//------------------------------//
// The Fiore Chronicles Part 2 
// Story: All It Takes is the Turn of a Key 
// by Fallen_Stargazer 
//------------------------------//

A large train is seen chugging along the tracks, heading towards the mountains. Onboard, the fairy tail mages and Twilight all are waiting until they arrive at their destination. However there was one Mage amongst the group that Twilight couldn't help but giggle at. As was known amongst the guild, Natsu was a strong Mage, but became motion sick very easily. Twilight couldn't help but laugh as she saw the usually energetic fire mage look worse than Spike after eating too many gems. She then turned to Lucy. "So what was the name of our destination again?" 

Lucy couldn't help but laugh a little at Natsu as well before turning to Twilight. "It's a small farming village on the other side of the mountain called Tremira. They are a fairly self sufficient community, usually trading goods within the village for services or other goods, but use Jewels as well if say their particular service isn't required at the time yet they still need to buy from others." She looked over the piece of paper they had been given after signing for the mission. "According to Master Makarov, we're supposed to be meeting with a smaller guild that operates near the village as well." Gray turned to Lucy, momentarily stopping his torment of Natsu. "Another guild? I thought this was just our mission?" Erza looked over at him. "The guild's name is Heaven's Gaze. And while they are a formally recognized guild, They act as more of a communication link between the mountain villages in the area and the main government. The mages there specialize in magic related to delivery and communication. Very few are combat oriented."

They all looked at her, somewhat surprised by her knowledge, aside from Natsu whose was still near unconscious from the motion of the train. Erza blinked at them. "I met someone a few years ago who was a member of Heaven's Gaze. It was while I was at the capital after the whole Lullaby incident." Lucy shivered a bit and Gray tensed slightly. "Lullaby." They both said. Twilight tilted her head a bit. "What was the Lullaby incident?" The three of them blinked and looked at her. "Well you see in our world, there are the formal guilds, recognized by the government, and then there are the Dark Guilds." Lucy began, "Guilds set up without informing the government, or guilds that have had their guild license revoked yet continue to function. They are usually comprised of dark mages and assassins. There was one guild whose members were so upset about being shut down they attempted to use an ancient evil to try and take the lives of the all the guild masters as well as anyone who got in their way." Twilight's face paled at the thought of magic being used for such evil and dark purposes. "Sorry I asked." Twilight said with a slight grimace.

They all nodded, happily moving the conversation back to the mission at hand. "Maybe they'll be able to give us a bit more information about what exactly we might be dealing with." Lucy said, handing the job request flyer back to Erza. "Possibly." The armor clad mage said as she looked over the paper again. "Though all they say in this is that it's some form of winged beast, since most of the farmers only heard the sounds of wingbeats before noticing one of their animals missing." She said, folding the paper away and putting it into one of the gaps in her armor. She then took a quick glance out the window of the train. "We should be there in several minutes." She said, getting her stuff ready for when they arrived. The others nodded and began readying their gear as well, Twilight reminding Gray to put on his clothes once again.





As the train pulled into the small rural station, The four mages stepped off the train, or rather three of them did, Natsu being levitated off of it by Twilight's magic. After a few moments of getting his feet back on solid, unmoving ground, the fire eating mage seemed revitalized. "Alright! Let's get going and find that creature!"  He said, preparing to run off before his scarf was yanked by Lucy. "Hold on a minute. We've got to check in with the other guild first. This is technically their area of operation." She said, releasing his scarf as the six of them walked over to the large map at the station. "Alright so the village called Tremira is here." Lucy said, pointing to a small spot on the map, about an hour's walk from the station. "Heaven's Gaze is between here and Tremira, so we can stop there first and meet up with them before heading to the village." They all nodded and began heading in the direction the guild was located. 

After a good half hour or so of walking, the group came upon the guild building. Though it looked more like a post office than a guild building, but given the jobs that they handled, it made a bit more sense. The group walked up to the open doors, several mages moving in and out, one even flying out, a small pair of magical wings on their feet visible as they rushed off. Three of the four mages, along with one pony and cat, stared in surprise. Erza however simply kept walking forward into the guild. Inside the building was similar to what one could guess based on the outside. Large carts full of packages, letters flying around the room guided by magic, workers and regular citizens alike moving around the rather spacious interior. The group looked around, Natsu getting smacked in the face by a letter quick before it flew off to it's destination, Erza grabbing the errant fire mage before he could run off after the offending piece of post. The group all walked over towards the main counter before a voice called out. "Erza? Erza is that you?" The feminine voice called out. The group would look over to see a young woman, likely in her early twenties, wearing a bright red and blue postal uniform, carrying a forest green pack on her back, along with three smaller brown pouches along her hips.

Erza smiled and walked over, bowing her head. "Natalie, good to see you again." The sword mage said with a smile. "Though I'm afraid this isn't a personal visit." She said, gesturing to her guild mates. Natalie smiled but soon blinked as she saw Twilight. "Uh, Erza, I hate to be a bother but horses aren't allowed in the postal building. Last one in here tried to eat half the inbound letters." At this, Twilight gave a soft laugh. "Understandable, however I'm a pony, and don't plan on eating any mail. I understand the importance of the postal system." She said with a smile, surprising Natalie as well as several other members of Heaven's Gaze. Natalie blinked and walked over, looking at Twilight. "Well i'll be damned. Not just a horse, but a unicorn?  Erza you sure have    of the craziest things happen aroud you." Natalie said with a giggle, holding a hand out to Twilight. "Name's Natalie, Natlie Rosegrave. Postal worker responsible for route seven forty-three." She smiled, Twilight returning the smile and extending her hoof, shaking the postal girl's hand. "Twilight Sparkle. Unicorn mage and thanks to a little magical mishap, summoned spirit of Lucy over here."  She said, gesturing towards the blond stellar mage.

Lucy smiled and waved before walking over. "Pleasure to meet you Natalie. Fairy Tail  has responded to the request of Tremira Village regarding the beast kidnapping their livestock." She said, holding up the poster with the request. Natalie took the flyer and looked it over. "Oh! Okay, you guys want Skip. He's the one in charge of that route. He was actually just about to head out on his route there." She smiled, pointing across the room at a mail carrier, a young man that stood surprisingly tall at around six foot four. The group walked over, introducing themselves before joining him, Natsu choosing to get airlifted by happy, following the mail cart overhead as the group made their way to Tremira.





The group traveled for just under a half hour thanks to the speed of the magical cart, Natsu yelling down that he could see the village just over the next hill. The group got off just at the entrance, thanking Skip before he headed off to deliver the mail aroud the village. Natsu flew down, Happy's wings vanishing in a soft flash as he landed on Twilight's haunches. The mare smiled at the feline as the group all began going around the town, splitting up to ask and investigate about the crop and livestock disappearances.