It had been two days since The Ed Squad had taken lift-off to Union Academy. From the map that Double-D had, it would only be a few hours until they reached the town area.
At the captain's hull, Ben, Chris, and Junior were steering the controls. However, something was about to happen. Something big.
"Ben, look!" Chris said. Ben put away his phone and looked to see his friend pointing towards a red flashing bulb.
"Analysis."
"It appears to be a small incandescent bulb, designed to indicate something out of the ordinary, like a malfunction."
Ben stared at the flashing bulb for a moment before smiling. "I find it pretty and somewhat hypnotic."
"That too."
"Alright. Junior, manual!" Ben said as Junior handed him the manual... which he then used to smash the bulb to pieces. "Problem solved!"
"Uh, guys, I think we may be out of fuel..." Chris said worriedly.
"What makes you say that?" Ben asked as Chris pointed out the window of the cockpit.
"We've lost Engine One!" He then moved to the other window. "And Engine Two is no longer on fire!"
"Oh, boy... better buckle up!" Ben said warily as Chris and Junior quickly got themselves into their seats and locked the seatbelts into place. Ben then pulled down the communicator microphone to tell the rest of the plane.
"Attention, this is your captain speaking! I've got good news and bad news; The good news is we'll be landing immediately!"
The rest of the gang all smiled in relief, glad to know that they were finally here. However, it was then that Ben decided to drop the bad news.
"The bad news is... WE'RE CRASH LANDING!"
And just like that, the plane stopped in place... and dropped like a stone. Everyone proceeded to scream bloody murder as they held onto their seats. The only one not screaming was Rina, who was sleeping with an eye mask over her eyes.
"When it comes to air travel, we know you have no choice whatsoever. But thanks again for choosing Air Ed!"
Everyone soon landed back in their seats, Eddy looking out the window to see just how fast they were falling and screaming in terror as his life flashed before his eyes. Rolf, on the other hand, was laughing as he floated in the air due to the altitude drop.
"Raise your arms, Ed-Boys! It's more fun when you raise your arms like this!"
As Eddy was holding onto his seat, he turned to Ed and Double-D. "This could be it, guys! I just want you to know that you are both truly... one-in-a-million friends!"
"Eddy! You and Ed were like brothers to me!" Double-D cried as he was holding onto his hat with one hand and his seat with the other,
"ED ALWAYS KNEW SCAMS WOULD FAIL! I WENT ALONG WITH THEM BECAUSE WE ARE FRIENDS!" Ed sobbed loudly as he was hanging onto his seat upside-down.
"YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST EVER!" Eddy shouted, breaking down into tears. "AND I'M SO SORRY I BROKE YOUR IPOD, DOUBLE-D! THE BUTTONS WERE SO SMALL, THEY MADE ME MAD!"
"THAT'S OKAY, I WAS PLANNING ON GETTING A NEW ONE ANYWAY!" Double-D reassured. "I LOVE YOU, RINA! I ALWAYS HAVE!"
Rina didn't hear as she was still fast asleep. Everyone stopped screaming and stared at Double-D, glancing at each other, then turning their attention back to him, who had now started to turn red in the face.
"L-L-Like you love the beach or a good book… or the beach."
Back in the captain's cockpit, Ben had decided that enough was enough as he quickly turned to Junior.
"J, you've had your fun, pull up!"
The bunny-eared girl nodded as she pulled up, causing the plane to right itself as it glided across the countryside. Many people noticed the plane flying through the plains and some took pictures on their phones.
"Alright, now cue down!"
Chris pulled the lever, flipping out the landing wheels as he began carefully moving the plane closer to the ground to land it.
"Alright, gently now, just a little peck. A smooch, like you're kissing your sister!" Ben said as Chris managed to touch the ground, only for the wheels to be shredded off from the sheer speed the plane was going at.
"I SAID KISS IT!"
Chris gritted his teeth as he did his best to pull the plane back, even as it was being shredded apart from the friction.
"Now just a little break! Just a touch! A little whistle!"
"Rolf believe that's, how you say, checkmate!" Rolf said from the first-class cabin as he placed his piece down on the chessboard he was casually playing with, of all things, a pineapple throughout the whole crash.
"TROUBLE! BAD! BIG!" Ed screamed as he, Double-D, and Eddy hugged each other for dear life. Back in the captain's cockpit, Ben facepalmed as he decided to do what should have been done in the first place.
"Everybody! Flaps up! Deploy!"
Chris and Junior nodded and pulled on the emergency levers, causing a pair of parachutes to shoot out from behind the plane, slowing its descent as it floated gently into a forest clearing.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as they landed, the Eds were still hugging each other and shivering as Rina snorted, finally waking up from her nap as the respirators came down.
"Awww, is the ride over already? Rolf expected it to be longer!" Rolf complained.
Ben soon came into the passenger's cabin and looked around. "Is everyone accounted for? Okay? Good."
Everyone disembarked the plane and looked around to see the forest they were in. Eddy whistled as he looked around.
"You guys think this is The Forest? Y'know? That horror video game with the cannibals and all that?"
"I sure hope not..." Chris muttered worriedly as the group began heading in a direction. This direction just so happened to show them a lot of lights.
City lights, to be exact.
"Hey guys, I see the city!" Ed said as everyone followed him to see that they had landed in a forest that was right nearby the capital of Union City, overlooking the entire town.
"Well, talk about entering with style!" Eddy said, getting over the terror he felt earlier as the squad returned to the plane to pick up their luggage and belongings and hopefully find a place to stay in the city.
*Meanwhile, in Union Academy*
"Hey, did you guys hear about that plane crashing into the forests an hour ago?" Rainbow Dash asked her friends, consisting of Sunset Shimmer, Twilight Sparkle (Sci-Twi), Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Flash Sentry.
"I sure hope nobody was hurt in that crash..." Fluttershy worriedly said as Pinkie Pie seemed rather excited.
"Oh! I bet this is gonna be the start of a really awesome crossover!" Pinkie Pie's words were always bizarre to hear. It was as though she had some knowledge of the greater universe and others simply saw her rambling as moments of insanity.
"But what do you think happened? I mean, a plane doesn't just fall out of the sky like that. There have to be warnings, right?" Flash pointed out as Twilight rubbed her chin.
"Well, from what eyewitnesses have been saying, the plane appeared to be a custom job."
"Well, I guess the ones riding it didn't want to pay for a regular flight. Not that I can blame them, the prices are ABSOLUTELY dreadful!" Rarity said.
"I heard some people are already investigating the plane. From what can be gathered, it was completely barren. No dead bodies, no belongings, no nothing. I guess the people flying it managed to survive and get out in time." Sunset said.
Unbeknownst to The Mane Eight, a young man with effeminate features and short black hair was reading a book at a table a little farther away. This was Crydius Cromwell.
As he was reading the book, he felt something strange pang inside him and looked at his palm, which glowed with an ancient black symbol that he had since birth. It had the appearance of an eight-pointed star mixed with a skull.
Humming curiously to himself, he decided to see just what was causing the symbol to act up after so long.
"Something tells me what comes next should be interesting..."
"Man, the city is much bigger up close."
The group had made it into the city with their luggage and personal belongings. Union City looked quite welcoming, almost like a small city town of sorts with all sorts of things to do and sights to see.
"Well, we better find where Union Academy is. Ed, do you have the map?" Double-D asked as Ed nodded and pulled the map out of his jacket, handing it to his sock-hatted pal.
After putting on safety gloves he procured from his hat to avoid unsanitary conditions, Double-D looked over the map before finding where Union Academy was located and pointing his finger at it.
"Okay ladies and gentlemen, from where we are standing, Union Academy is East of here. So, if we keep heading on that way, we'll be able to make it and enlist in the student curriculum before sundown."
As Ed looked over the map with Double-D, Eddy was doing some catcalling on some of the local ladies while Rolf was inspecting the ground, feeling the concrete and gravel.
"Hey, Benny-Boy, you doing okay?" Eddy asked as he noticed Ben looking at his palm, the symbol on it glowing brightly.
"Huh, your palm tattoo is acting up again," Chris noted. "Think the important thing might be here?"
"It's close. I can feel it."
"Then let's go, we're burning daylight!" Eddy said as the Peach Creek Gang all gathered back together and headed in the direction of Union Academy.
After half an hour of walking, the gang arrived at the large high school they were enrolling in. Eddy whistled at the large campus while Double-D couldn't help but feel excited to be learning at this marvelous institute.
"Come on, let's head inside and see if we can talk to the principal."
The group all headed inside the school and made their way to the Principal's Office. Double-D gently rapped his knuckles on the door and waited until it was answered by a woman.
She was tall with skin as pale as snow. She had a maternal figure, and her aura exuded such an atmosphere. She wore a gray form-fitting formal school jacket and pencil skirt with black stockings.
Her long hair and eyes grabbed their attention. Quite literally, the colors of her eyes and hair are that of the rainbow.
"Yes?"
"Hello, are you Principal Celestia?"
The woman smiled and nodded. "I presume you're all the new transfer students?"
"Indeed, we are. We're here to enroll in the school, just as was offered in the letter." Double-D said as Celestia nodded and led the group inside. After a bit of writing down their names and signing up for classes, the gang was all set.
"That was easier than massaging Nana's toe fungus!" Rolf said as everyone looked at him blankly.
"TMI, dude. TMI," Chris said, grossed out at the thought.
With everything in order, the squad headed out of the school, but it was there that Ben noticed something.
"Hang on, where are we gonna live from now on?"
Junior smiled, having already planned ahead. "Well, a friend of mine has procured us a small townhouse a few blocks away. We'll be able to live there for the duration of our stay here."
"Why didn't you tell us about this friend before?" Eddy asked skeptically.
"You never asked."
"Well, let's hope it's one of the good ones with multiple bathrooms and showers! I gotta have my private bath time, y'know!" Ben said excitedly as Rina giggled.
Double-D led his friends to the coordinates of the townhouse they would be staying. Ben, being the most excitable of the group, moved ahead only to run into somebody and fall on top of them.
"Ow."
"You okay there, dawg?"
Chris helped Ben up while Rina helped up the person Ben ran into.
"Yeah, I'm good." Ben then turned to who he ran into. "Hey, I'm sorry that I ran into…"
Ben faltered in what he was saying once he got a good look at who he ran into. Standing before him was a girl who looked rather short, about 5'5" (1.65 meters). She had long, voluminous orange hair that reached to her hips, curled inwards at the tips, with a notable ahoge sticking out from the top. She wore a German-style dress, white on the top, black in the middle, and vibrant green for the skirt.
"Sal-u-tations!" The mysterious girl said, unbothered by what had just transpired.
"Um… hi?"
Ben said nothing as he stared awestruck at the newcomer. Because of this, Chris had to speak for him.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking."
Eddy waved his hand in front of Ben's face to try and get a reaction out of him as Chris and the mysterious girl continued their conversation.
"So what's your name?"
"My name is Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you. Are any of you by chance enrolled at Union Academy?"
Everyone sans Ben nodded their heads yes, causing Penny to beam in happiness.
"Wonderful! I cannot wait to see you all there tomorrow!"
And with that, she left as the gang wondered on what to do with Ben. Soon, he finally spoke again.
"I think I'm in love."
Ben's face turned red once he fully realized what he had just said as he darted his eyes around his friends, who all had various smug smirks.
"Oh shut up!"
Everyone laughed in merriment as Ben stood there steamed.
"I fucking hate you guys sometimes, you know that?"
Chris slung an arm over his friend's shoulders as the gang continued to head over to where they'll be staying.
"Ben, you and I both know that to be hella false."
"I love you too!" Rina giggled in addition, hugging Ben from behind.
Nearby, Crydius was watching the Peach Creek Squad heading to their townhouse along with his own group, the Hellraisers.
Crydius' eyes followed after the group, especially Ben. Looking back down at his palm, he saw his symbol glowing more brightly.
"That guy... I feel as though I know him from somewhere... but I can't quite remember where."
The raven-haired boy then smirked as he turned to his compatriots, who all grinned in return except for Crona, who looked relatively nervous.
"Well gang, looks like Union Academy is gonna get much more interesting this year."
Marshall Lee, a vampire-like boy with pale grey skin and short black hair, smirked while Chara, a genderfluid pre-teen with bobbed light brown hair, bounced on the heels of their feet. Dominator, a green-skinned alien woman with black tear streak marks under her eyes, grinned as she turned to Crona, a genderfluid teen with short purple-pink hair.
The Hellraisers were quite looking forward to seeing what sort of chaos these new students would most certainly bring.
The group reached their new townhouse. It was a large enough building for all nine of them, built mostly from brick and steel, and looked like a welcoming 21st Century suburban home.
"Alright folks," Ben said after they finished gazing at the house. "Let's get settled in and prepare for the best few years of our lives!"
"YEAH!"
Devil Dragon Stand Knight A/N:
It feels good to once more do the Madagascar 2 Plane Crash scene. Brings back memories of the very first iteration of DWP.
Also, Canterlot High is now Union Academy but no, it's not gonna be one of those bullshit Abused/Neglected Male Reader shit stories on Wattpad. We're not retarded losers with no lives, after all.
Caw-zrs6 A/N:
And here we are, the start of the gang's latest adventure. What awaits the various guys and gals within the walls of Union Academy? And why is Crydius so interested in Ben? To those who've read the previous versions of DWP, then you already know why, but to those who don't. Well, you'll just have to wait and see. See you around.