The small bar was atop several flights of stairs, its wood floor supported by several diagonal wood posts. The ceiling had several entrances, which had double duty of also keeping the interior of the place from building up the heat and smell of the clients.
At the present time, several pegasi were in what Nanda had described as "A friendly brawl". Applejack had to admit that they had a way to punch each other in the face that spoke volumes about the many times it had happened; "Remember that time over the mare?" said a punch, "Yes, haha!" said the response.
"I feel like I am inside a cliche" said Applejack in what she remembered faintly to be Nanda's mother tongue.
"Cliches come from somewhere," Nanda shrugged, eating her meal "And this is only the noon. At night even I avoid coming to Surane's bars"
"Huh," Applejack poked her grub with the spoon, a mostly yellow mass, and then tasted it, "...polenta?" she guessed.
"Very popular here, good with cream cheese. And Surane is what happens when you have so many pegasi and gryphons put together, its like a never ending explosion"
As if to prove her point, one of the pegasi flew out of a window that, Applejack now noticed, didn't have glass. Neither had any of the others.
"See? very energetic people"
Several pegasi flew after the other and, a moment later, reappeared helping him enter and regain his bearings. The fighting pegasi then proceeded to chat amiably about their wives.
"Let me guess, they have a coliseum" Applejack took another spoonful of the polenta.
"Used to, but they found it too stuffy" Nanda swallowed "Don't take them at face value, they are actually a good people. Just..." another fight broke out "...very energetic" she winced.
Applejack nodded halfheartedly, and Nanda passed her a small note that Applejack hadn't noticed her writing in the first place.
"Soldiers are following us. And they haven't looked at me at all"
Applejack tensed, and couldn't help but draw Winona's food tray a little closer. Winona waved her tail at her and kept eating.
Nanda made a small gesture at the closest door and nonchalantly started humming something softly, then threw her water glass high in the air.
The water sparkled for an instant and, as if it had come to life -A possibility that Applejack couldn't discount completely-, extended tendrils quickly before loosing its shape, the inertia carrying the water over everyone who surrounded them. The thick glass fell over someone's head with a loud tock.
-ยบ-
"And that is how you keep your chasers behind you" said Nanda several minutes later, changing to a calm walk calmly in the crowd and talking in her native tongue "Any idea of why they were chasing you?"
Applejack's will was already hard pressed to not laugh or scream at Nanda, so talking was not an option. She shook her head.
Winona, whose leg had been clipped by a crossbow bolt, made her best to walk miserably and earn pats in the head and food from strangers.
"Anyway, I can take you out of here. I may or may not know someone who knows someone"
Applejack breathed deeply before talking, "And how much would that cost me?"
"I'll just call on a favor I did to her fath-" she stopped dry and grimaced "Well, I did buy us some time"
Someone cleared his throat behind them, and there was the click of a loaded crossbow.
"Hapba!" shouted Nanda. A thick blanket of smoke appeared out of nowhere in the area, and the gryphon behind them coughed.
They looked at each other and ran, Winona abandoning her pretencion of cripplehood in an instant.