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Description

The next morning, Wall.e walked into the academy in high spirits... and had her bubble burst at the mere sight of the saddles lined up on the ground in front of her. They were definitely NOT what she nor any one of her students had had in mind when they designed the saddles based on E.v.e.'s prototype. Wall.e approached the nearest saddle and examined it closely. The saddle had random weapons attached to it as well as the typical leather straps and buckles meant to keep the saddle securely on the dragons back. Moreover, Gobber had apparently built the framework wrong- the pommel jutted backwards at an angle that would cause it to repeatedly smash itself into the unlucky riders crotch. Moreover the saddle was way heavier than it should be... Gobber already seemed to be off to a bad start in the saddle design department. Zephyr and Hal sniffed the saddle, and then Hal swatted it with one paw. Wall.e leaped backwards as it fell to the ground with a loud bang. The noise attracted the attention of the students that were gathered at the arena with their dragons. Gobber entered the arena with another armload of saddles shortly thereafter, and lined them up with the others, making Wall.e flinch as he said, "I'm almost finished- I just have one more armload to fetch." He then swaggered right back out the arena, confident that his saddles would work on the already skeptical students dragons.

Mo and Wartooth tested their saddle first. They had barely flown a single lap around the arena when Mo warbled, [Hey, this saddle isn't too bad...] and accidentally activated the built in megaphone. The sudden blast of loud noise startled Wartooth, who took off as if he had just heard a gunshot, and promptly flew right out the door, dragging an equally startled Mo along with him. It was now Wartihog and Skypiercer's turn. They too made it through a few laps... until Gobber asked them about the built in storage compartment. Wartihog quickly found the handle for the storage compartments door... and nearly ejected himself from the saddle wrenching the comically large door open, falling backwards with the door handle in one hand and accidentally yanking Skypiercer to a sudden stop via the reigns in his other hand. Skypiercer promptly landed where he was, and the jolt caused Wartihog to tumble off of his dragon, causing the door to fully pop out of its socket, and revealing that nothing was securing it to the rest of the saddle. Mo and Wartooth flew back into the arena just as Snotlout and Hookfang began to test their saddle. Snotlout, curious, tried the flamethrower first. Startled by the jet of flames rushing overhead, Hookfang roared and flared up, setting Snotlouts pants of fire and sending him screaming into the nearest water trough. Hookfang then yanked the saddle off, and threw it back onto the floor at Gobbers feet. Mary and Flystorm now tested their saddle, and Mary remarked, "Huh, not bad. The straps could use a little adjustment for Flystorm's proportions, though... The girth strap looks a tad snug." Gobber, completely missing the point, replied, "Just wait till you try the horn!" Mary took a deep breath and blew the horn as hard as she could. The noise startled Flystorm into taking off again and flying straight out the arena, Mary screaming, "I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAAAAAID!" as Flystorm accelerated towards the distant fog gulch plain. Gobber now looked around and asked, "Okay, who's next? Any volunteers?" Wall.e flinched as Gobber tentatively pointed his hook at E.v.e. and Nightstriker.

E.v.e. and Nightstiker got through a few laps before E.v.e. test fired the rocket launcher. Nightstriker was forced to brake in mid air to avoid being knocked out of the sky by the recoil, and the missile launched from it destroyed a large chunk of the arena wall with a single blast. E.v.e. and Nightstiker landed shortly thereafter, and E.v.e. extended one arm, then made a beckoning gesture. Dreadknox slithered over from where she had lain coiled, and E.v.e. promptly transferred the saddle to her. Testing with Dreadknox had the same effect- she was forced to brake in midair to avoid being knocked out of the sky by the missile launchers recoil... and the missile destroyed a good chunk of the arena wall. E.v.e. and Dreadknox landed, and E.v.e., still shocked at the raw power of the launcher, remarked, "I don't want to know where Gobber got the idea to fucking mount Fishbones on a saddle from!" Gobber now pointed his hook at Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who promptly fired their catapults, and accidentally knocked out Barf and Belch before they could even get off the ground. Finally, Captain McCrea and Helios tried to take off for their test run, but Helios struggled to get even just a few feet off the ground, clearly straining himself against the sheer weight of the saddle. After a moment of struggling to fly, Helios collapsed back onto the arena floor, panting in exhaustion, and Captain McCrea griped, "This saddle weighs a ton! It was exhausting just to get it on Helios, and now I have to get it off again!" Wall.e cleared her throat and was about to ask Gobber to please try sticking with the designs she had given him the night before when he pointed out the next unfortunate saddle tester.

That evening, Wall.e was sweeping out the arena. Much of the arena wall had scorch marks of various descriptions plastered all over it, and spines were haphazardly embedded in it. Hal and Zephyr were still clearing out rubble from the section where the missiles had destroyed that section of the wall. Hiccup wandered into the arena with Toothless, and looked around, concerned at the state it was in. After a moment, Hiccup commented, "The Old Arena looked better when Gobber's generation was still killing dragons in it!", then added, "What happened here?" Wall.e nervously grinned, and replied, "I think we got Gobbered." Hiccup stammered, and stuttered, and then finally said, "Gobbered?!? Did he try to train the dragons by threatening to kill them again?!?" Wall.e shook her head, and responded, "No, he was testing saddles. Mo's still trying to calm Wartooth after the megaphone saddle, and Captain McCrea's still massaging the cramps out of Helios's muscles after the extreme heavyweight saddle test." Wall.e then added, "My girlfriend's still trying to work out just where Gobber got the idea to mount a missile launcher on one of his saddles came from." Hiccup facepalmed, and after an awkward silence, reminisced, "He did something similar when I was a teenager... I distinctly remember him showing disbelief that one of the saddles was heavier than Meatlug could handle even without a rider. I also remember finding a flamethrower mounted on the saddle of a firebreathing dragon redundant, watching the twins knock their own dragon out, and having to pull the metaphorical plug on that project after Astrid tried the horn on her saddle." Wall.e now sighed and responded to Hiccups reminiscing, "I think I'm going to let Gobber go from that project. I might try seeing if the repair ward could take him on..." She then propped the broom against the wall, and whistled for Hal and Zephyr, who jumped down into the arena through the newly cleared hole, and followed Wall.e out the exit. None of them noticed Hiccup and Toothless wincing and exchanging worried glances at the suggestion.

Description

The next morning, Wall.e walked into the academy in high spirits... and had her bubble burst at the mere sight of the saddles lined up on the ground in front of her. They were definitely NOT what she nor any one of her students had had in mind when they designed the saddles based on E.v.e.'s prototype. Wall.e approached the nearest saddle and examined it closely. The saddle had random weapons attached to it as well as the typical leather straps and buckles meant to keep the saddle securely on the dragons back. Moreover, Gobber had apparently built the framework wrong- the pommel jutted backwards at an angle that would cause it to repeatedly smash itself into the unlucky riders crotch. Moreover the saddle was way heavier than it should be... Gobber already seemed to be off to a bad start in the saddle design department. Zephyr and Hal sniffed the saddle, and then Hal swatted it with one paw. Wall.e leaped backwards as it fell to the ground with a loud bang. The noise attracted the attention of the students that were gathered at the arena with their dragons. Gobber entered the arena with another armload of saddles shortly thereafter, and lined them up with the others, making Wall.e flinch as he said, "I'm almost finished- I just have one more armload to fetch." He then swaggered right back out the arena, confident that his saddles would work on the already skeptical students dragons.

Mo and Wartooth tested their saddle first. They had barely flown a single lap around the arena when Mo warbled, [Hey, this saddle isn't too bad...] and accidentally activated the built in megaphone. The sudden blast of loud noise startled Wartooth, who took off as if he had just heard a gunshot, and promptly flew right out the door, dragging an equally startled Mo along with him. It was now Wartihog and Skypiercer's turn. They too made it through a few laps... until Gobber asked them about the built in storage compartment. Wartihog quickly found the handle for the storage compartments door... and nearly ejected himself from the saddle wrenching the comically large door open, falling backwards with the door handle in one hand and accidentally yanking Skypiercer to a sudden stop via the reigns in his other hand. Skypiercer promptly landed where he was, and the jolt caused Wartihog to tumble off of his dragon, causing the door to fully pop out of its socket, and revealing that nothing was securing it to the rest of the saddle. Mo and Wartooth flew back into the arena just as Snotlout and Hookfang began to test their saddle. Snotlout, curious, tried the flamethrower first. Startled by the jet of flames rushing overhead, Hookfang roared and flared up, setting Snotlouts pants of fire and sending him screaming into the nearest water trough. Hookfang then yanked the saddle off, and threw it back onto the floor at Gobbers feet. Mary and Flystorm now tested their saddle, and Mary remarked, "Huh, not bad. The straps could use a little adjustment for Flystorm's proportions, though... The girth strap looks a tad snug." Gobber, completely missing the point, replied, "Just wait till you try the horn!" Mary took a deep breath and blew the horn as hard as she could. The noise startled Flystorm into taking off again and flying straight out the arena, Mary screaming, "I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAAAAAID!" as Flystorm accelerated towards the distant fog gulch plain. Gobber now looked around and asked, "Okay, who's next? Any volunteers?" Wall.e flinched as Gobber tentatively pointed his hook at E.v.e. and Nightstriker.

E.v.e. and Nightstiker got through a few laps before E.v.e. test fired the rocket launcher. Nightstriker was forced to brake in mid air to avoid being knocked out of the sky by the recoil, and the missile launched from it destroyed a large chunk of the arena wall with a single blast. E.v.e. and Nightstiker landed shortly thereafter, and E.v.e. extended one arm, then made a beckoning gesture. Dreadknox slithered over from where she had lain coiled, and E.v.e. promptly transferred the saddle to her. Testing with Dreadknox had the same effect- she was forced to brake in midair to avoid being knocked out of the sky by the missile launchers recoil... and the missile destroyed a good chunk of the arena wall. E.v.e. and Dreadknox landed, and E.v.e., still shocked at the raw power of the launcher, remarked, "I don't want to know where Gobber got the idea to fucking mount Fishbones on a saddle from!" Gobber now pointed his hook at Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who promptly fired their catapults, and accidentally knocked out Barf and Belch before they could even get off the ground. Finally, Captain McCrea and Helios tried to take off for their test run, but Helios struggled to get even just a few feet off the ground, clearly straining himself against the sheer weight of the saddle. After a moment of struggling to fly, Helios collapsed back onto the arena floor, panting in exhaustion, and Captain McCrea griped, "This saddle weighs a ton! It was exhausting just to get it on Helios, and now I have to get it off again!" Wall.e cleared her throat and was about to ask Gobber to please try sticking with the designs she had given him the night before when he pointed out the next unfortunate saddle tester.

That evening, Wall.e was sweeping out the arena. Much of the arena wall had scorch marks of various descriptions plastered all over it, and spines were haphazardly embedded in it. Hal and Zephyr were still clearing out rubble from the section where the missiles had destroyed that section of the wall. Hiccup wandered into the arena with Toothless, and looked around, concerned at the state it was in. After a moment, Hiccup commented, "The Old Arena looked better when Gobber's generation was still killing dragons in it!", then added, "What happened here?" Wall.e nervously grinned, and replied, "I think we got Gobbered." Hiccup stammered, and stuttered, and then finally said, "Gobbered?!? Did he try to train the dragons by threatening to kill them again?!?" Wall.e shook her head, and responded, "No, he was testing saddles. Mo's still trying to calm Wartooth after the megaphone saddle, and Captain McCrea's still massaging the cramps out of Helios's muscles after the extreme heavyweight saddle test." Wall.e then added, "My girlfriend's still trying to work out just where Gobber got the idea to mount a missile launcher on one of his saddles came from." Hiccup facepalmed, and after an awkward silence, reminisced, "He did something similar when I was a teenager... I distinctly remember him showing disbelief that one of the saddles was heavier than Meatlug could handle even without a rider. I also remember finding a flamethrower mounted on the saddle of a firebreathing dragon redundant, watching the twins knock their own dragon out, and having to pull the metaphorical plug on that project after Astrid tried the horn on her saddle." Wall.e now sighed and responded to Hiccups reminiscing, "I think I'm going to let Gobber go from that project. I might try seeing if the repair ward could take him on..." She then propped the broom against the wall, and whistled for Hal and Zephyr, who jumped down into the arena through the newly cleared hole, and followed Wall.e out the exit. None of them noticed Hiccup and Toothless wincing and exchanging worried glances at the suggestion.