"I think we should move."

"No one asked for opinions."

"But we should move, the grazing is better on the far side of the foothills!"

"It's also colder, and closer to the whorling dens!"

"Whorlings wouldn't hurt us, you just want to be closer to your precious obsidian cliffs!"

Golden of Autumn and Stone of Summer were at it again. The four wynds had formed their Dynce-- the first Dynce at the anory, in fact-- not even two weeks ago, and already the arguments between their Lord and their lead mare had fallen into the category of "normal". One would never know from the sound of it that the two actually cared about each other, and flirted outrageously whenever they weren't fighting. Dark of Winter and Frisk of Spring were entirely certain that Autumn would be the first one pregnant of the three mares in the Dynce.

"You insolent little--"

"'Little'? What a joke! I'm taller than you, you stupid goat!"

Of course, they had to stop fighting for long enough, first. It was like Autumn brought out the best and the worst in Summer, it seemed.

"I am Lord here, how dare you!"

"Maybe someone else should try being Lord for a while!"

"Who, like you?"

"Maybe! I bet I'd be a better Lord than you! You're stubborn, and selfish, and all you care about are your rocks!"

"What-- that's not-- how dare you!"

"Summer, you can't eat rocks, or sleep on rocks! You certainly can't drink rocks! You'd be a better Lord if you forgot the rocks!"

"I cannot turn my back on my magic! I can't believe you would ask me to!"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't be leading a Dynce, then!"

"Are you challenging me?"

"Maybe I am! You're a useless, self-centered sort of leader-- I bet I could be a worlds better Lord than you!"

With a furious trumpeting, Stone of Summer charged his mate. Dark of Winter and Frisk of Spring suddenly started paying attention again-- he'd never done that before-- as Golden of Autumn, as surprised as they, shied violently away from his aggressively wielded horn. The surprise wore off quickly enough for her to spin and meet his quick pivot with her own hooves. It took longer for Winter and Spring to get over the shock, and the two larger wynds had exchanged a flurry of hoof- and horn-blows by the time they managed to shoulder their way between them and shove them apart. Smaller as they were, it took some doing. 

"Stop it!" Frisk of Spring cried, distressed and trying to block a snorting and stamping Autumn from getting at Summer. "Stop fighting!"

"This isn't going to solve anything," Dark of Winter agreed sharply, her own haunch pressed against Summer's shoulder to keep him back. He had his head low and his nostrils wide, breathing hard, but he didn't try to get past her. Neither one of them looked badly injured, just a few nicks from horn tips and bruises under the fur from hooves. It looked like Summer had ripped out a patch of Autumn's mane, though, and Autumn certainly the source of that semi-circular bite mark on Summer's eat.

"Shame on you," Winter scolded. "Fighting like children."

"He started it," Autumn sniffed, sounding even more like a child.

"I don't care who started it," Winter snorted. "You both continued it." Both of them looked a little abashed, at least, and Autumn had stopped pushing against Frisk of Spring's ribs in an attempt to get past her. Winter surveyed them both, ears back with displeasure. She might not have wanted to be a Lord, but she had enough authority in her small frame to cow a couple of immature foals, if she cared to use it.

"Sorry," Stone of Summer muttered first, eyes on the ground and one hoof digging in the dry grass.

Golden of Autumn almost said nothing, but Frisk of Spring, seeing Winter's disapproving expression, took it upon herself to give the bigger mare a sharp nip. Autumn's head shot up and ears flicked back with surprise, but she shifted and said reluctantly, "Sorry."

At least marginally satisfied, Winter relaxed a little. "If you two are so concerned about who is Lord, and who makes the decisions for us-- and you cannot come to some kind of compromise without resorting to violence-- perhaps we should look to someone outside the Dynce to help us decide."

Summer looked like he might have protested, but at a glance at the fiercely sullen expression on Autumn's face made him look away again, ears flat and feathers mantled.

"Who in the world would we ask?" Frisk asked innocently.

"Who, indeed," Winter mused.

An hour's trek across the massive compound later, and the four wynds were on the doorstep-- figuratively speaking, since there was no door, and there were no steps-- of the Senior Caretaker, known as nothing but Kaz. The wynds in general weren't particularly fond of her, but Dark of Winter rather liked her, and both Stone of Summer and Golden of Autumn got along swimmingly with her. If Frisk of Spring lagged back and half-hid behind Autumn, well, Kaz was nice enough not to mention it.

She was also nice enough to listen through Winter's explanation of the problem without interrupting or looking too horribly disgusted with the two culprits. The fact that Stone of Summer looked miserable, and Golden of Autumn embarrassed, probably helped.

The dragontaur looked between the two thoughtfully, her little purple and gold pet-- a jracini, little creatures that were starting to become more and more popular at the anory-- blinking solemnly at them from her very high shoulder. Even laying down, stretched out on her stomach, Kaz was huge. "Well," she said at last, "how about a contest, of sorts?"

"What do you mean?" Golden asked, ears twitching backwards and forwards nervously. "What kind of contest?"

"I've been charged with hunting down some interesting critters to bring back here," Kaz explained. "It's not something I like doing, mind, but the boss seems to think I'm good at it." Her tone suggested that she didn't think the same. "So, I'm going to do this, instead. I'll send you two-- and the rest of you, if you like-- off to get some interesting critters for me. Whichever of you brings back the coolest one wins and gets to be Lord. How's that?"

Now both of the would-be Lords of the Dynce were staring at her. Dark of Winter spoke was was probably on both of their minds. "Where do you want us to go?" Because, of course, she and Spring weren't going to stay behind while half of their Dynce was away someplace.

"It's called Star City," Kaz grinned. "I've even got a few ideas as to where each of you could go."

"And who judges what's 'coolest'?" Golden blurted.

"I do," Kaz said firmly. "And it's not just appearance, mind you. Look for some weird abilities, fun personalities, that sort of thing. C'mon, it'll be fun, promise. Exotic places, fascinating creatures, and your big arguement'll be solved in the process!"

"And you have some sort of idea where we're to go?" Summer asked in a subdued voice.

Kaz grinned again, and this time the wynds could tell why many of their species were nervous around her. She looked like the predator she was, with that smile. "Why yes," she said sweetly, "I do."

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