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// Prologue-Taking the Job 
// Story: An Equestrian Fairy Tail 
// by themultiversewatcher 
//------------------------------//

	In the noontime sun, seven figures were walking towards a town in the distance.
“I don’t understand why I have to come with you on this stupid job,” complained Gajeel. The iron dragon slayer was leering at Natsu, who was grumpily staring back. They had left the Fairy Tail guild just hours before.
“According to Master Makarov, you need to build a better relationship with the rest of the members of the guild,” said Erza matter-of-factly, “Besides, this shouldn’t take too long. All we have to do is investigate a cave where there may be a band of thieves hiding.”
With that, the party continued walking in silence, with the tension between the two dragon slayers growing. It was only a matter of time before a fight broke out, which would ultimately result in Erza ending it early, as usual.
“Look,” said Happy, “There’s the town!” The cat started flying just a little bit faster, trying to be the first one there. The group was relieved that they reached their destination. As they walked towards the town hall, they noticed the sheer cliff walls surrounding most of the town.
“At least we don’t have to walk very far,” commented Lucy, looking tired from walking, “If only Natsu didn’t get motion sick, we could have saved time getting here, and my feet wouldn’t hurt so much.”
“Well, we don’t know how deep the caves are going to be,” said Gray, “so it’s a little too early to be thinking about how much more walking we need to do.”
At town hall, they met up with the mayor. The short, stocky man greeted them, “Hello, you must be the Fairy Tail members who took the job. We’ve been expecting you.” He led them inside the Town Hall. “Let me explain the job, just so you understand why I called you here. Lately, there have been people stealing important magical items from the town, and it’s become quite a nuisance. We managed to track them to a cave system not far from here. According to town lore, the caves are cursed, and the townspeople are afraid to enter. I called you here to investigate the caves, and hopefully force the thieves out of hiding, and, if possible, subdue them for us. You will get a reward of 120,000 Jewel for successfully completing the task. Once again, thank you for coming to our aid.”
“Its no problem at all,” said Erza, “You can count on us."



The cave was huge. Branching off were three paths, each leading in a different direction.
“Juvia thinks we should split up to cover more ground,” said Juvia.
“Great idea,” said Erza, “Natsu, Gajeel and Happy, go down the right path. And no fighting, we don’t know how stable the caves are. Gray and Juvia take the center path, and Lucy and I will take the left path. Let’s all meet up here when we’re done. If one of you finds something, then come straight here, and when we meet up, then report. That way we can all take care of these thieves. Got it?”
When everyone nodded, they all set out into their respective tunnels.



The tunnel was lit with strange, blue lanterns, giving it an eerie glow. On the ground were bits and pieces of valuable things, which were obviously not treated with any care whatsoever. Natsu, Gajeel, and Happy were walking down the tunnel in an uneasy silence. Gajeel broke the silence by muttering, “I can’t believe I have to be stuck with you.”
“Yeah,” said Natsu, clearly annoyed by his fellow dragon slayer, “I didn’t want to get stuck with you either.”
The two mages stared each other down with angry glares. Happy, not wanting a fight to begin, for fear of Erza’s wrath, decided to intervene before it could escalate.
“I don’t think it matters who we got stuck with. Natsu, calm down! What if Erza finds out?”
That caused a shiver down Natsu’s back. Gajeel, on the other hand, simply huffed angrily. After a few more minutes of uneasy silence, the small group of three reached the end of the tunnel, where it opened up into a large, dimly lit cavern. The whole space was covered in hardened gold. At the opposite side of the cave, against the back, stood a large archway with a swirling black vortex of powerful magic, with pedestals holding glowing lacrima. They gasped in awe at the large space.
“I think we found what we were looking for,” said Natsu, “I guess we should go back.”



At the entrance to the cave system, the team met together.
“So,” began Erza, “What did everyone find? Lucy and I didn’t see anything of interest. How about you, Gray?”
Gray looked up from subconsciously taking off his shirt, “Nothing of interest on our end. Just a cave filled with junk.”
“Gray, stop taking off your clothes.”
“Aah,” screamed Gray, who just noticed that he was down to his boxers, and started to get dressed, with a disappointed looking Juvia looking on.
“Now, how about the last tunnel. Natsu?”
“Um,” said Natsu, “I think you may want to look at this.”
He led them down the tunnel. When they reached the room, they all gasped. Erza walked up to the portal.
“It looks like the thieves were trying to either bring something here, or go somewhere else. Be careful not to…touch it,” Erza said, face palming as Gajeel stupidly came in contact with the vortex. He was suddenly sucked in and disappeared. “I guess we should follow and make sure he’s alright.” With that, they all took the plunge into the unknown. They travelled through the portal, which was a flashing tunnel. Upon exiting, the last thing they saw was a pedestal with five branches before fainting from the stress of space travel. When they woke up, they had the biggest surprise of their lives.