Family On the Farm
"And we consider ourselves lucky if we get any cabbage to grow on Berk," Astrid muttered to herself as her eyes shifted among the hundreds of trees that held a crimson fruit in their branches, shining with a brightness that Astrid had never seen in any of Berk's crops. "The gods must smile on you if you can grow this many trees with ease."
"Well, ah don't know about any gods aiding us, but mah family works hard to get these trees looking the way they do," Applejack said with a smile while she glanced at each of the strong, fruit bearing trees with pride. Astrid looked ahead down the dirt path along which she, Applejack and Stormfly were walking, with wide eyes to find that the orchard of trees just never seemed to end.
"And you and your brother grow, manage and harvest ALL of these trees by yourselves?" Astrid asked with disbelief in her words while she gave up trying to count how many there were, shaking her head slightly when Applejack proudly nodded back to her. "By the might of Mjolnir, that's insane. There must be...wow."
"Ah take it that ya don't have any apple trees as impressive as these where yer from?" Applejack asked with a knowing look, getting a small nod out of Astrid as the Viking continued to gaze at the pristine orchard. A bark from the skies above turned AJ's gaze upwards to see that Stormfly was chasing around a small number of fruit bats, who were clearly not happy that a dragon was chasing them in the middle of the day. "Hope that dragon of yers doesn't hurt any of the bats. They do good fer the trees...most of the time."
"Don't worry, Stormfly just like to chase. She only attacks if I give the order or if me or Hiccup is in danger," Astrid consoled Applejack before reaching up with her axe to free an apple from its branch, which she caught in her right hand while examining it with narrowed eyes. She sniffed it once before trying a bite of the red fruit, her eyes going wide before she shook her head in surprise. "Wow, that is...that's unlike any apple I've ever had. Does everything in this realm taste incredible?"
"Speaking of Hiccup, why aren't ya with him while he repairs his leg?" Applejack asked, getting a shrug out of Astrid as she shouldered her axe and took another bite of the apple.
"Metalworking's not really my thing. Besides, I wanted to see this farm that you told me so much about on the flight here," Astrid clarified as she polished off the apple, leaving only the core. "I also wanted to see how in Odin's beard ponies managed to do anything without fingers."
"If ya don't want that, ah'll finish it," Applejack offered, finishing off the core of the apple in one bite before eyeing the fur on Astrid's hood with cautious eyes. "So, ah have to ask. Is that...real fur?" Astrid looked from the fur on her hood to Applejack.
"Yeah. It get's really cold on Berk and we need a way to stay warm. Fur's one of the best ways," Astrid explained with another shrug before catching Applejack's expression. "Hey, if you lived on a cold, wet and nearly inhospitable rock for all your life while being attacked by dragons, you'd see how 'easy' it is to survive. We do what we need to, to live."
"So, this Berk," Applejack began, shaking her head while trying to change the topic. "If it's so...inhospitable, why do ya and the rest of yer village live there? There must be better places out there that you can head to instead?"
"If only it were that easy," Astrid replied with a smirk as she looked up at the glowing sun, trying to remember the last time she had seen the sun shine so brightly. "First of all, Berk is our home. Not the most kindly home, but our home nonetheless. My father lived there and his father lived there, and so on. Kind of like how you explained your farm and the Apples' family. You wouldn't just up and leave your farm if things got tough, would you?"
"Heh, ah suppose ya got me there," Applejack admitted with a smirk, before looking back at Astrid to continue.
"Another one of the main reasons was that, until about five years ago, we were under constant attack by dragons. You try moving locations when fire breathing bringers of death are attacking you every night," Astrid grumbled with a sigh before a flash of yellow and blue landed next to her, getting the Viking to look up at Stormfly with a roll of her eyes. "Of course, none of you are like that now, but that's how things used to be. Stop looking at me like that!"
Stormfly barked again before walking over to one of the trees and sniffing an apple, snapping it off the branch in a flash. AJ and Astrid watched as Stormfly ripped apart the apple before shaking its head and spitting the mushy remains of the once red fruit into the dirt next to the tree. Stormfly barked again before flapping her wings and ascending into the sky once more, leaving Applejack to shake her head.
"Yer dragon must have poor taste if she don't like mah apples," AJ muttered before she and Astrid continued to walk, both of them spotting the gray roof of the barn that appeared over a small hill. "There she is Astrid, where Apples have stayed fer generations. Come on in and ah'll give ya the tour!"
"Sure," Astrid replied with a shrug before the sound of barking reached her and AJ's ears, getting a large smile to cross Applejack's face as she turned towards a brown and white blur that sprinted towards them. Applejack let out a laugh as the brown dog zipped up to the pony with a loud bark, before it began to run circles around her, only coming to a stop once AJ whistled.
"Aw, I didn't know you had a dog," Astrid muttered as the dog turned its head towards Astrid, lifting its ears up while its hackles slightly lifted.
"Easy there Winnoa, she's a friend," Applejack said as she placed a hoof on the dog's head and ruffled her fur, getting another happy bark out of the dog before she slowly walked over to Astrid. Astrid knelt down slightly and extended a hand for Winnoa to sniff, giggling slightly when Winnoa's wet nose tickled her hand.
"She's just precious," Astrid said as she began to scratch the dog behind her ears, smiling as Winnoa began to kick her hind leg with pleasure. AJ whistled once again and in a heartbeat Winnoa raced over to Applejack, barking happily as she stood beside the pony with a wagging tail.
"You'll never find a more loyal companion than Winnoa here. She even gives Rainbow Dash a run fer her bits and she's the Element of Loyalty," Applejack said with a small laugh as she and Winnoa walked ahead, while Astrid took a moment to look up at Stormfly flying overhead.
"Never find a more loyal companion? Think you might be wrong there."
Astrid, Applejack and Winnoa walked through a small, white gate with an apple sign hanging over it that served as the entrance into the yard, and gave Astrid her first look at the farm house and the surrounding area. Large stalks of corn grew off to one side while even more fruits and vegetables that Astrid didn't remember sat in a field farther away. Her attention then changed to the chicken coups that rested on the right hand side next to the large bales of hay, before she cast a quick glance at the well that stood to her left as they entered.
But the main attraction had to be the large, crimson red building that towered over the rest of the farm. Astrid didn't need to see the apple aesthetics that adorned the building to know that it was Applejack's home, but she found it impressive all the same.
"Wow, looks a lot nicer than most of the buildings we got on Berk. Everything here seems to be nicer," Astrid noticed as she looked around the farm once again before glancing down at Applejack, who was eyeing Astrid's axe with an unfriendly gaze.
"Mind putting that away while yer here?" Applejack asked with concerned eyes. "Mah baby sister lives here and while she's a kind filly, sometimes it seems like she doesn't have any common sense, and ah don't want anything dangerous around here that she might-"
Applejack's words were silenced as loud screaming could be heard coming from the chicken coup, followed by the panicked clucking of a large number of fowl mixed in with the roar of a dragon Astrid knew all too well. With a Viking swear, Astrid and AJ raced to the chicken coup, where a filly with a red mane and bow was being swarmed by chickens while they all fled in terror from the Deadly Nadder that was looking back and forth between the clucking birds, debating which of them to eat first.
"Astrid! Do something!" Applejack roared over the clucking and screaming as she whipped out a rope. She twirled the rope three times before hurling it towards the Nadder, but Stormfly caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and she quickly hurled razor sharp spines towards the rope that shredded it instantly.
"Stop stop stop! Don't try and tie her up, she hates that!" Astrid yelled over at Applejack before walking straight up to the Nadder and glaring into her eyes. "Stormfly, sit!" Without a moment's delay the dragon sat down in front of Astrid, glancing down at the Viking with guilty looking eyes. "This isn't Berk, Stormfly. No terrorizing the chickens! Or any of the live stock here while we're at it. You got that?"
Stormfly let out a bark that sounded half like an agreement and half sass, getting Astrid to raise an eyebrow at her dragon before reaching up and scratching her dragon under Stormfly's neck. Stormfly's eyes rolled back in her head as she sighed and slumped to the side, allowing Astrid to also sigh while she looked over at Applejack and the still terrified, but also curious, filly.
"I am so sorry about that! Chicken is one of Stormfly's favorite foods and on Berk she's able to just eat them as she pleases and I'm so sorry," Astrid apologized before glancing down at the small foal that was still hiding behind Applejack. "You're not hurt, are you?"
"N-no, ah'm fine," the small pony stammered as she slowly walked out from behind her sister, glancing from Astrid to the now snoring dragon with wide eyes. "How did ya do that?"
"Do what?" Astrid asked as she followed the filly's gaze to Stormfly.
"Make it fall over like that! Are you...the dragon master that ah've been hearing about?!" the filly said with huge eyes and an even wider smile before she raced up to Astrid with speeds that made the Viking double take. "Can ya teach me how to train a dragon?! Me and the other crusaders have been thinking that dragon taming might be our cutie marks, but mah sister won't let us try on a big dragon and Spike won't talk to us after what happened last time and-"
"Easy there, Sugarcube, this here ain't the dragon master," Applejack cut her sister off as she wrapped a hoof around the filly's shoulder with a smile. "This here is Astrid. She's a human just like Hiccup, who is the dragon master. Astrid, this is mah little sister Applebloom. She can be a bit of a hoofful, but she has a good heart."
"Nice to meet you Applebloom, and sorry about what Stormfly did," Astrid apologized once again as she offered a hand to the filly, who glanced at it for a moment with interest before she finally shook it. "And I actually am considered one of the best dragon trainers in all of the land, so don't listen to your sister."
"Never do!" Applebloom said with a huge smile, not noticing Applejack roll her eyes beside her. Applebloom then quickly glanced from Astrid to Stormfly, an idea forming in her mind. "Can ah...go and see it?"
"Sure, you can go see her," Astrid agreed after seeing Applejack nod. Astrid walked the little filly over to the relaxing dragon, trying hard not to smile herself as she saw the wonder and awe fill up Applebloom's eyes while she looked at the blue and yellow Nadder.
"Ah've never seen a dragon like her! Granted, the only dragon ah've ever met is Spike and he's not that interesting, but her...what was her name again?" Applebloom asked Astrid.
"Stormfly."
"Stormfly," Applebloom repeated. With her name being mentioned several times the dragon lifted her head and glanced down at the filly, who wiped her hoof off before sticking it out towards the dragon. "Nice to meet you Stormyfly! Ah'm Applebloom! Ah'd like to know more about ya." Stormfly looked down at the small hoof for a second before she moved her face closer to Applebloom and sniffed her once, letting out a happy bark a moment later before she bumped her nose against Applebloom's side, nearly knocking her over.
"Uh, what's she doing?" Applebloom asked Astrid as Stormfly continued to nuzzle the filly.
"She likes you. This is how she shows her affection," Astrid said with a smile as she crossed her arms, but a moment later she read the confusion on Applebloom's face that reminded her about the dragons. "Oh, right. See, Stormfly here doesn't talk like Spike or the other dragons. She's pretty much like a cat...or a dog? Maybe a mix of both? Bottom line is, she isn't like the dragons you know."
"So, then why is she so nice?" Applebloom asked as Stormfly used one of her wings to try and pull the filly close to her and was only stopped by the iron hoof of Applejack that held her sister tight. "Did you train her?"
"Yep," Astrid said with pride before Stormfly bumped her in the side with her nose and gave Astrid a look. "Fine, Hiccup helped a bit," Astrid admitted with a sigh. Applebloom looked from Stromfly to her blank flank, a large smile slowly growing across her face as an idea came to her.
"Hey Applejack..." Applebloom began, but her older sister looked into her young sister's eyes and immediately knew what the filly was going to ask.
"The answer is 'no'," Applejack responded strictly, getting a groan of frustration out of Applebloom.
"But ya haven't even heard what I was gonna ask!"
"You were gonna ask if ya could try training Astrid's dragon," Applejack answered perfectly, having nearly read her sister's mind. "And mah answer is still no, because the last time you tried to find out if you and yer friends cutie marks were related to dragons, poor Spike had to-"
"Ah know, but this time we've got two dragon experts with us! And Stormfly is way safer than the dragon that lives in a cave nearby that the Crusaders and ah were gonna try and-" Applebloom held a hoof to her mouth, but she had said too much, and Applejack looked down at her baby sister with cold eyes.
"How many times do ah have to tell ya not to do anything dangerous?! Walking into a cave and waking a dragon is bad enough, but with Wijida around we don't know which dragons we can trust!" Applejack half shouted with some heat before sighing and pointing to the farm. "Go on inside and ah'll talk to ya in a minute." Applebloom walked away with her head held low, yet Applejack waited until her sister was inside the barn before she groaned and sat down.
"Ah don't know what to do with her. Every time those three believe that some task or action will get them their cutie marks, they'll run off into danger head first without a second thought," Applejack lamented with another sigh as she moved her hat back, while Astrid wondered what a cutie mark was. "Why did they have to believe that their marks were related to dragons, now of all times? Ah can't keep an eye on them all the time and soon they'll be running off to find out."
"If it's that much of a problem, why not let her and her friends train Stormfly?" Astrid offered, gaining her Applejack's full attention. "I mean, Stormfly won't hurt a hair on her mane and with both me and Hiccup there to monitor them, you won't have to worry about them doing anything stupid. Maybe they get those...cutie marks or maybe not, but at least they'll know and stop running off."
Applejack turned over Astrid's question in her mind for a few minutes, knowing practically for certain that neither her sister nor her friends' cutie marks revolved around dragons. But she also knew that they wouldn't stop until they knew for certain.
"Alright Astrid, ah'll take you up on that offer," Applejack relented with a sigh as she gave Astrid a small smile. "Tomorrow, Applebloom and her friends will learn how to train yer dragons."
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Oh dear god. I know Hiccup and Astrid will be there, but it's well known that CMC+any thing=hell on Equis.
I expect there to be tree sap.
This can only end well.
*one day later*
"What in tarnation is this!?"
"Well, it's not that bad, it's just tree sap, explosions,Tirek running loose, flying pancakes, a giant taco, is that a giant floating banana? A giant alicorn...
"Well, you three are cleaning this up."
*later that day*
"Why... why are my apple trees burning and why is Stormfly suddenly a raging beast?"
6304370 There is -always- tree sap.
Welp,
media.giphy.com/media/tOWyML1WPzKjm/giphy.gif
On hey why not just give them each their own dragons, point them towards Wijida and tell them to have fun.
meanwhile Wijida is watching a new vision unfold before her minds eye
Astrid: Hey Hiccup lets show these three how to ride dragons.
AJ: I'm not so sure that's a good idea now sucgarcube.
Hiccup: On come on what could possibly go wrong?
Wijida is watching her vision with unhidden horror at this point
Wijida:rs196.pbsrc.com/albums/aa159/Shriana/TwilightSparkleNopeNopeNope_zpsf3c479db.gif~c200
6304493 Have you heard of the time the CMC set the canterhorn on fire trying to get a
cutie markprincess specialisation in something volcano?Turns out a volcano isn't just a mountain doused in resinous pine sap and set alight. Who knew?
I'm sure it'll be fine. They had to deal with the other dragon riders after all, and the twins are worse then the CMC by far.
"Tomorrow, Applebloom and her friends will learn how to train yer dragons."
Rrrroll credits!
How does one expect to train a dragon that's already been trained?
i hope that one huge guy with his chopper like dragon joins them next (never watched it in english so i dont know thier names in english)
Their Cutie Marks actually do relate to dragons, SPOILERS!
Nice chapter.
CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS DRAGON TRAINERS YAY!!!! I'm delighted to know this will be happening and picture many fun moments. Plus, lets just see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon try to make nasty remarks when Stormfly clearly likes Apple Bloom and won't take kindly to her getting teased. I'm pretty sure Toothless will be the same and the two evil little fillies will be chased off by growling dragons. And while I'm sure Tree Sap will be involved somehow... I think at the end of the day there will be three happy fillies who had fun with two dragons and a pair of humans. Especially if Scootaloo gets to ride on Toothless at full speed for a taste of what it's like to be Rainbow Dash.
I don't think they had accounted with fact that they will rue their decision when it comes to training Stormfly, the Cutie Mark Crusaders are three tough ponies and they are very jumpy and... well let's say it won't go too well.
6306588 Of course, you KNOW with the CMC involved, this will end in only ONE WAY:
I really like how Applejack and Astrid is bonding here, they are praticly two peas in a pond, two rough, tuff, no nonsense Girls who are not afraid to get their hands/Hoofs Dirty.
6308140
Agreed. They're exceptions that prove the rule that chicks are a bunch of weak knee'd sisters.
Question: How does one 'train' a dragon that's already been trained?
This should be 'gets.' "Get's" is inappropriate.
"Winnoa" is wrong. The dog's name is Winona.
"Stromfly" popped up again in this chapter.
6310394 that answer is actually easily answered
for you see, the answer lies in the situation where as a child you let your sibling 'play' video games with you using an unplugged controller simply so that they could enjoy acting like they were doing something on the game with you
I know it's probably not gonna happen, but just to spite Applejack's train of though, I really hope one of the CMC get a dragon rider cutie mark.
If only the CMC would learn their cutie marks are meant to symbolize how they help others with their cutie marks...
Wait...whoops! Spoilers!
I smell a problem brewing - and that has more than one meaning
Roll credits
me: (looks to my hand) huh. why is my glass of water now shards of glass?