private A Cultural Exchange 1x1 with ~ Akatsuki ~

[Illiad Easle 2,972]

This thread has been closed for inactivity. The contents are preserved below.

 

OOC thread: https://mlpforums.co...tural-exchange/

@

 

Ætheron was on his way back home from a day in town when he happened across a flyer advertising a sort of cultural exchange. He retrieved the contact information from it and continued to the house he had helped build on the border of the Everfree forest. It wasn't much, but it was the best he had ever owned. As he unpacked from his day's excursion he thought about the cultural exchange, he supposed it would be a great way to see more of the world he found himself in. He decided he would try his luck, being mostly self sufficient did have its perks. A few days later he received word that he had been paired with a creature of equal strangeness to himself, something called a Tera-Wolf that had come from another world. So they're like me in more ways then one. He had been given the Tera-Wolf's address and instructed to introduce himself. With and intrigued expression he carefully wrote out a letter, hoping that this creature would be as interesting as it seemed.

 

Greeting Wrathius,

 

I am Ætheron the Swift and I was selected to be your pairing in this cultural exchange. To tell you a bit about myself, I am an adult Centaur currently living on the border between Ponyville and the Everfree Forest. As far as I have found I am the only centaur in Equestria, perhaps in the whole world, other than Tirek but he doesn't count as he is not a noble centaur like I. If you have seen or heard about Tirek I am similar to him only in general shape, my form is much more slender, fur does not cover my upper body, nor do I have horns. My skin is a light tan and my coat and tail are rich shades of brown. I don't have a mark like the ponies here, but I have talent in regards to adventuring such as exploring and many combat both ranged and melee, though I haven't had many adventures since my last one ended up with me here and no way to return. But I like the life I've made for myself here, there is a certain peace here that I never had during my adventuring days. But I suppose that is enough about me, this exchange is about the sharing of culture and I would very much like to learn about yours. If you would be willing to tell me what you know I would be happy to answer your questions in return. I look forward to hearing back from you in the near future.

 

~Ætheron

 

Satisfied with the letter he had written he passed his letter off to his favorite local mail mare to be delivered. That taken care of, he returned to his house to begin prepping for a new visitor. It was time to build a guest room for his house.

 

(You receive a notification from the Cultural Exchange program stating your acceptance and informing you that you have been paired with Ætheron the Swift, an adult centaur by the borders of Ponyville, it instructs you to watch for a letter from him and to respond in kind when it arrives. You receive Ætheron's letter the very next day.)(Questions can be asked in quotations or in the OOC thread) (Æ=alt+146 on the numpad. Be careful as MLP Forums doesn't always like alt characters, so a copy paste may work out better for you.)

Edited February 13, 2016 by Illiad Easle

[Sir Xarthas VI 470]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

(The letter arrives a couple days after the acceptance letter, and a grin slowly forms on Wrathius' face while he reads Ætheron's letter.)

 

Dear Ætheron,

 

         You're a centaur? It's been oh so long since I've seen one! Oh, I should probably explain further than that. You see, on Terana there was a native species of centaur, though they are not... Physical beings, I guess you could say. They had the body and legs of a horse, as is normal with centaur's, but their upper body was that of pure red matter. It flowed in a sort of liquid form, and they usually had it morphed into a humanoid upper body. Well one of the friendly centaurs had come to see me a few hundred years ago. Because of all the magic on this planet, his red matter body almost triggered, which, eh... wouldn't have been good.

         To be honest, I wasn't expecting to be paired with a normal centaur. I don't know what I was expecting, actually. Some creature that was as.. unique, as I am. I guess a centaur on this planet is unique enough. Oh, I'm not trying to be harsh or anything! Don't get me wrong! I find it quite exhilarating that I would be paired with a centaur. But I should probably get back on topic of me, eh?

         Well, according to some ponies that live near me, who have been peering over my shoulder for the past few minutes, keep saying characteristics that don't really seem like me. Brave, Adventurous, Courageous which is pretty much the same thing as Brave I would think, Neutral and I do hope that's a compliment, Intelligent, Agile, Stealthy. Agile, Stealthy, Neutral, and Intelligent I can see. But Brave? Well I guess I do stand my ground often enough. But adventurous? I don't want to ever leave my home! Do you get swarmed by ponies every time you step outside your door? Oh wait, you're a centaur. You might. But I don't recommend it unless you like the attention.

         The ponies keep telling me to describe my home planet. The only way to shut them up is to do it, so I guess you'll be learning something else from this letter. My home planet is named Terana, as I've said before. It is approximately 14 light years from this planet, though the flight only takes a few seconds when using the wormhole that's next to this star. Anyway, the planet is a lot like this one. Terana is around 5 million years old, and has only been habitable for about 1 million years. The prominent life form on Terana is a being called a Solar Elytar, pronounced El-it-ar. They are very unruly little blighters, made completely from solar radiation. Get too close and your fur starts to fall off. Not the nicest things either. Always bumping into each other, arguing, causing wild fires. Anyway, there is another species also commonly found on Terana, called Orpytomad's. These guys are actually very friendly. I guess you could say they look like raccoon's, but five and a half feet tall, with humanoid arms and legs instead of the normal limbs. And they speak all languages. What's most intriguing about them is that they are EXTREMELY intelligent. One challenged me to a friendly chess game, and almost beat me in 3 moves... almost. I beat them in the next move, but still. Not many beings are capable of doing that. Another species on Terana is called Tera-Wolf, which is what I am. Extremely intelligent, agile, and neutral. On Terana, there were only 4 of us on the whole planet. Unfortunately, when I left, so did another one. So either there's only two on the planet now, or they've mated and there's three. I do not know where the other Tera-Wolf has gone, nor do I know who it is. As for the environment on Terana, it's a lot like this planet's. Vast forests, oceans, deserts, mountains. A few of the mountains have been completely hollowed out due to mining, which makes for great residential areas, as it's always warm, no matter your altitude. According to the ponies behind me, there's a weather phenomenon on this planet known as rain. Terana has no rain. The only precipitation we get is snow, which is an over-abundance planet-wide. At least four feet of snow on every surface.

        Okay, the ponies behind me left, so I can finally stop rambling on about Terana. Unless you wish to hear more, in which case you can ask, but for now I'm finished.

 

~ Wrathius

 

 

Skimming over the letter, checking for spelling mistakes, he realized the letter might be a bit too long, but decided to accept it anyway. He put it in an envelope, and gave it to the mail-mare he had called over. And with that he looked around his home thinking of anything he could do to prepare for the centaur. And realized he was missing something.

[Illiad Easle 2,972]

@,

 

Ætheron returned from the forest dragging a large tree he had cut down while training with his Halberd. He also carried a few bundles of sticks that had once been particularly stupid timber wolves. After dropping the tree and stick bundles near the side of his house he was pleasently surprised to find he had a new letter. he took it inside and read it, planning a response as he went.

 

Greetings Wrathius,

 

Your homeland is certainly an interesting one, mine is a bit less interesting in that it is much the same as here, though with a slew of different races, humans, elves, and dwarfs being the most plentiful. I can tell you now that I am quite different than the centaurs you have on your planet, I don't know what red matter is, but I suppose it would be bad by the way you describe its dangers.

 

Also, I am no normal centaur, normal centaurs are wild brutes that wander the forest with no regard for civility, utterly barbaric to be honest. I am a noble centaur, we collect in herds and build civil communities. You'd be hard pressed to find someone more unique than I, but to be honest every individual is unique in their own way, quantifying their uniqueness is no way to go about deciding if one is worth your time. But I digress, we are quite different you and I and thus a difference in viewpoints is to be expected. I am sure you meant no disrespect in your comments.

 

On attributes, it seems bravery is something that is always observed from the outside, like heroism. One cannot call themselves brave or a hero as they see their actions as simply necessary, but others give us the comparison for bravery, when you do what they feared to do you are brave to them, when you save what they care for you are a hero to them. I have learned in my time here that just because some consider you a hero does not mean that all do. I too have been called brave, agile, stealthy, and intelligent by those that I consider friends here. I can tell at this point that I may not be nearly as intelligent as you, but I still consider myself decently well informed. Some even call me wise, but perhaps it is just my unique perspective that makes me seem so. I used to be swarmed by ponies here, but they seem to have gotten used to my being here. The elements of harmony have even been a bit less suspicious of me in recent weeks, we did not start out on good terms though the town was quite appreciative of my initial actions. I think Twilight thinks I must be evil because I am visually similar to Tirek.

 

Like I said above, my world was quite similar to this one, so I won't go into describing it other than there were many centaurs like me there. How I got here from there I am still unsure, I was adventuring one day in a group, we entered a sort of ruins and a spell was cast. When I woke up i was in the middle of the forest I now live next to.

 

As interesting as your planet is, I want to know more about you, I still have no reference as to what a Tera-Wolf is or looks like, or how you would compare to the average for your species. Other than swarming you, how do the ponies treat you where you live? There is so much to learn between us and I can't wait to explore what this exchange will have to offer.

 

~Ætheron the Swift

 

As Ætheron looked over the letter he was a bit disappointed in how it turned out, but didn't see a good way to make it much better so he sent it off as it was. He returned to the tree he dragged by his house and set to prepping it for use as building material.

[Sir Xarthas VI 470]

@@Illiad Easle,

 

Wrathius looked around his house to make sure everything was in it's proper place, and since he barely moves anything, it was all fine. He still thought he was missing something, but he didn't know what. Then he realized something. He flew out of his house and into the city, buying some materials at a few different stores. When he got back, another letter was waiting for him. He read it while taking the materials inside, and as he finished reading, the materials he had bought seemed to form into something.

 

Dear Ætheron,

 

       Actually I wasn't thinking of you as a normal brutish centaur. The way I picture you is actually close to how you describe yourself. And to clear your thoughts about me, I wasn't meaning to sound... What is the word in English? Demeaning? Anyhow, I wasn't saying that someone or something wasn't worth my time because they weren't unique. I simply meant that socializing with the same people over and over tends to get boring. Though you seem plenty interesting to converse with.

       And as for your opinion on attributes/characteristics, I agree somewhat. Almost everything like that has to be viewed from an outside-looking-in point of view. Bravery, Heroism, Intelligence, they all have to be witnessed by other beings to actually mean anything. Otherwise, you're just egotistical. Unless, of course, you're pointing out characteristics for your entire species that are relatively well-known.

       I know how you feel. When I first came here, Celestia and Luna had me locked away in a prison, scared that I would cause a war. Of course, I didn't resist. I allowed them to lock me away, as it would lessen their suspicions. I spent 4 years in that cell before they let me out. Of course, they kept close eyes on me, but as I explained why I came here, they soon let me go where I pleased. The elements of harmony are still monitoring me though, but they don't think I know about it.

       To explain my travel from Terana to here, I flew. Yes, it was that simple. Well, sort of. I flew off of my planet Terana, and noticed a wormhole next to another planet in the same star system, so I entered it, and I exited near this system's star. I saw this planet, and decided to make my stay here.

        Ah, yes. More about me. To be honest, I was an outcast on my planet, which was the main reason I left. Tera-Wolves are usually light in colour, but there are some who are made of something different. If they're normally coloured, their colours can range from light grey to white, and their markings range from dark grey to light grey, if they have any. But the other ones... They are made of stars. Well, more precisely, they're made of space, with stars scattered throughout. Have you ever seen an Ursa Major or Minor? It's a bit like that. The only thing common throughout the species is the eyes and the wings. The eyes are always the same colour: deep purple, and I mean the entire eye is solid purple. But the wings are always the exact same size, with the same number of feathers on each wing, on everyone. I'll just say the wings are bird-like, and leave it at that for shape. But for me, my colour and body composition is different than any other Tera-Wolf. My fur is mainly dark grey, with black markings. The tips of my wings, and tips of my largest feathers are black, with the rest being dark grey. I have a tiger-stripe pattern along my back, and the fur in my inner ear is black. What makes me different are the four spikes on top of my head, two either side, right above the eyebrows, in-line and pointing upward. As well as a bit of armored plating on top of my muzzle, which is something you usually find on dragons. And as I said before, my bodies composition is also different. With normal Tera-Wolves, the bone structure is made out of two things: Bone, and Titanium. My bone structure, however, is made of three things: Bone, Titanium, and Irynium. In case you didn't know, Irynium is basically solidified dark matter. But there is one thing that's always puzzled me. My muscle fibers. With normal Tera-Wolves, the muscles fibers are laced with a bit of nitrous oxide, which speeds up the healing process and allows us faster movement. But my muscle fibers are laced with a second substance, which I know nothing about. When I first learned about this, I thought it was dark matter, because it was in my bone structure, but as I examined closer, it wasn't dark matter. But whatever it is, it doesn't do anything, as far as I can tell. No negative or positive effects, thankfully. But it's always been there. Also, a quick mention that all Tera-Wolves have the ability to use magic, though not effectively or efficiently. The only spells we can use for long duration's without passing out are levitation and giving ourselves the ability to breathe in any environment. Every other spell takes too much out us, so we end up passing out if we try.

       Now I'm going to attempt to explain my personality. Just keep in mind that I have observed myself to find this information, so it might not be accurate. I have found that compared to the beings on this planet, I am the most intelligent being I know of. But what they lack in intelligence they make up for in judgement. And I am somewhat lacking in that aspect. According from a few neighbor ponies, I am insightful and cunning, though I don't see it. I recognize my ability to resolve most conflicts quickly, and to silence those who are cruel and wish to verbally mutilate others. Agility and Stealth are two things commonly associated with Tera-Wolves. While both running and flying, we know how to navigate in any direction quickly, silently, and effectively. I once had a race against Spitfire, captain of the Wonderbolts. I admit, she was quite fast, but my wings are larger, and I am built for speed, so she lost. But the race was quite fun. But anyways. Another thing about me, I'm neutral about most things. For example, when Discord was ruling this land and the princesses were attempting to rid him of the land, I stayed neutral. Well, it was mostly because I wasn't effected. Either Discord knew enough to not bother me, or he didn't feel like involving me. Either way, he made a smart move.

       The ponies in my area don't seem to mind me. Occasionally they'll ask for assistance in various things, but I don't mind. Anything I can do to let the Elements of Harmony I mean no harm. Yet they still keep me under surveillance. As if I would go on a rampage and destroy Equestria. The only reason that would happen is if another Tera-Wolf found me and decided to fight me on this planet.

       Although my curiosity is forcing to reply, I feel anxious. I haven't had many beings in my home, and those that have are either neighboring ponies, or old friends from Terana.

 

~Wrathius

 

Checking over his letter, he felt as though he made himself sound rather powerful. Which is sometimes a good thing, but to certain people it just made him sound narcissistic. He put the letter in an envelope and sent it anyway, hoping Ætheron was more understanding than criticizing. When he turned to walk back inside, he noticed the preparations were done.

[Illiad Easle 2,972]

@,

 

Ætheron was just finishing the framing of the new walls when his favorite mail mare brought him a letter. He thanked her before bringing the letter inside to read and respond.

 

Greetings Wrathius,

 

You've certainly been here quite a long time if you've been here since Discord's rule. Well over a thousand years by that mark. No wonder you've grown board of the mundane. I have no hopes to live that long, few of my kind live past 60, though with the magic of this world I may make it to 80. I'm 23 now, so I've still got most of my life left, but I hope I'm able to leave a lasting impression on your memory.

 

When I first arrived, I was given the opportunity to save a few young ponies from an attacking manticore. They entered with a group of about 6, but as son as they saw the manticore 3 of them bolted, leaving the other three behind with the manticore. I scooped them up having not lost my noble spirit in whatever process brought me here, and helped them escape whilst fighting off the manticore. When I made it to the edge of the forest, bow drawn and the young ponies on my back, I turned back towards the forest to watch the manticore's approach, only to be hit by a stun spell and slammed sideways by a certain cyan pegasus you may know. The manticore then emerged from the forest, causing all present to flee a bit. As I had managed to wound it, it was after me and my stunned form could not manage to get away very quickly. In the end I suffered severe lacerations across much of my backs and chest, my armor protecting me from the worst of the damage, before I was able to subdue the beast. For whatever reason I couldn't quite kill it, perhaps I had lost too much blood at that point. The manticore limped back into the forest, and I never saw it again. I fainted at that point, but I remember waking up in a sort of medical location like they had in some of the larger cities I was from. I could hear a commotion outside the room I was in, but I suppose that's a story for another time. The elements still don't entirely believe that I am a good person despite the lives I saved, but I don't much want to deal with them either at this point.

 

The composition of your body is both intriguing and quite over my head. I am not much of a scientist or alchemist, I was trained in nature survival and combat, much of my kind serve as knights as we are stronger and faster than many other races. I too have the ability to use magic, but I never trained in it so the best I have is the natural gifts of the Fey. Agility is a common trait in centaurs, some train in stealth and range while others train strength, I trained in a mixture of both so I'm not too stealthy but I am decently skilled at pole-arms and my longbow. Centaurs are also pretty fast, not quite as fast as you, but about as fast as a trained Earth pony.

 

The ponies here seem to appreciate my presence in keeping the creatures of the forest at bay and for saving some of their youth, the elements don't trust me though, they're looking for anything that would get the town to agree with them that I should be locked away.

 

A sense of duty, both to you and this principle of the exchange, compels me to reply.

 

~Ætheron the Swift.

 

Ætheron was still not quite satisfied with the quality of his responses. It was clear that his partner was very well written, like;y well spoken too. In addition to his claimed ability Ætheron felt a bit inadequate. But he passed the letter off to be delivered anyway.