All It Takes is the Turn of a Key

by Fallen_Stargazer

The Fiore Chronicles Part 2

Author's Note:

So, after almost 3 years of inactivity, college, moving, work, and a whole lot of other reasons you all don't really care about, I've finally decided to get off my lazy ass and get this story out of the dusty bin it's been sitting in. So without further ado, let's get this show BACK ON THE ROAD!!!

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.

Comments

[MegaManeEXE]

Welcome back!

[The Slending Angel]

My only qualm with this is the fact that things are not capitalized. I have NOT read this story yet, and therefore have made no judgement. The sheer unprofessionalism this story just... Oozes and exudes is a little bit too much for an Academian such as myself. I mean, the first word of the story's description isn't even capitalized. I mean... Eugh. That alone is a major turnoff for me. If the Author can't even get his or her grammar right, IN THE FUCKING DESCRIPTION, then how the hell will they make a decent story? Of course, as this story was featured, it cannot be ALL bad. But I am sure that my opinion would most definitely be in the negative if such grammar atrocities were spread throughout. As I said earlier, I will retain judgement until I have read the story. HOWEVER, I will not be reading said work until these errors are corrected. It helps my opinion that this story crosses with my (second) favorite anime. So I will most likely keep a close eye on this story. Look. It isn't that hard to find an Editor. I mean, there are groups made JUST for people to find Editors. So keep in mind that such amateurish and boorish mistakes will likely alienate future readers, mistakes that are easily corrected, even if you have to go a bit out of your way.

[The Slending Angel]

And by the suggestion of your title, this story either has Twilismart as a Celestial Mage, or, Lucy brings her here through a botched summoning, most likely with a new and unfamiliar key (that was possibly created by Discord, because most fanfics use the cliche of, 'Blame Discord for EVERYTHING').

[Fallen_Stargazer]

6586957
6586974

I do apologize for the grammatical errors. The story itself was started over three years ago back when I was first starting as a fanfiction writer, and just recently I've decided to come back to finish it. I had this most recent chapter half started for quite a while and, upon getting a spark of inspiration, decided to finish it. Once I have some spare time after the next few days, I intend to go through, give it a grammatical overhaul, and make it into a story both Academics and young readers alike can enjoy.

Also, there is no discord involved. As explained in a later point, it was a faulty bit in the spell work of the key. As in my opinion, keys are crafted by mages to connect to the celestial spirit world, and due to an error on someone's part, the location of summoning was changed from the celestial spirit world to equestria, and being the prodigy unicorn that twilight is, the spell locked onto her.

[The Slending Angel]

6587004 Ah. All the more reason to watch this story. A writer with a bad start and a bright future! What fun! Honestly, I was a little pissy about the fact that Scorch Trials didn't hardly follow the book, as I went to the theater yesterday to see it. I guess that I vented my frustrations upon you and your story, which I now apologize for.

*ahem*

Sorry.

[Fallen_Stargazer]

6587021 no apologies needed. Also I edited a bit of my prior comment to elaborate more on the concept behind the key and summoning.

[The Slending Angel]

6587027 Hmm... An interesting concept. I always thought of the Spirits like mercenaries, or, bounty hunters, like our favorite mages. They want to see things and kill stuff, yeah? So, they make a key, and throw it into the world, then boom. Somebody finds the key, makes a contract, and we now have shenanigans. Of course, it is hinted to in the show itself that they LIVE inside their keys (or are trapped, but I prefer not to be depressing). Take the first episode. When Salamander throws her keys, the spirits felt it, as evidenced by Lucy's water spirit (for the life of me, I can't fucking remember her name) getting FUCKING PISSED.

[Fallen_Stargazer]

6587046 That was my thought for the 12 golden keys of the zodiac, however referring to the silver keys, almost anyone can summon, and one episode shows them venturing to the spirit world, where there are almost hundreds of nicolai(plue) or canis minor. So I figured that the mages create a key, and with it, connect to a random silver key spirit, and that summons them to the normal realm.

[The Slending Angel]

6587060 But what makes them different? The gold and silver keys, I mean. Having such an oddity is well... Odd.

[Fallen_Stargazer]

6587074 Constellations. The 12 golden keys are the spirits associated with the 12 western zodiac signs. Cancer, aquarius, pisces, etc, whereas the smaller constellations are the silver keys. The 12 spirits are the only ones strong enough to create their own personal keys, which is why there is only one of each, whereas there are dozens of silver keys.

[The Slending Angel]

6587105 Hmm... It's plausible, but let me counter that. As I stated earlier with the water spirit, it appeared that they lived (or were trapped) in these keys. And to be honest? Now that I think about it, I'm leaning more towards trapped. They are the strongest, yeah? And then you've got that big Mustacheo Fucker that runs the place. He's suspicious. If he's so damn powerful, why does he have no key? What are these rules he was talking about? Why does their power dissipate in our own? Why would they create a key in teh first place if going to Earthrealm drained their powers? So many questions that seemingly debunk that 'they make it' thing.

[Fallen_Stargazer]

6587137 I see where you are coming from but here's my rebuttal. It's explained how to summon the spirit king at a point later in the series. In order to do so, one must sacrifice/destroy a golden key in order to summon him. My guess the resulting surge of transdimensional magic widening the gateway enough for him to cross over. As for why they drain our magic? That's just it, they are spirite. Normally incorporeal entities. They use our magic to give them self physical form and also the ability to have their powers interact with the mortal plane. As for why they couldn't just make another then, well, it's not shown yet if the sacrificing of a key is completely permanent yet so for all we know the connection could be restored.

[nightmaster0]

IT LIVES! Great chapter and good to see you back.

[The Slending Angel]

6587194 What if King DickMcMuffinsMcMustache makes them, AND the keys? Like a girl playing with pretend dolls, except the dolls aren't pretend, and instead of playing with them he grabs a bucket of popcorn and watches them like TV.

[Fallen_Stargazer]

6587239 that's always been something that kinda bugged me though, i don't know if it's a tic or not, but it just kinda irks me to start a new paragraph for like three words of dialogue and then start another, when it could have just been tacked on or mixed in. It might be improper, I agree, but it's a mental thing to me. Thank you for pointing it out and I will go and adjust it when I give this story a full grammatical edit.

[LinkGirl]

Sweet! Welcome back!!! Hope ya liked college, those were some of the best times of my life Thanks for all your hard work and I hope to see more chapters to come

[Shooting Star1234]

I love the pictures for this story

P.S Twilight sparkle is the best pony

[Fallen_Stargazer]

6594739 Well the first four chapters are over three years old and from when I first started writing. Thankfully, tomorrow is my day off from work and I intend to give this story the full grammatical overhaul it deserves. Plus flesh out my other story and fix that up as well.

[The Slending Angel]

Twilight couldn't help but laugh as she saw the usually energetic fire mage look worse than Spike after eating too many gems.

s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/3b/87/1e/3b871ebfdaf26042efca3e2c74063bbe.jpg

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.

Owlowiscious has been replaced. Good. Hated that fucker anyway.

[Fallen_Stargazer]

6625830

OH SHIT, PURPLE SMART GETS TO FIGHT THE ORACION SEIS. Well, I'm looking forward to her fighting them, Brain especially.

Negative there comrade. Wendy's already a happy part of the guild, as well as Gajeel's already a member and pantherlily is there too. Oracion Seis and Nirvana have already happened in this story's timline.

[EvilEv37]

Canceled?

[Fallen_Stargazer]

6798416 unfortunately. See this blog for the reasoning

[Shadow Burst19]

6799108 It's a shame that this story won't be continued but I'll go give your other story a try.

[link4]

story has great potential, it's a pity this was cancelled.