Is it just me, or even though there are tens of thousands of Fairy Tail fanfics, there are almost no fanfics with actual fairies?
And why is it that 95% of the time when Lucy leaves the Guild, it's because someone in the Guild is a total idiot?
And why does she almost always somehow become a dragon slayer or dragon princess or something?
To fix this, here is one fanfic I wrote.

Prologue – Solo mission

Lucy, you're too weak to be on the team. That's why we're kicking you out to make room for Lissana.

Natsu's words were still in Lucy's head. She couldn't understand how this could happen. Gray, Erza, and even Happy had no problem with it and openly supported him. The others were no better. Mira even went so far as to say that she was merely replacing Lissane. The only people who still talked to her were Juvia, Gajeel, Wendy, Charla, and Lily. And since everyone had gone on missions, she decided to take one herself.

And that's how she ended up in the town of Bratkole. The mission was easy. Find a hideout and defeat the bandits. The reward is only 30,000 gems, but combined with the previous missions, it should be enough to cover the rent. But Lucy was never going to underestimate her opponents, so she first went to the Mayor's office to ask for details.

"Hello." - said Lucy, standing in the Mayor's office - "I am Lucy Heartfillia, a mage who accepted a job regarding bandits."

"Oh, thank you for your help." - replied the Mayor - "These people have been a problem for several weeks, and no one wanted to help us. I know the reward was small, but our city is not very rich."

"I see. But what else can you tell me about these bandits?"

"They always have masks, but we've never had more than 10 show up. We know they have a base somewhere in the woods east of us. Apparently, nearby towns were also attacked by them."

"Are there any victims?"

"They didn't kill anyone, but a few people were injured."

"It's a relief that there are no dead people. Did you notice anything special about these bandits? They have specific purposes, clothing, markings."

"They all wear cloaks and various masks or scarves to hide their identities. Although I don't understand why they steal lacrim and magic items but not gold or other valuables."

"Hmm... have any mages been seen among them?"

"No."

"Without a magician, I don't see why they would only collect magic items. Maybe they have one as a leader, or they found some item for which they need a lot of magical energy. Potentially some sort of ritual?"

"Actually, we managed to catch one of these bandits and he is currently in custody. But he doesn't say anything."

Lucy just smiled - "He doesn't have to. All I have to do is meet him. Do you have any suspicions when the next robbery attempt will occur?"

"They attack us every 2-3 days, and the last one was a few hours before you arrived, so there shouldn't be any attacks until tomorrow."

"Perfectly." - said Lucy and stood up - "Can you take me to the prisoner?"

"Of course. Follow me, please."

A few minutes later, Lucy, thanks to Gemini's help, had all the information she wanted. In total, there were 19 non-magic bandits and their mage leader. According to them, he was performing some ritual to give them great magical power, thanks to which they would be able to equal the 10th saint wizard. Of course, these were probably just brags, but they were performing some ritual for which they needed large amounts of magical power, which is why they stole so many magical items. She also knew that their hideout had only one entrance, so she quickly came up with a simple plan.

An hour later, in front of the bandits' hideout.

"So they posted guards." - Gemini said.

"It was to be expected after one of their men got caught." - Lucy said, looking at the two men in front of the entrance - "Distract them, I'll take them out."

"I understand, Miss Lucy." - replied Gemini, now in the form of a captured criminal. As the Geminis approached the bandits, Lucy quickly but silently moved around them and came up behind them. She grabbed a large stick along the way and hit the first one in the head, while Gemini quickly punched the second one in the stomach, knocking the air out of him and quickly stunning him.

Gemini turned into a guard and quickly checked when the next ones were supposed to arrive. Half an hour later, Lucy and Gemini repeated their move and now had 4 captured bandits tied up and waiting outside the hideout to be picked up later. Lucy didn't want to endanger the town's people, so she decided that only she and her ghosts would go to the hideout. She just took a long line and flare to let them know when they were done.

15 bandits and a mage remained.