"And then she looked at me, almost crying, and asked "But why"" Applejack laughed "A flamethrower! In an orchard!"
"I see she was well cared for"
"Aye," Applejack nodded "Sad that every kid wants to burn his home at least once. I tried to make a pyre to sacrifice toys to the apple god"
"Oh" Nanda blinked several times in surprise "You too? I wanted su summon a thunder colossus to rampage school. Most of the school helped, too"
"Kids are crazy"
"Good for them"
Applejack nodded, "And there was this time someone stole a few apples, a few days after she got her mark, when she got the idea of defending the farm with-" she paused for a moment to try to translate "nail-of-guns, gun- no, nail-thrower... nailgun. She made nailguns" she nodded to herself "Do you even know what those are? because I didn't, and then she made a demonstration"
"And?"
"And the tree died a few months later. Twilight outlawed the things as soon as she heard it"
"I gather your sister has a little too much free time?"
"Not at all. She plans her machines while bucking, I think. There's also Scoota..." she stopped "Which side?" she pointed at the bend.
"Left. Anyhow, I remember when I took interest in necromancy. I wanted to summon two thunder colossi and rampage the sheriff's office"
"What for?"
"Arrested for disturbance of order, when I was sixteen" Nanda smiled at the memories "I got drunk and ran around in lingerie... I wonder if those photos are still going around in the village? Or is it a city now?"
Applejack just looked at Nanda, some dark recess of her mind trying to form the image of her in silks despite all the wrinkles. They failed miserably, thankfully.
"Oh, shut up. You'll too be a walking raisin some day"
"Hope so" she patted Winona "Dying young doesn't appeal"
-ยบ-
"So, what language do they talk in Surane?" asked Applejack a few hours later, when dusk was nearby.
"You'll be fine with Tharatean, but their own is Lushido. Really flowery language, made of individual syllables instead of words. I'll teach you a bit when you try to get the magic going on tomorrow, if you want"
Applejack nodded, but a racket sounded in the road before any had the time to say anything. A moment later a caravan appeared from behind a bend in the road, with a few children crying in it.
When Nanda noticed who was in front of it, she told Applejack to wait and went to talk with the gryphon, pointing at the women carrying their children several times. The gryphon replied, his exasperation growing by the moment until he said something harshly and apparently told the buffalo who pulled from the front cart to walk on.
Nanda walked back to Applejack, visibly worried.
"It seems like something is wrong with their sleeper," she said, visibly confused "and some ambassador they don't trust appeared unannounced a few days ago. I don't get it, the sleeper hasn't ever been sick" She noticed Applejack's confusion "The sleeper is Surane's spiritual leader. He's been meditating for so long that he dreams his will into reality, they say"
"And does he really?"
"I don't think so. He's an unicorn, so he probably is just a really subtle spellcaster," she said mater-of-factly ""Dreams his will into reality", what's that supposed to mean? That he wets his temple instead of his bed?"
"I've seen nightmares descend from the moon and my brother turn into an alicorn with dreamstuff" Applejack deadpanned.
"Ah, but memetic life forms and spaces are another mater altogether. More than what an unicorn can do"
"And demons be exploded with love. A heart shoot a rainbow and then the guy exploded"
"Or those mystical artifacts that swarm all around Equestria. What next, you've seen the alicorn amulet?" Nanda rolled her eyes.
"Actually..."