Once they all got acquainted with their new bodies, the mages looked around at their location. They were in an old, decrepit castle of worn stone in the middle of a clearing in a dark forest. On one end was a pedestal that looked like it used to hold five idols. On the other was a doorway into the forest. The group decided the best thing to do would be to find civilization, if they could. Just outside the door was an old, rickety-looking bridge.
"We should go across one at a time," said Erza with her usual authority, "I don't think we could trust this bridge with more than one person's weight. I suppose I shall go first." With that, she began walking carefully over the bridge. It wobbled a little, but not as much as one would suspect. "Well, come on, its safe."
Most of the travelers made it across the bridge without a hitch, save for Natsu, whose acute motion sickness made the crossing just that much harder. Once he was across safely, they began moving again. Soon after, they came upon a river that ran swiftly past. While the water was calm enough to swim through, they didn't know how far they would have to walk before they arrived at a town. It was time to see whether their magic worked or not.
"Juvia will move the water," said Juvia. Low and behold, the water in the river began to part with space enough for the travelers to stand in, so that the water could still get past. Now Gray doesn't have to get wet, she thought.
"Juvia," said Gray, "We need you to concentrate." Juvia noticed that the water was closing in on them. She blushed when she realized that she was fantasizing about his human body. The water once again resumed making way for them.
They forded the river quickly and safely. They were glad to move on. On the other side was a trail that led through an even darker part of the forest. Within, they couldn't see anything. They kept bumping into each other. Finally, Natsu decided to light a dried stick for a torch, which brought relief to all of them. They reached a grove in the middle, where there were creepy faces etched into the trees, as if a child had decided to scare his friends into thinking that the forest was haunted. The faces scared Happy and caused him to hide behind Natsu for fear of being attacked by ghosts. After passing through that area, they reached a brighter part of the forest, which seemed to be dominated by thorny bushes. Juvia then put out the makeshift torch.
The clearing was beaten down as if a large animal had been there recently. The mages were on their guard as they passed through this area. The path continued after the clearing. Somehow, they could tell they were arriving at the edge of the forest. Unfortunately, they ran into a cliff. Luckily, the remnants of a landslide made it easy to climb up what would have been a very hard climb indeed. Once at the top, they resumed following the path again. Soon, the group noticed the thinning trees. By this time, the sun had started to fall below the horizon. In the low rays of the sun, they noticed a town shining in the distance. Unfortunately, it was still a ways away. The long, dirt road was hard under their hooves as the group walked in silence, which was unusual. Lucy suspected it was because they were still in shock over the transformation. She also thought it could have been the danger they felt was imminent in that old, dark forest.
Soon enough, though, they reached the town. It was a small town, there couldn't have been more than fifty people* living there. The general atmosphere was friendly, as if waiting for travelers to arrive. It reminded the mages of the town of Magnolia. As they entered, they noticed that the town was made up of ponies. It was at this point that they knew they weren't on their planet anymore. Walking into the town, the group found themselves startled by a pink mare with a poofy pink mane, who looked extremely happy to see them. She ran into a building that looked like a gingerbread house. They looked at each other with confusion, seeing as they didn't even know her.
"That was weird," said Natsu.
"Look who's talkin'," said Gray, clearly trying to coax a response out of his friend.
"What was that, ice for brains?"
"I said look who's talkin', flame breath!"
"Would you two knock it off," said Erza, taking charge, "The first thing we need to do would be to find out where we are."
"Where do we begin, though," asked Lucy, "It's not like we can tell them that we came through a portal, they'll think we're crazy."
"The best place to start would probably be the town hall. They've got to have information of that nature."
With a plan in mind, the seven travelers wandered through the town trying to locate the town hall building. Eventually, they found it. The tall, brown building was built near the center of town in an open plaza. Walking into the building, they found a map showing the town and the surrounding areas. It did not, however, tell them of a place where they could stay the night for free, as they didn't have any of the local currency. They decided that the next best thing to do would be to find someone who knew the town well. When walking out the door, they met up with a purple unicorn mare with a dark purple mane and tail with a pink stripe running through it.
"Excuse me," said Erza, "Would you perhaps know of a place where we could stay the night? We don't have any money with us."
The mare looked a little unsure of what to do. It seemed she was thinking about their predicament.
"Well...I think I know somepony who could help you," she said, still a little put off by strangers asking for a place to stay. She led them through town until they reached an apple orchard. They talked while they walked.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle," said the mare, "We're going to see if my friend Applejack would be willing to hold you until morning. You'll probably be staying in the barn."
"It's nice to meet you, Twilight," replied Erza, "We should probably introduce ourselves. I'm Erza, the red one is Natsu, the grey one is Gajeel, the white one is Lucy, the blue one is Gray, the greenish one is Juvia, and the cat's name is Happy. Also, thank you for helping us. I understand it's short notice."
"Those are interesting names. I don't think I've met anypony with names like yours, except maybe Gray. Where are you from, anyway?"
"We're from Magnolia."
"Strange, I don't believe I've heard of it. You must be from far away, then."
"You could say that, yes."
"We're here." The group had arrived at a large barn, with a small farmhouse attached to it. Twilight went up to the door and knocked. A few moments later, an orange earth pony mare with a blonde mane and tail opened the door.
"Hey, Twi," she said, "Can I help you?"
"Yeah, I met these ponies near the town hall, and they simply need a place to stay for the night. I hope you don't mind."
"Sure, I suppose they could stay. But, they'd have to sleep in the barn. There's simply not enough space in the house for them."
"Thanks, Applejack." Once they introduced themselves, they were led to the barn. Inside, they found an assortment of farming implements.
"Well, here we are," said Applejack. She began gathering hay into seven different piles. "Ah'm sorry about the small space, but it's the best Ah can do fer you."
"Not at all," said Erza, as the weary travelers settled down for the night, "Thanks for helping us out."
"If you need anything else, sugarcube, just ask." With that, Applejack left them alone for the night. It's truly been an interesting day, thought Erza, as she fell asleep, hopefully tomorrow we can get some answers.