is every name in this family an apple pun?”

True to Mac’s word, Granny Smith did indeed come upstairs to fetch Yang for lunch. Granny was a frail and wrinkled pony who had obviously been around for awhile. She had a bright green coat and golden eyes. Her butt-mark (Yang noted that every pony seemed to have one) was of an apple pie.

“Hello?” Her voice was quite obviously one of an old woman. Yang had been laying on the bed on her stomach, fiddling with the Ember Celica. “Hang?”

At the mispronunciation of her name, Yang looked up from her gauntlets to see the elderly pony peeking through the half open door. “It’s ‘Yang’, actually.” The human corrected, then hastily added “Uh, ma'am.”

Granny Smith rolled her eyes and gave a small smile, stepping into the room. “Now don’t ya start that ‘ma’am’ stuff with me, missy. Ah ain’t that old jus’ yet, ya hear?” The elder laughed, throwing her head back. Yang just smiled politely.

“Anyway, lunch’s done. Y’all come downstairs when yer ready, alright?” Granny Smith said kindly, giving Yang a final smile before backing out of the room, closing the door and leaving the blonde alone yet again. Yang sighed, picked up the two golden gauntlets and collapsed them, putting the bracelets around her wrists.

She began the descent down the staircase for the third time in two days, her heart beating just as fast as the previous two times. Breakfast with the Apples this morning had been pleasant, even if it was pretty awkward, so lunch shouldn’t be too bad, right? Well, that would be put to the test in a few minutes. With one final sigh, Yang walked into the dining room and immediately every pony in the room turned to look at her. Though that wasn’t saying much, considering that only two ponies were in the room. Granny Smith and Applejack.

“Hiya, Yang.” Applejack greeted pleasantly, taking a bite out of her food. “We’ve got some bread, some salad, apples... Dig in!” Yang tried to smile back- really, she did, but the entire ‘being on a different world’ thing still made her a little apprehensive about things. So she silently pulled out a chair at the end of the table and sat down, a plate having already been placed there beforehand.

Taking hold of the sliced piece of bread, Yang munched down and began chewing. Even the bread tasted different here. Everything seemed sweeter. Like the very cartoonish nature of this world was seeping into the food supply. But it tasted good, so she didn’t complain. Audibly, at least. Nothing about this world seemed familiar. At all.

“So, Yang,” Granny began, grabbing her attention. “Tell me about yerself. Me an’ mah grandkids don’t really know much about ya. Where’d ya come from?” A simple question, though one that made Yang’s chest tighten. Was she really ready to talk about home? She could still vividly remember Ruby rushing at Roman... and then the resulting explosion that took her sister away. She could always deny answering the question, but that would seem a little rude...

Swallowing the bread in her mouth, Yang cleared her throat and steadied her breathing. “Uh, well... I come from a world called Remnant. Ma’am.” Simple enough answer, she supposed, though Yang knew that it wouldn’t be enough to stave off further questions. “It’s a bit... er, a lot different than this world.”

The green pony nodded, apparently satisfied with the answer. That or she knew that Yang wasn’t going to elaborate. Either way was fine with the human. Applejack spoke up with a question of her own. “How’re you settlin’ in here, Yang? You feelin’, oh, Ah dunno... Okay?” Of all questions, Yang really was not expecting that one.

In fact, she was so not expecting it that it completely threw her for a loop. Her eyes widened in surprise. “Uh...” She stammered, trying to come up with a good response. “A... Alright, I guess? You ponies have been pretty nice to me so far...” With the exception of Macintosh. “... So I think it’s alright?”

At Yang’s words, Applejack’s gaze hardened, her emerald irises digging into Yang’s lilac. “Ah didn't’ ask if ya felt we were nice, Yang. Ah asked how yer doin’. Are ya feelin’ happy? Do ya like it here? That’s what Ah asked, Yang.” The farmer apparently did not accept half-baked answers like her grandmother did.

For the second time, Yang was left speechless. For the past day she’d been here, Yang never really thought much about her situation. In fact, the only time she really talked about it was when she destroyed that tree, and Big Mac started talking to her...

Shrugging that thought off, the human opened her mouth. “I’m doing alright, Applejack.” Yang ignored the fact that Applejack’s eyes narrowed at that. “Your house is okay, you and your family have been nice to me. I’m dealing with the change. There, happy?” That last part probably came out as a bit too snippy, but eh.

The orange pony looked as if she wanted to object to that, but the front door to the house opened, cutting AJ off. At the sound of hoofsteps entering the house, both Granny and Applejack stood, walking over to the pony, who turned out to be Big Mac, and greeted him.

“Mac,” Granny Smith began as she walked to her grandson. “Yer late. Ya were supposed ta get Apple Bloom from the fields, why’re ya so late?” At her mention of her younger granddaughter, Granny looked behind Macintosh to find... nopony there. “Mac, where’s Apple Bloom?”

Big Mac tilted his head down and grunted. “Ah don’ know.” Everyone’s heart, including Yang’s, dropped at the words. Not only at what they were, but at how they were said. They were slurred, as if Mac was out of it.

Applejack placed a hoof on her brother’s side. “Mac, come on, why don’t’cha sit... down...” She trailed off when she felt something trickle down her foreleg. Glancing down, she saw the limb with a single stream of blood running down it. Her eyes then immediately snapped back to her brother’s side to find her hoof placed directly on a decently sized gash in his flesh.

Both Applejack and Granny Smith gasped in horror and placed their forearms around him, balancing his weight between them as they helped him to a couch in the living room. “How’d this happen, Mac?!” Both ponies exclaimed at the same time.

At this point, Yang had joined the ponies in the living room, with a rag in her hands. She knelt down and placed the rag over Big Macintosh’s wound, which quickly stained the entire white cloth to a deep red. “You need to get to a hospital.” She said, but Mac only shook his head.

“No.” He gasped, trying to sit up despite his sister and grandmother placing their hooves on his chest to stop him. “Gotta get Bloom...” He could barely form words. “Manticores...”

“What?!” The other two ponies yelled, making both Yang and Macintosh cringe back at the sound. Applejack immediately put a hoof to her mouth, trying not to shout even more. “... Where?!” She managed, not too loudly but not necessarily quiet.

“Southwest orchard...” Mac slurred, his eyelids drooping closed. “Tried ta get her outta there. One of ‘em took a swipe. Didn’t even notice Ah got hit. Bloom ran... into the Everfree. Gotta get her...”

This wasn’t how this was supposed to happen.

All she had wanted was to avenge Ruby, to kill Torchwick in retaliation for him killing her sister. Maybe fate just hated Yang. Maybe the forces that controlled her life wanted her to die. It didn’t matter anymore anyway.

Here she was, her Aura depleted and her stamina exhausted, and pinned to the ground by that sadistic mute’s boot. There was nothing more she could do. Blake and Weiss... What had happened to them? That boy, Mercury. He had shown up and started attacking them, leaving Yang to deal with Neo alone.

Try as she might, Yang just couldn’t escape Neo’s forceful hold on her. This was it. This was how she died. Yang Xiao Long had finally been bested in combat. Yang heard the mute above her unsheath her sword, and the blonde knew that her time was running out.

Desperately, she tried to move her arm, but the very next second felt excruciating pain as Neo’s blade impaled the limb and pinned it to the ground. Yang screamed as her blood poured out of her arm, the warm substance caking her skin and the ground below her.

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. This was it. She’d be joining Ruby soon. That was one consolation at least. She wouldn’t have to wait to see Ruby again for long.

Yang’s screamed continued, this time in more intensity, as Neo slowly but surely pulled the sword from her arm. The pain was simply too much- Yang felt her consciousness slipping by the second. Or maybe that was her life slipping away. She supposed that it didn’t matter. Either way she wouldn’t be waking up again.

With a pop the blade was finally removed, covered in red. Neo smiled, using a gloved finger to wipe some off of her sword. In almost sick fascination the mute watched the blood slowly trickle down her finger and drip onto Yang’s back. With sadistic glee Neo leaned down and wiped Yang’s blood on her own face, smearing it against her cheek with a wide grin.

The world was black now... Not too long and she’d be gone.

But then the world came back, bringing with it more pain as Neo dragged the tip of her sword down Yang’s back, splitting the skin as the blonde screamed, writhed and wiggled in a vain attempt to get away. Torture is what this was. Pure, cold torture.

Neo must have realized a fatal mistake, though. That long of a cut caused Yang to start bleeding tremendously... She’d be dead within a few seconds. Sighing silently, Neo removed her boot from Yang’s body and picked the blonde up by the throat. Yang was too far gone to register Neo’s psychopathic smile as she drove her blade into Yang’s neck.

Yang snapped back to reality to find that almost no time at all had past while the memories came flooding back to her. That... was the worst pain she had ever experienced. It made her body hurt just thinking about it. So that was it. That was how she had died on Remnant. Didn’t answer how she ended up here, but she was sure she’d answer that question soon enough.

She heard Applejack and Granny Smith trying to piece together a plan. Too bad Yang already had one. She dropped the cloth soaked with Macintosh’s blood to the floor as she stood, clenching her fists as she extended the Ember Celica.

“I’m going after Apple Bloom. Applejack, you get Mac to a hospital.” Was all the human said as she began walking out of the house, but was stopped by something grabbing onto her brown vest, stopping her in her tracks.

“Now hold on there, sugarcube.” Applejack objected. “Ah ain’t lettin’ ya go an’ take on a pack o’ manticores by yerself. Ya see what they did ta Mac here? Y’all could hurt! Or killed!” The farmer stomped a hoof, glaring at the back of Yang’s head. “Ah’m comin’ too.”

“No.” Yang denied firmly. “I’ve dealt with worse before, Applejack. Where I come from, we train from childhood to kill monsters. I know what a manticore is, and if they’re real here, then they’re nothing compared to other things I’ve killed.” She probably sounded cold, but there was no way Applejack was coming with her. Yang wouldn’t let two sisters die today.

The orange pony blanched at Yang’s words. “Wha...? Yang, yer not makin’ sense! You can’t beat a pack of manticores by yerself! Let me help ya!”

Finally fed up, the human turned, her normally lilac eyes burning a brilliant red. “No. I can do this, Applejack. I’ll bring back Apple Bloom, and I’ll be fine. Watch.” And with that, Yang yanked her vest free of Applejack’s grasp and ran out of the door, heading southwest.

She still had twenty rounds. Twenty shots. Twenty chances to kill a manticore. Applejack had warned Yang about the Everfree, and if that’s where Apple Bloom had run off to... Yang had a sneaking suspicion that she’d need more ammo.

Arc One: I Burn
Part Three End