When the friends returned to the Hidden World, they brought yaks, sheep, and boars with them. Toothless glanced at Barf and Belch unsurely in regards to the tusked creatures.

"I really think we should have left those back on the island."

"Aw!" Barf commented. "But we used to have so much fun watching Ruff and Tuff play in the boar pit."

"Yeah!" Belch added. "It's like bringing a piece of home with us."

"Just try to make sure that pit's deep, so they won't escape and get into trouble."

"Don't worry!" both heads assured him eagerly.

Toothless was mildly amused by their enthusiasm. It was nice to see them look happy. Seeing the Zippleback downcast was too unnatural to cause anything other than concern for him. His next goal was ensuring that the rest of his friends would be happy as well. If the plan worked out, he hoped they would be. Toothless led them towards the center of the island.

"This should be a good spot," he said. "It's far inland, so if anything escapes, we don't have to worry about it running off the edge of the cliff by accident and getting lost in the sea."

In agreement, the other dragons started to set the animals down, then Meatlug stopped.

"Um, we have a problem," she said nervously.

Her friends turned to her curiously.

"How do we keep them from running around until Barf and Belch are done with the traps?"

Toothless hesitated, realizing he had not considered that. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

"Speed Stingers," he stated.

Immediately, the Night Fury flew off to find the aforementioned reptiles. A group of them was by a stream. They regarded him unsurely at first, then bowed their heads politely. The only one to not do this was the largest Speed Stinger.

"We need your help," Toothless informed them. "We got the livestock, but it'll work better if they're immobilized until we're done with the traps. Could you sting them?"

The smaller Stingers appeared open to the idea. In fact, they almost seemed intrigued.

"And what if we chose to sting you instead?" the largest Speed Stinger asked.

Hearing this, the other dragons glanced at their leader.

"We don't mind helping," one said timidly.

This caused the Lead Stinger to run over to the insubordinate creature. As soon as it did, the tinier dragon shrunk.

"You don't speak for us," the leader said threateningly. "I do." It looked back at Toothless. "And I've been thinking about that 'teamwork' you mentioned. We Speed Stingers have gone generations without associating with other dragons more than necessary. We've learned how to adapt and get everything we could ever need on our own." Its gaze became more hateful as it lingered on the Night Fury's wings. "We've learned how dragons like you look down on us."

"What?" Toothless inquired, shocked.

"We're flightless. Or did you forget?"

"I didn't, but I don't think that's a reason to look down on you."

"You literally can while you're flying above us." The dragon gestured to the rest of the habitat with its head. "With our venom, we could incapacitate every dragon in the Hidden World, but if you ask any of them, they'll act like we're barely threats. Us, the Cavern Crashers…all flightless dragons go through it. You might think that adding food is going to make our world peaceful, but there are a lot more problems in the wild that you've either never known or never considered."

Toothless was quiet for a moment. That was something he had never considered. Flightless dragons were inadvertently kept out of the Dragon Riders. Although it was nothing personal, it was done. Doing so just allowed for more ease. He did not think that the reason was prejudice, but maybe…

"We can work to resolve that too," Toothless stated confidently. "We just have a lot to deal with here. If we tackle every problem at the same time, nothing's going to get accomplished. Let's take it one task at a time. Right now, we can worry about increasing our food supply, then we can work on civil matters. I promise you that."

The alpha Stinger still looked suspicious. "No king or queen before has."

"I'm not trying to be like those who came before. I'll make a place for all dragons."

"Bold claims. Can you actually do that?"

"I won't stop until I do."

There was a brief silence, then the Stinger turned to its group.

"Well, you heard our king. He needs us to help. I think that's a manageable request." The dragon looked back at Toothless. "We'll see what happens next."

Hope glimmered in the Night Fury's eyes. He started leading the Speed Stingers back to where the livestock were. They stung the creatures, paralyzing them, then the Berk dragons set the animals down.

"Thanks!" Meatlug said appreciatively.

Surprised, the smaller dragons did not seem sure how to respond.

"Uh, it wasn't so hard to do," one commented.

"Yeah," another Speed Stinger added. "Anything to keep from getting eaten."

"That shouldn't be an issue for long," Toothless assured them.

He sent a look to the rest of his friends and they got the message. It was time to begin their parts in this plan. They split up, going to attend to their individual tasks. Barf and Belch stayed with the livestock, eagerly going over all the different explosive plans they had with the twins.

"We should get some of that gel from Hookfang," Belch said.

"Yeah! Then we can make a circle around the livestock. If one of them tries to escape, boom! Nothing but flames!"

"But how would we know they're about to escape?"

"Those pits! They can circle where the animals stay."

"Good idea! Then if they fall in, we'll know."

"And we can put the gel outside the pit! Anyone who gets out will be roasted!"

Happily, the heads began digging in the ground. At first, they began going in different directions, but when they were forced to stop moving, they decided to go to the right first. Meanwhile, Stormfly was speedily flying around the island. It was all clear. No dragons or Vikings were in sight. She tried to ignore the pang of sadness from not hearing Astrid commenting about the sights. Overtime, the Deadly Nadder had grown accustomed to the Berkian having new ideas for how to keep an eye on things. Stormfly supposed she would just have to make do on her own. As the Deadly Nadder did this, Hookfang was looking for some of the smaller dragons. He spotted a group of Fireworms and approached.

"Hi!" they greeted in unison.

"Hey, I'm here to help you find a way to fight off bigger dragons if they come after you."

Their little eyes lit up. "Really? Why?"

"Well, we don't want anybody getting crushed and you're pretty crushable."

The dragons looked offended, but it was not as if they could deny the claim.

"So, what do we do?"

Hookfang paused, thinking over the various tasks he did with Snotlout. "You'd probably be better off using long-distance attacks against other dragons if you had to defend yourself. That and teamwork."

"You strangers sure do like that teamwork stuff," a Fireworm commented, neither opposed nor receptive.

"It's just something that's helped a lot."

Hookfang stopped talking when his eyes went to a long branch. It was broken at one end, revealing an abundance of splintery pieces. The Monstrous Nightmare felt a wave of mischievousness enter him as he considered what he might have used them for with his rider.

"Can you all throw anything with your mouths?" he inquired.

"I don't think any of us have tried."

Hookfang grabbed the branch, using his right claw to break the part with splinters. Then he slid them over to the smaller reptiles.

"Pull those out and try. Aim for that tree over there."

Unsurely, the dragons began trying this out for themselves. The first several attempts were failures, but with time, they were getting closer. It was promising.

"If you get better at that, I'll leave some Monstrous Nightmare gel with you."

"Huh?"

The dragon stopped, forgetting that it was not called that in the dragon community. "The mucus that comes off my skin, it's flammable and I've got loads of it. You can use some to dip the branches in. Just do that before you leave your habitat and you should be okay. Blasting fire at the others isn't going to do much, but throwing these flaming splinters is going to be irritating and could buy you some time to escape."

"Thanks!"

Hookfang felt pleased with the suggestion and wondered what else he could come up with for the other tiny dragons. He continued this work while Meatlug was searching for anyone willing to become her pupil. She hovered, looking around curiously. The reptile felt relieved when she spotted several Deadly Nadders and Gronckles. Some of that relief faded when she saw how apprehensive they were towards her.

"Hello, stranger," a Nadder said.

"Hi. My name's Meatlug."

This caused another Nadder to chortle. "Is that what your pet would call you?"

"Fishlegs wasn't my pet," she said defensively. "He was my best friend."

"If you say so. Why are you over here?"

Meatlug tried to not be hurt by their dismissive attitudes. It was all part of the wild. She just had to remember that. Little mattered if it was not about food, shelter, or securing a bloodline.

"I learned a lot about different dragons, so I was wondering if you'd want to know too. I'm planning on having some classes."

"Classes? Like how Vikings put us into specific groups?"

"No, classes as in, there'll be a group of dragons present and I'll share what I know about the other kinds. It should help to remove some uncertainties. Hopefully, it'll stop problems before they begin."

A Gronckle looked bored with the prospect. "Stay in one spot and learn all day? I'll pass. Besides, what do I need to know about other dragons? As long as they don't get in my way and I'm out of theirs, it'll be fine."

"Did you know that Prickleboggles can use their mist blasts to heal?"

The other Gronckle got quiet, then huffed. "As if I'd need to know something like that. I don't get injured that often."

"But if you did and one was nearby, you could ask for help in exchange for helping them with something."

"Told you. I'm not going to be around them."

"Okay, then what if there's a fight?"

"I'll win."

"Even if it's against Singetails whose stomachs have slits on them that shoot out fire?"

"They can shoot fire from there too?" the Gronckle asked, appalled.

"See?" Meatlug asked, happily. "I bet you'd all be able to find some practical uses for the classes. Knowing what each other can do could even make you not want to fight so much."

"Maybe," the other dragons grumbled.

"I'm going to try to find some more students, then go to the cave on the West side at dusk. Will you be there?"

"Maybe," they grumbled again.

Meatlug felt excited by this and hovered off to find more students. She kept going and Skulllcrusher flew around, slyly watching the larger dragons. He recognized the arrogance in their eyes. It was something he had plenty of in his youth. The Screaming Death was just brimming with murderous intent. Skullcrusher did not like the idea of leaving things as they were. Before long, if nothing was done, that dragon was going to hurt someone. The Screaming Death was talking with some Whispering Deaths. They seemed opposed to whatever it was saying. When they saw Skullcrusher, they went silent.

"He's watching," one said.

The largest dragon turned to see who was being referred to, then growled. "Let him."

Skullcrusher started flying closer and the Whispering Deaths seemed torn between just pretending like nothing was going on and backing up their friend.

"Anything wrong here?"

"You clearly think so," the large dragon accused. "There's not going to be a day when I fear a Rumblehorn, so you're wasting your time if the so-called king sent you to knock some sense into me."

"He didn't and that's not what I wanted to do anyway."

This made the other reptile look confused. "I challenged our king and neither of you are going to punish me for it?"

"Correct."

The Screaming Death scoffed. "I knew that Night Fury didn't have what it takes. No one would ever let that go."

"Then that should be all the more reason why you respect him as a merciful leader instead of plotting against him."

"Who said I was plotting?"

Skullcrusher regarded the younger dragon without amusement.

"Even if I was," the Screaming Death continued, "it's not like he wouldn't be outnumbered. You all would be."

"If the whole Hidden World turned on us, yeah, we'd be outnumbered," Skullcrusher admitted. "But I don't think that'll help anyone. If Toothless is dethroned, then everything goes back to normal. You might not care because you aren't at risk for being eaten or mistreated, but do you really not care about your friends here? What if they lay eggs and lose them to other dragons?"

The Screaming Death looked at the nearby reptiles. They appeared saddened by the thought.

"It's a risk we've always known."

"Doesn't mean it's one you always should know." Skullcrusher peered deep into the creature's eyes. "You remind me of when I was younger."

"Liar."

"I'm serious. I used to be brash, cocky…I figured that I was a strong dragon and nobody could stop me if I didn't want to be stopped." The reptile paused, amused with a memory. "I found a dear friend who shared those traits."

"Sounds like a good thing then. Why are you acting like I should be different?"

"Because your fighting spirit isn't a bad thing, but it's directed the wrong way. Use it to protect others instead of endangering them. I learned that when I saw innocent dragons, young and old, get killed in a terrible earthquake one day. All my strength and I'd only ever spent it on fighting. There was so much more I could've done. After that, I decided that I wanted to help whoever I could."

"And you think that I'll…what? Be happier if I start helping out around here and defend other dragons from dangers?"

"I know it."

The dragons glared at each other, then the Screaming Death let out a chortle. "I see some of that cockiness is still there, old scales."

"Like I said, it just needed a better place to go."

The Screaming Death was not sure if he agreed, but it was something he was willing to consider. Skullcrusher saw that and viewed it as a mild success at least. He did not push the matter more and left to see how the other larger dragons were doing. Grump kept true to his word and slept the day away. The last dragon to work was Toothless. He was troubled by what the Speed Stingers said. He needed to know if it was like that for more reptiles or not. The Night Fury followed the scent of the Cavern Crasher he had seen and stood near the entrance to a cave.

"The king decides to grace me with his presence?" came the sarcastic question.

"I have something I want to ask you."

"Is it about eggs?"

"No, it's about flightlessness."

This led to a silence before the Cavern Crasher revealed itself. It was walking on the ceiling of the cave. Toothless looked up, seeing its suspicious eyes.

"Can I come in?"

"Might as well."

Toothless entered and sat near some rocks. "Do you feel like you're mistreated for not being able to fly?"

The other dragon walked down the side of the cave wall. "Can't tell. Nobody likes me, but it might be because I eat their children." It let out an amused grumble. "So, I can't blame them for that."

"What about other flightless dragons?"

"What's got you thinking about this? It doesn't concern you and your friends."

"I'm the king. What happens to other dragons concerns me."

"Hmm, well then I think I've heard some harsh words directed at Snarachnids."

Toothless's eyes took on a bewildered expression. "I don't get it. The king of dragons is normally flightless. How is that not enough to change opinions?"

"Because it's not as if we had to like the king. We just got controlled into doing whatever he wanted. Along with that, Bewilderbeasts are giant. They take up the whole sky anyway, so there's no real point in flying. Still, the flying ones are the most feared. That's why the queen was able to stay in power for so long, but the king was defeated so fast. Do you think that's not something that other dragons are using to justify why they think we're weak?"

Some guilt hit Toothless. He had not meant to indirectly make things worse for other reptiles.

"Then I'll lead by example," he stated. "That's not going to be tolerated here. We're all dragons. True peace can't exist among mistreatment."

The Cavern Crasher started climbing up the wall again. "You know, I didn't like you at first, but that doesn't sound so bad. You just might have an alright plan there…Your Majesty."

Toothless's eyes twinkled at the respect he heard in the reptile's face. "Thanks for being up to talking with me."

"Just make the Hidden World that place you're telling us about and I'll consider us even."

With a determined look, the Night Fury left the cave. When he was out of the darkness, he could see the habitat in a new way. It seemed less scary than before. Gradually, it was changing from an unfamiliar place full of uncertainties. It was becoming…not home quite yet, but it was only a matter of time. Toothless was determined to make the Hidden World great. Nothing would stop him from reaching that goal.