It took two days to reach Magnolia. It likely would have taken a little less, however Lucy convinced the other two to stay the night at a rest stop not far from the outskirts of the town. The lukewarm shower and hard, lumpy bed were heaven to her dirty and slightly sleep deprived body.
That wasn't to say they pushed themselves or sacrificed sleep to make good time. The pace they set was downright leisurely. However ever since her first, completely disastrous, time camping out in the wilderness she'd had difficulty sleeping outdoors. The only reason she'd gotten any sleep was Natsu's constant loud snores reminding her that she wasn't alone. It also helped that he actually knew what he was doing when it came to camping.
Lucy couldn't say that they'd gotten to know each other in those two days. It wasn't really filled with all that much talk; well Natsu and Happy had no issues talking with each other, Lucy was more focused on not tripping in her exhausted state. She did learn Happy's favorite food, not that it was difficult to discover, the cat insisted on stopping at every decently sized body of water to check for fish. A part of her thought that Natsu was a bit frustrated with her, considering how little skill she had in walking on the road for long stretches and camping. It was probably just her imagination though.
Regardless it was a freshly rested and relatively clean Lucy who entered Magnolia for the first time. She was completely awestruck. It was without a doubt the largest town she'd ever been in. It was also the most beautiful. The buildings were clean and most of them had baskets filled with flowers of some sort hanging off the eves. There was a wide central road leading to a grand and elegant cathedral. Once the trio passed it, she saw that the wide road continued on, past a wide channel, to a large orange roofed building sitting in the distance.
Natsu and Happy got excited when the building first came into view and as they got closer, Lucy could understand why. Fairy Tail's guild hall was literally at the end of the road. From its bright orange-red roof topped with what looked like an onion to its expertly carved and detailed spade shaped front door; it was a grand sight.
"It's huge!" She gaped. Lucy wanted to squeal over everything. The curly heart design on the shudders, the tailed fairies on the sign, even the flag proudly bearing the guild mark. She fell in love with it all.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail." Happy chirped, bringing her attention back to her traveling companions. They were both waiting for her to gather herself.
Upon entering she was nearly drowned the noises of people talking and laughing, the sounds of cutlery banning around and the shouts for more food and alcohol. She caught sight of a familiar face and saw Mirajane serving several men, being flirted with and easily rebuffing the advances with some transformation magic.
Not even Natsu's exuberant shouting could distract Lucy from her awe. Even when he slammed his foot into someone's face she could only feel excitement. She hadn't known what to expect or how the guild would act. A large part of her had thought that it'd be much like how she and the other Lucys had been back at the manor. Polite, and cooperative but ultimately sticking to their own space unless necessity and convenience forced them to interact. Even meeting with Natsu didn't really change her expectations; he could have just been the only one like that. However seeing all those people descend into what looked like a good natured brawl was strangely thrilling.
"I really did it…I came to Fairy Tail." She drifted inside, staying out of the way from the, thankfully, magicless fight.
Suddenly a mostly naked man appeared beside her and shocked her right out of her state of euphoric awe.
Where were his clothes? Not to say that she didn't appreciate his bare chest; it displayed his guild mark beautifully. However that didn't explain why he was only wearing boxers. He was also shouting for Natsu in order to fight him. She wasn't sure what to think of that.
Then a brunette not far from the two of them spoke up and things quickly descended into madness.
Lucy hadn't known it was possible for someone to drink their own body weight in alcohol in only a few minutes but apparently she'd been wrong. She knew magic allowed for mages to push their bodies in ways a non-magical person could only dream of, but she'd assumed there were limits. Coupled with a giant of a man making speeches about manliness joining the ever-growing brawl and quickly losing, Sorcerer's Weekly's number one bachelor Loke being a complete playboy, and Mirajane actually talking to her before nearly getting knocked out by a flying bottle; Lucy was beginning to wonder if she was insane enough to actually join.
The, now completely naked, man crashing next to her and asking Lucy for her underwear was just overkill at this point. Of all the scenarios she'd come up with for her introduction to the guild, freaking out and punching a naked man in the face wasn't one of them. Besides, what did he expect? If she let him have any of her underwear, it wouldn't fit and even if it did he would end up stretching it beyond repair. There was no way she'd do that for a strange man, even if he was her, hopefully, future comrade.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Lucy found herself being picked up and carried off. However, in her state of shock, Loke's elegant and flattering words went in one ear and out the other. He was quickly forced to drop her when Natsu beaned him on the head with a chair. Natsu let out a happy shout from his success at hitting his target. The sudden drop cleared her head a bit and she quickly scrambled away from the disaster zone that was once the middle of the guild.
Things abruptly got tense when the alcoholic brought out some clearly magical cards, prompting everyone else to start casting their own magic. Considering the kind of damage Natsu had been able to do to Hargeon port and the fact that everyone else seemed to be just as reckless and destructive, Lucy had to wonder if there'd be a Fairy Tail left for her to join. Even Mirajane seemed concerned.
Until an authoritative voice ran out. "That's enough." An actual giant appeared in the middle of the brawl. His head brushed against the high ceiling and Lucy had to wonder how in the world she missed seeing him before. He was so big he blocked out the light and she couldn't make out any of his features. "Cut it out you fools!"
Everyone froze.
"My…" Mirajane was still calm even when faced with this terrifying person, "you were here too, master?"
"Master!" Lucy hadn't thought the giant could be any more intimidating. She was wrong. It made sense, considering he easily stopped the fight with just a few words and his impressive size.
Well, almost. Natsu apparently wasn't intimidated at all by the presence of the guild master and immediately started boasting about it. Until he was squished by the giant's foot.
"Oh," with a jolt Lucy realized that the giant had noticed her. "A new-comer?"
"Y-yes." She felt small under his analyzing gaze. The only time she'd ever felt smaller was after she'd failed one of Lord Heartfilia's tests and it'd looked like he was debating whether or not to cut his losses and just dispose of her then and there.
The master's magic surged and she couldn't quite keep herself from shaking. Without warning his body shrank. In less than a minute he'd shrunk to about the height of her knees. Lucy was once again left gaping, this time at the massive size difference and the shear amount of magic it had to have taken for the mustached man to reach the height he had been before.
He waved casually at her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Makarov."
Lucy didn't have the time to answer before he was back flipping all the way to the upper floor. He didn't quite make it past the railing, but it didn't seem to matter. He then started to berate several members, most if not all of them were the main fighters in the brawl Lucy had just witnessed. She discovered the names of several people, though she couldn't say that the other things she found about them were all that surprising.
The naked man, Gray, had a stripping problem. The manly man, Elfman, was a bit violent when it came to defending what he thought was manly. She found that the alcoholic's name was Cana and that Loke really was a huge flirt. What was really the most surprising thing was the size of the list of things that Natsu destroyed. Though considering what he did in Hargeon, Lucy really shouldn't have been all that surprised. Even less so with the knowledge that he was behind what happened to the Devon thief family.
Makarov then listed off several more people, though not the things they'd done, before somehow turning the lecture into one of the most inspirational speeches Lucy had ever heard. It ended with everyone cheering.
It wasn't long before everyone had recovered, the tables were straitened, the chairs patched up and Natsu was placated with foods that were on fire. Mirajane led Lucy to a quieter counter in the back so that she could get her guild mark.
Despite Lucy's earlier misgivings, she figured she was just insane enough for the rowdy guild. At least, so long as she was a member, Lucy didn't think she'd ever be bored.