Ursa Den

The Ursa's were like most Guilds. It had a great number of magus amongst its ranks and a few whose names were famous throughout the land. It also took missions like other Guilds and was paid like the others. But, there was something the Ursa's Guild Hall made it stand out above the other Guilds. Many Guilds had their Halls be located within cities with its members being some of the residents. Which was completely different for Ursa Guild.

The Guild Hall had literally been carved inside of a mountain itself. The thing was rumored to be a city built inside of the mountain. Which only seemed to be rumors as the bus the newcomers came across was only a small crack in the giant face of the mountain that led inside.

The bus rather small, but that was to be expected since there were not a large number of new magus and those that did could have easily gone into a different Guild. But, even though it was small it could carry its passengers with extra space for some elbow room and for a few places to lounge about in and get some rest. Their belongings such as bags with clothes plus other essentials had been placed inside of a compartment, accessed on the side of the bus, underneath them. But, a few could take some items keep themselves entertained.

From the side-windows they could see a giant forest which was much friendlier than the Everfree. They could see some critters moving about and enjoying the sunny, Spring day. Through the back window, the city that they had just passed seemed to grow smaller as they continued towards the mountain. The windshield revealed the Den to the few that had looked towards the front of the bus. The Den had peaked above the clouds, and the mere sight of the mighty mountain spoke in volumes of the Guild's power and strength that had been always legendary. It managed to give a strange sense of calm when looked upon for some unexplained reason.

There was a small green unicorn that had a leather jacket as a blanket as he slept through most of the last eight hours of this trip. The jacket covered all of the young colt, who couldn't have been no older than twelve, and was obviously meant for someone bigger than him. His large bag was used as a pillow while he slept upright. His mane seemed to be a strange mix of both curly and straight while it's color looked to be black until the light hit it right to show the dark brown.

At the wheel off the large bus was a dark stallion. His head lacked any sign of a mane had ever been on his head along with that he wasn't a unicorn. He wore a grey turtle that went strangely well with his black coat and light blue eyes along with a pair of khaki pants. The stallion didn't talk much and seemed to have permernate frown on his face. He spoke every so often to tell his passengers information about when and where they were stopping on their ride to the Den. If someone tried to speak with them ended to be short or just one-sided because of the pegasus' keeping his sentence short and to the point. "We got a few more minutes until we reach the Guild so wake up anyone that's still asleep." Once, he said that a large opening in the mountain was visible and it was obvious that it was indeed a Den for an Ursa.

Carbon Copy was seated right in the middle of the bus.  The two crystal stallions appeared identical in every way, save for a red crystal which hung around Carbon's neck.  They each had the same darkish blue crystal coat and translucent purple mane, which sparkled when the sunlight caught it right.  They even shared a small cut on the left cheek, though Copy's seemed to be healing better. They were each dressed similarly- similarly, but not entirely the same.  Drab grey button-down shirt over black pants for Copy, and a lighter blue shirt and black pants for Carbon. The clothing, along with the crystal Carbon wore, was the only real means of telling them apart.

The book Carbon held had a picture of a diamond on the cover, and was filled with handwritten notes and diagrams.  Copy was empty handed, leaning back with his eyes shut.  He wasn't asleep, just very relaxed.  Meditative.  When the bus driver spoke, Copy's eyes opened, and he sat up straighter, stretching.  Carbon closed his book carefully, replacing it in his backpack, and stretched in synchronization with Copy.  "Finally, we're almost there."

"I was starting to get stiff."

"Bout time," Zen said from a couple seats back. The dark blue pegasi stallion had opted for a window seat, and was only now looking away from the view with his hourglass pupil eyes. His off looking wings shuddered a little in anticipation of being able to fully open again once they were off the bus. The bright red from Zen's trench coat and wide brimmed, lazily pointed hat were marred slightly by signs of long wear and tear. He glanced about the bus then, looking at all the others that had signed up for the den, the chesire grin on his face never leaving and fully revealing the pointed teeth that were inside.

A few seats ahead of Zen was a larger figure, both taller and wider than him. The canine features of a diamond dog were a dead give away, even with the slightly conservative clothing he wore over the ashen grey fur with specks of black coloring throughout it and his black paws, snout, and ears. The simple brown trousers along with the one arm sleeved chainmail shirt that jingled lightly whenever the bus hit a rough spot in the road, partially hidden by the green hooded cloak that had slits in the hood for the dog's ears to poke out of. One of these ears appeared to have a piece missing from it while the other had three little ring piercings in it. Krix didn't seem to really give any reaction to the bus driver's call of almost being there. He didn't stretch, he didn't suddenly start looking around with his one good eye, and he didn't speak. In fact, he'd barely spoken at all the entire trip.

Garland, in the very back of the bus, woke up from his nap at the stallions words. He sat up and gave a small stretch, and a silent yawn; one that no one could tell he was doing, as he still had his mask on and his hood raised. He checked beside him to see if his weapon had been stolen whilst he was asleep, and to his relief, it wasn't. He then looked ahead at the enormous mountain in front of him with awe. He couldn't wait to get inside.

He took a moment to look around at the denizens of the bus, and came to the conclusion that he could take all of them if needed for initiation. He gave a cocky grin under his mask, and proceeded to lean back and wait patiently to get inside the mountain.

Aerv Xereth was half-sitting, half-lying on the two chairs somewhere on the middle of the bus. His back was leaned against the window of the bus while one of his legs was dangling freely on the pathway at the center of the bus. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and light brown cargo pants, around his neck were his long green scarf and rusty gold compass, and on top of his head rested a pair of flight goggles. His mind woke up, but his body didn't, and it took him a moment before he could get to control his scaled body and stretch his arms and legs the best way he could in the tight space.

"Ah, we'll be there soon..." He thought out loud, but still so quiet so only he could hear as he looked through the front window, glaring at the enormous cave that was their destination. His grey hair was as messed up as usually, and he apparently didn't seem to feel like bothering with fixing it. "Better stay in my best spirits.." he quietly thought out loud again as he looked at other passengers, winking or smiling at every single one of them, regardless if they were paying attention or not.

A large pegasus sat next to the sleeping unicorn. He wore armor that seemed to come from a time long lost, the cloth itself in tatters. He wore a white cloak over his armor and next to him sat a lance. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, but he seemed to be on the lookout for any threats. He slightly flinched when the driver of the strange contraption spoke, saying something about needing to wake up anyone sleeping. He reached over, placed a gauntleted hand on the unicorn, and started shaking him. "Master, thou ne'd to wake up. We shall be arriving at our destination shortly, and I doth not want to carry thou. Prithee wake up and hast mercy on me."

A unicorn stallion, with a light grey coat and a brown mane, sat silently in one of the windowside seats in the bus. He stared, seemingly without aim, out of the window, his hoof idly tapping on the leather barding that covered much of his body. While his gaze was directed out of the window, the stare of the large eagle on his back, its entire body gleaming with the polished finish of stainless steel, roamed around the interior of the bus, watching the other occupants.

As some of the others began to speak up, the stallion's ears raised themselves, though his eyes never deviated from the window. Instead, the eagle did all the looking for him, eyeing Xereth, Carbon and Copy with what almost amounted to a look of curiosity, though the sunken, eyeless face of the steel eagle made it hard to discern.

A unicorn sat near the front of the bus, leaning on another pony. The latter appeared to be an earthpony at first glance, with an oddly metallic sheen to its coat. The fact the unicorn was asleep would have been apparent, had it not been for her bright red and orange mane covering her eyes… That is, was asleep until the driver decided to open his damned mouth and wake her up. With a groan, the unicorn sat upright, brushing away the hair away from her eyes revealing both the periwinkle orbs and the tattoo on its right cheek, a blue lightning bolt.

The unicorn then levitated a flask from the compartment located underneath her seat.  Taking a quick drink, she yawned, putting away the flask in a similar manner and stretching. “Still functioning, Tin can? We’re almost there.” she poked the pony, giving it a friendly jolt of electricity with her magic to get its attention.

'Well this certainly is something else, isn't it.' 'Yeah, I suppose. Nice view and all, doesn't beat a few we've seen before though.' 'I just find it interesting this Guild is inside a mountain.' A dark blue pegasus stallion thought to himself, staring idly out of a window with his orange eyes while his elbow rested on the side and his hand was placed underneath his chin.

The stallion himself, clothes-wise, was probably the most outlandish of the lot on the bus. Not because he was wearing golden plate armour, or mytical rune covered garments, but because of the fact he was wearing a full formal suit. Black jacket, white shirt, light blue waistcoat, light blue bow-tie, matching trousers to his jacket, black socks and well shined formal black shoes. To top it all off the stallion was also wearing, on top of his black and red mane, a top hat with a four of clubs tucked into the red band which he took off and reached inside to take out a deck of cards before placing the hat back on his head.

He had a look around the bus, noticing a strange dragon smiling at him already, so he smiled and waved politely back, but more importantly (to him) the pegasus started to shuffle the cards in hand. To anyone who glanced at this act, they would just see a well dressed stallion shuffling cards rather quickly. To anyone paying close enough attention, they would notice the cards had no faces to them, just completely blank cards that seemingly had no purpose, though Wild simply smiled to himself as he waited for the bus to arrive at its destination.

The shiny grey earthpony would turn to the unicorn that had just jolted him, speaking in a very monotone voice, but if had any skill at putting emotion into his voice, Amp would think he would be mildly irate. "I have a name, you know. Just because I'm bound to you doesn't mean you should be impolite." He stretches, popping a few loose joints in his structure back in place. "It is good that we are here. I was getting tired of waiting."

The colt groaned a bit as he being shaken before he looked up at the armored pony. He's face immediately turned into a frown. The young master had always been in a sour mood when Lancea was near and sleeping was the only way to avoid being with him though Blade naturally fell asleep during car rides. "I'm up." He said as he looked over out of the window, grimacing a bit as his eyes adjusted to the light. He slowly moved the jacket off himself and began to wrap the jacket around his waist since he looked silly while wearing it normally.

The bus soon stopped about twenty feet in front of the entrance of the cave and the door opened. "Get your things while I do something real quick. Don't get off until I come back." The driver said as he hoped everyone would grab their luggage in the compartments above them as he stepped outside. The dark stallion moved towards the opening that seemed to repel all light, nothing was revealed of the inside of the cave. The stallion walked towards it anyways and even vanishing inside of the cave once he stepped in.

Zen just continued to look about and make no movement to retrieve anything from the smaller baggage racks. "Hmm, I wonder," Zen replied as he suddenly stood up before seeming to just fall through the floor, or rather into the little black hole that opened beneath his hooves. Granted, he was only gone for a moment before falling out of a second hole just above the bus so that now Zen was standing on the roof. Both of the holes closed the moment the red coated pegasi was past their thresholds and from this new vantage point, Zen began looking about the area.

Meanwhile back inside the bus, Krix's ears swiveled as the soft thuds of Zen's hooves on the roof sounded, but didn't really pay it much mind. The large dog got up slowly, and from the upper baggage racks retrieved a large, sharply edged shield that was soon on his arm. The large dog then sat back down since the remainder of his equipment was located in the larger storage areas of the bus. Regardless of how they were doing it, both were waiting for the bus driver to return.

Schwarm - the unicorn stallion - nodded as the bus drew to a halt in front of the cave. He did not get up off his seat, though, as per instructions, though he did quietly question the intentions behind the order. It seems that their journey was over. Travel time could have been slightly more efficient though. Then again, given the calculations required to conclude as such, perhaps efficiency was preserved after all.

He then turned his attention to the cave. The light blockage seemed incredibly effective; possibly owing to magic, though at this point he could not yet draw any conclusions. He simply watched the cave in silent contemplation.

Aerv stretched again for a good measure, yawned and sat up to not put so much pressure with wings. As the bus finally came to the stop, he glanced at the cave. This should be interesting... and hopefully getting along with others won't be such a problem... he thought as he idly listened to the driver's orders. He pulled a small bag out of the compartment above him and put it into his lap, looking around the bus again before looking back at the cave again, waiting for the driver to come out with new orders.

Carbon and Copy finished their stretches, and stood up, getting their things from the overhead compartment. The bags were large, and each seemed to contain a combination of supplies and clothing. Oddly enough, they each seemed to carry a bit more than necessary for themselves, almost as if they were expecting a guest. The twins turned and scanned the bus, slightly disappointed at the shortage of mares. This would be more like the Crystal Empire academy than the modern Canterlot one, it seemed. Except for the upsetting number of unicorns. Carbon looked at Copy, and Cooy looked back, and they turned their attention to watching the driver.

“Awh, Eq, I’m shocked. I thought you loved my little jolts of affection.” Ampera, previously dubbed the unicorn, joked, laughing heartily at her own pun. Noticing that the bus had in fact, stopped moving, she was about ready to get up and exit the bus. Unfortunately, the driver once again had other plans. ”Don’t get off until I come back. Bah! Someone was dangerously close to getting electrocuted, and it wasn’t Eq. Though... He’d probably just enjoy that--- Except, you know… Golems.” Ampera mused to herself silently, shaking her head and smiling.  “Well. Looks like we’re going to be doing a little more waiting.” she sighed.

Eq would just roll his eyes. "It figures that I wouldn't be able to do anything yet. Not until every possible thing was done to prolong my suffering." Eq picks up his toolbox from the compartment and carries it on his back, turning to Ampera. "The jolts are like eating a snack, if you must know. I just consume the magical energy, and the electrical energy is diffused into my body."

Garland gave a silent groan at the driver's instructions. 'I had enough time to nap on the way here, and now I've gotta wait some more?' He thought to himself, annoyed. He briefly thought of asking someone else around him about what they thought, just to start conversation, but then opted to stay quiet; not wanting to talk just yet. He would wait until he was more comfortable with being around the others. For the time being, he just obeyed the instructions given, fidgeting impatiently all the while.

Wild Card raised an eyebrow as the bus stopped close to the entrance of the cave, and looked at the bus driver as he told them not to leave the bus as he did just that. 'Hm, wonder what he's doing.' 'I honestly have no clue, though he'll surely be back for us.' He thought to himself as he continued shuffling the cards, not even looking as if he was bothering to get anything.

'Shall we do like the others and grab what we need?' Wild then moved the cards to one hand, still shuffling them, and raised his other hand to his hat, holding on to the brim of it. 'Okay, I grabbed it. What next?' The stallion mentally chuckled to himself, lowering his hand and continuing on with the shuffling much like before, smiling to himself all the time but looking up to the top of the bus as he heard noises coming from up there, before shrugging idly.

Lancea turned towards Blade, who was just waking up, and scowled at him " 'tis unbecoming to sleep while in the presence of complete stranger f'r nay reason. I taught thou better than to be malapert, especially in the presence of others." He grabbed his lance, then looked up in the luggage compartment, almost bashing his head against the top of the bus. Realizing that Blade brought nothing, he sat back down, next to his master, and turned towards him. "Master, I doth not like this situation, it feels odd, and haply like a trap. Shouldst we yea hark to the words of the driv'r of this odd contraption?"

The colt didn't seem to care much for the stallion's scolding and simply kept his eyes focused on the area around them, suddenly taking an interest to nature. His eyes did shift over to Lancea as he expressed his concerns, but it stayed for a moment before it went to the back of the cave. "If he wanted to attack us, I doubt he would have driven all of us for the last for the last few days before he did so." He said knowing that there were closer areas for an attack to take place. It was also not as if there were many mountains that were near Trottingham, which the main guild hall was said to be from numerous people.

Not long after Blade said that, the ground shook. There had been no sign of it happening anywhere in the forest or even the mountain above, not even the road behind them giving a slight indictator of the source. Which meant it could have came from only one place. The colt glanced over at Lancea as he quickly put his jacket on, feeling as if there might be a reason for him to leave the bus. Soon, the Earth shook repeatedly. It became apparent that this was not a quake, but instead tremors. The feeling of magic was not felt inside of entrance and nothing could be seen inside of it.

Lancea listened to the rumbling start, the stood up, almost hitting his head on the top of the bus and picked up his lance. He went into a defensive stance and brought his lance to bear. "Master! 'Tis an ambush! Get behind me while I search f'r our foe" He looked around for any sign of enemies in the area.

Krix sat where he was, not really moving or reacting all that much to the shaking. He looked about a little bit with his one good eye, but past that he just continued to sit and watch. The bus wasn't exactly an armored tank that'd be hard to break out of, they weren't immediately under any trees or the cliff face, nor were they in the cave so he didn't see the need for panic like the old style speaking pony had.

Up on top of the bus, Zen was caught off guard staggered as the bus shook, but he used his wings to stabilize himself before he fell. With a couple flaps, Zen was left hovering just above the bus to avoid the shaking and possibly falling. He then looked about, first towards the cave and then towards other areas as his curiosity got the best of him in trying to locate the source of the tremors.

Aerv slightly jumped as the ground shook, but didn't make any more of a reaction. He glanced at Lancea, the old-english speaking guy over-reacting. 'It's not like it will kill us...calm down.' Aerv thought as he kept looking at Lancea, shifting his gaze towards everyone else on the bus until finally looking out of the window again. "I sure hope he comes back soon..." he quietly says to himself, awaiting to see what will come out of the cave.

Sophie Witherweird had been fast asleep up until the tremors started. She is jolted awake. "What-?" Is all she has time to get out before she is knocked the floor. "What was that?" She asks. To all those around her, it would seem she was asking her fellow ponies who had been awake what was going on. In reality, this question was directed at the griffon spirit she'd asked to accompany her on this trip. He'd been keeping careful eye on her and the rest of the inhabitants of the bus for the duration of the ride.