Meeting at Hargeon Town

Meeting at Hargeon Town is an event that took place July 2, X784.

Prologue
After her mother's death, Lucy Heartfilia runs away from the Heartfilia Konzern, her home, due to the neglection of her father. Natsu receives a tip from Krov that a "Salamander" had been spotted in Hargeon Town. Convinced that the "Salamander" is Igneel, Natsu and Happy travel to Hargeon by train, but are sidetracked when Natsu passes out on the train and is forced to ride it a second time around. Meanwhile, Lucy, is inside a magic shop surprised to hear that there is only one magic show in town. Lucy attempts to get a discount via her sex appeal for the Celestial Spirit Nikora, which costs 20,000 jewels, but is angered when the price is only lowered by 1000 jewels. A ruckus develops near her; curious, she heads towards it, hearing the name of the fire magic user Salamander. When she sees him, she feels her heart beating fast, and slowly moves towards him. This feeling soon ends when Natsu and Happy interrupt the proceedings, thinking Bora is the dragon Igneel.

New Born Friendship
Natsu rejects an autograph from the imposter, causing the Mage's legion of female fans to attack Natsu and drive him away. Once Bora leaves, Lucy, introduce herself to Natsu and Happy thanking them for what they just did. Out of appreciation, Lucy pays a meal for him and Happy, and rambles on about her ambition to join a famous guild. Lucy reveals that Bora was using Charm Magic. During the conversation, Natsu and Happy reveal their search for Igneel in town. They are taken aback when Lucy points out a dragon would never be found in the middle of a town, as this had not been previously dawned on them before. Lucy leaves the two to finish their meal, but Natsu and Happy are so grateful for her random act of kindness that they feel indebted to her since they didn't mean to help her in the first place. Natsu offers Lucy the autograph "Salamander" gave him, but she immediately refuses it, and they part ways.

In the park Lucy is reading Weekly Sorcerer. She finds some information on Fairy Tail and sees a photo shoot of Mirajane, wondering herself how does one become a member of Fairy Tail. “Salamander” comes out of the bushes, and tells her he is a member of Fairy Tail, and he invites her personally to his party. This way, he buys her mind and even goes as far as to tell her that he will talk to the Master to get her in. Lucy happily agrees, and they decide to meet at the party. In the evening, Natsu and Happy are watching Salamander’s ship, when they hear some girls talk about him as a member of Fairy Tail. Natsu is angered by this, and they decide to go to the party. There, Lucy is having a toast with Salamander, and he offers to give her some drink. However, Lucy notices the Magic as Sleep Magic, and confronts him about it. Being discovered, Salamander brings out his men, all carrying unconscious women. He refers to the girls as his merchandise, and Lucy grabs her keys, but Salamander knocks them out of her hands. He catches them, and throws them into the sea.

Crying, Lucy loses faith in Fairy Tail and tells Salamander he is the worst kind of Mage. Natsu them barges in, and Lucy is taken away by Happy, who can fly. Salamander attacks, but Happy evades everything, and then runs out of Magic and falls into the ocean. Meanwhile, Natsu is getting beaten by Salamander’s men, because of his motion sickness. Lucy, who found her keys in the sea, summons Aquarius, the Water Bearer, one of the strongest spirits she had. She explains her powers as a Celestial Spirit Mage, which allow her to summon spirits from an alternate dimension. She orders Aquarius to blast the ship to the shore, but Aquarius has other plans. She calmly tells Lucy that the next time Lucy drops her keys, she will kill her, and loads her urn with water, then shoots. The water takes the ship to the shore, but Lucy and Happy are caught in the wave. When asked why she was caught in the wave as well Aquarius states she was aiming at Lucy, not the ship, and she “failed” by destroying it. She then asks not to be summoned, as she will be on vacation with her boyfriend.

Back to the ship, Natsu is no longer sick, rather he is angered. He reveals himself to be a Mage of Fairy Tail, and they should not pretend to be him. One of the sailors refers to Salamander as Bora, revealing his true identity. Natsu then goes face to face with him, and is hit with fire, which he eats. Happy explains that flames don’t work on Natsu, and Natsu uses his Fire Dragon's Roar on everyone, which makes them realize that he is the true Salamander. Happy explains that his Lungs breathe fire, his scales dissolve flames, and his claws wrap in flames… this Magic makes the users body turn into a Dragon's, an ancient kind of Magic, one that was taught to him by Igneel. Using his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist he blows Bora away, and along with it, a part of the city. When the guards come to take him, he grabs Lucy and runs, telling her to come with him, in order to join the guild, and the three of them run towards Fairy Tail.

Aftermath
Natsu and Lucy arrive at the Fairy Tail guild, in awe and mostly shocked at the many varied personalities of its members. A brawl develops in front of her, started by Natsu, and during that brawl, she meets the other members, Gray Fullbuster and Mirajane Strauss. She also comments that none of the guild members are acting normal. The brawl is eventually stopped by Fairy Tail's Guild Master Makarov Dreyar before it escalates into one with usages of Magic. Makarov initially begins to scold the members for their destructive actions, but soon breaks into an inspiring speech about following the way of Fairy Tail. Night falls, and Lucy opts to have her member stamp on the back of her right hand, becoming a Mage of the prestigious guild, Fairy Tail.