Working Harmony, chapter 4 of 4: Today I buy no sorrows
Spectral Charm was lying on top of one of the picnic tables while watching the sun set when she found him. He painted a perfect picture of misery, his head resting on his forelegs and his hind legs tucked underneath him while his tail drooped listlessly off the edge of the table.
Lyra approached as quietly as she could, but when his ear twitched, she knew he’d heard her.
“I would like to be alone,” he stated without turning around.
“Okay,” Lyra said, and she saw the muscles on his back and neck stiffen. “But only after I say one thing.”
“There is nothing that I want to hear from you.”
“Not an apology? Not even an explanation?” Lyra took another step closer. “Wouldn’t you like to know why I laughed?”
“I know why you laughed,” was his bitter reply.
“No, you really don’t,” Lyra said. She sat on the ground next to the picnic table bench. “It’s a pretty silly reason, and it makes me seem like a complete idiot. You sure that you don’t want to hear it?”
His tail flicked and his head turned just enough to look at her. She pretended to not notice the tears in his eyes. He looked away again.
“Will it make you go away any faster?” he asked.
“I guarantee it.”
“Fine.”
Lyra took a deep breath, then let it out. “It goes back to when I first went to college. About a month in, I got into a relationship with a fellow student. It was exciting for me, because it was only my second serious relationship.”
“And?” Spectral prompted impatiently.
“It was an all-mare dorm,” Lyra said. “She was my roommate.” His head jerked up and he looked back at her in surprise. “Oh, don’t get me wrong,” she said with a chuckle. “My mom was right to call it an ‘experimental phase’, and I eventually realized that I really do prefer stallions. But… she was the cutest thing. A pegasus. Those feathers…”
She caught the look on his face and quickly stopped reminiscing. “Anyway, that’s why I laughed. I couldn’t help it. You looked so upset over something that I don’t consider to be a big deal at all. I mean, half the students I hung around with back then were gay! I was… well, surprised. It was like you were upset that I found out you wore glasses. I didn’t mean to laugh, but there’s that part of my brain that reacts that way when I’m surprised.”
“Hmph,” he said. His head returned to laying on his forelegs.
Lyra decided to take the lack of an outright dismissal as encouragement. “In any case, I wanted to apologize. My reaction was inappropriate and wrong, and extremely inconsiderate. Also, I wanted to let you know that I’ve sworn Becky and Adam to secrecy. While I don’t think it’s any cause for shame, it’s still your life, and I made it clear that I won’t allow it to become the object of gossip.”
She sat there quietly for nearly a minute as his tail swished slowly back and forth. Eventually, he spoke again.
“Thank you.”
Lyra nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. “Now, about your resignation. I understand that you said that in the heat of the moment. If you still want to quit after sleeping on it, I’ll accept your decision. But for right now, as far as I’m concerned, you still work in my department.”
The silence stretched for long enough that Lyra was getting ready to leave before he said, “Alright.”
“Good,” she said. She got up and started to turn. She stopped, considered for a few seconds, and said, “You know, this isn’t the same generation as our grandparents’. There isn’t as much stigma on being homosexual as there used to be. And according to Adam and Becky, it’s not a very big deal around here, either.”
He still didn’t say anything. The sun slipped lower. Sunset came ridiculously early here, thanks to the mountains to the west, and it happened so much faster than Lyra was used to. It was getting dark rapidly. She decided to head back inside and, in fact, had taken a few steps before Spectral Charm spoke once again.
“It’s not just that,” he said. Lyra stopped to listen. “I’m not ashamed of it, not really. In spite of what my father…” he shook his head. “Nevermind. It’s just that I’ve never really fit in. I have a hard time making friends. Honestly, I don’t understand most ponies. Or humans, for that matter. You all seem so… undirected, so strange.” He heaved a sigh. “But that doesn’t matter, really. I always just focused on the things I could control. My studies, my life, and my own reactions. And then I blurt out something personal like that in a room full of relative strangers. Including one mare who makes no secret of the fact that she can’t stand me.”
Lyra opened her mouth to deny it, then closed it again. “You frustrate me, yes. But then, you don’t exactly go out of your way to make yourself likeable.”
A short bark of bitter laughter greeted that observation. “I could see in your eyes the moment that you met me that you dismissed me as ‘not a real stallion’. I’m used to that look.”
Lyra looked away, guilt flooding her again. “Sorry,” she mumbled.
“At least you don’t deny it.” He sighed again. The top of the sun slipped below the mountain top, leaving a reddish glow behind. “The sun here on earth is quite beautiful. I should commit myself to researching how, exactly, it works.”
“I never really thought about it,” Lyra said. He snorted, and she quashed the irritation she felt. “I guess I’m just used to Celestia moving the sun around on her own.”
“This sun isn’t like ours,” he pointed out. “The humans don’t have any equivalent to Princess Celestia.”
“Huh. How does that work?”
“Apparently through the forces of gravity,” Spectral Charm said. His voice picked up and became more animated as he spoke. “Colossal amounts of gas accumulate, and the very weight of it all causes heat, which in turn leads to a process called fusion, where the very elements fuse together into something new, while also generating heat and light.”
“Oh.” Lyra considered that. “I think I prefer the Princess.”
“Hm. Well, I think it’s amazing. I’ve read a few things from the humans’ library on the subject. It’s amazing that they’ve learned so much about it when they don’t even have the Princess to help! They had to start from nothing.”
Lyra shrugged and said, “Well, it’s not like anypony knows what the Equestrian sun is, right?”
“It’s a dense collection of semi-solid magical potential condensed into a sphere and ignited with elemental fire to provide life-giving warmth and light. It is moved in an orbit around the celestial sphere by the application of a magical ritual that has long since fallen into disuse amongst anypony who isn’t Princess Celestia.”
“Uh, okay. If you say so,” Lyra said, having absorbed none of his explanation. As she considered what to say next, the outdoor lights flickered on, bathing the area in soft light and stark shadows. “You know, it’s not like I don’t care at all about you. I really think you could make a good addition to the team, if you just started making an effort to work with the rest of us. You know, instead of going your own way.”
He rolled his eyes at her and snorted. “Nopony else has my expertise. How am I supposed to work with them?”
“Argh, see?” Lyra stomped a hoof and he drew back in alarm. “That’s exactly what I mean! You do have skills that we need, but you don’t know everything! And, wasn’t it Becky who came up with the solution to our current problem?”
“Potential solution, yes.”
“Oh, come on,” Lyra said, rolling her eyes. “You’re doing the same thing that so many ponies from the ‘elite’ schools do, and that drives me crazy.”
“What’s that?” Spectral asked, frowning at her.
“You assume that, because you got such a great education, everypony who didn’t must be an idiot in comparison.”
He snorted and said, “Well, I don’t feel all that educated, recently.”
Lyra moved a bit closer to him, walking around the side of the table until he could see her without having to look behind him. “What do you mean?” she asked as she sat back down on the grass.
“Those blasted reading devices. I simply don’t understand them.”
“The computers?” Lyra said.
“Yes. I’m supposed to be the clever one. I’m supposed to know things. Then I come here and I’m expected to use these… things, which make no sense to me at all. And I just can’t figure them out. I can do advanced calculations in my sleep. I can recite the energy required in every spell commonly known, and I can sketch out most major spell circles from memory. And yet, the mysteries of this ‘mouse’ elude me.” He sighed and sank his head back down on his forelegs. “I’m not used to feeling like a moron.”
Lyra laughed, which earned her a sour glare. She pressed a hoof to her muzzle to stifle herself. “You’re not a moron. You’re using something that all of the humans have grown up using, and that I’ve been using for weeks before you arrived. And, when it comes down to learning new technologies, I have an advantage that you don’t.”
“Oh?” He arched an eyebrow at her.
Lyra drew herself up proudly and stated, “I’m not afraid to make mistakes, and I don’t care if I look stupid.”
He snorted, then laughed. The first laugh that she’d heard from him, as far as she could remember.
“I’d imagine that to be your greatest strength,” he said with a hesitant smile.
Lyra plunked herself back down and grinned. “It has its advantages.”
He laughed again, and she joined him.There then followed a comfortable silence that lasted until the last lingering glimmers of twilight faded away.
“Look,” she said after a while. “I’d like to start over. Clean slate. You come back onto the team and make a real effort to learn the new technology you’ll need. Adam has some thoughts on how to make it easier for you. And I’ll try to be more sympathetic to how you feel. And we’ll both do our best to get along and make a functional team.”
“Hmm.” He tapped his jaw idly with a hoof. “Very well.”
“And, maybe, while you’re at it…” Lyra said.
“Yes?”
“You could help me with a project I’m working on!” She stood up and gave him her most exuberant grin. “There are so many weird parallels between Equestria and Earth. Similarities in musical styles, languages, place names, and so on. There has to be some deeper connection! I want to find it, but I’m honestly out of my depth, here.”
He looked at her, his mouth turning down at the corners.
She sighed and said, “Okay, it was just a thought. You don’t have to—”
“That sounds fascinating,” he said softly.
“You’ll help?” Lyra blinked. Then she scrambled to her hooves. “You’ll help!”
“I… Well, I suppose I will.” Then his voice took on a shadow of it’s former superiority. “After all, if I don’t help, you’ll never find the solution.”
She gaped at him until his superior expression thawed into a hopeful smile.
“You’re probably right,” she admitted with a wry grin.
They sat in the shadows, the silence stretching out comfortably. Spectral seemed to be watching the moths fluttering around the lampposts. They would try to reach the light, only to bounce off of the protective glass.
“Would…” Lyra cleared her throat and tried again. “Would you like to talk about your father? I mean, if it would make you feel better?”
He froze as he looked at her, eyes widening. After a long moment he relaxed, shaking his head. “No. But… Thank you for the offer.”
“Alright,” Lyra said. She stretched as she stood up. “I’m going to head back inside. I could use some supper. You feel like joining me?”
“Thank you, but no,” he said softly. His eyes returned to the moths fluttering around the lights. “I think I’ll remain here for a while.”
“Okay. If you ever need to talk…” Lyra trailed off. He nodded, still looking away. And then Lyra turned and walked back to the door. When she stopped and looked back, just before entering the compound, he was still sitting there, still watching the moths fly in a futile attempt to reach the lights.
She went inside, leaving Spectral Charm to his thoughts.
~~*~~
Lively hoofsteps echoed down the hallways of the Harmonics compound, tapping out a jaunty rhythm as Lyra danced her way towards the cafeteria. This caused the turning of many a caffeine-deprived head, seeing as it was so very early in the morning. Lyra, oblivious to the impact she was having, began singing the lyrics to her new favorite song, discovered just the night before.
She was just getting to the part that included tambourines and elephants in a band when a decidedly grumpy voice interrupted her at the intersection of two corridors.
“That’s an… interesting song you have there, Lyra,” her fellow unicorn said dryly. “But I don’t suppose you could... oh, I don’t know… Not sing it quite so early? Or, at least not so loudly?”
Lyra glanced over. “Spectral Charm! Good morning!” The other unicorn fell in step beside her with an irritable grunt. “On your way to breakfast?”
“Where else?” he said condescendingly.
Lyra stopped walking and treated him to a frown. He took several steps forward before he realized she was no longer next to him. Looking back, he caught sight of her annoyed expression and his ears drooped.
“Sorry,” he mumbled.
Lyra’s smile was like the sun bursting from behind the clouds. “It’s a start!”
They walked together towards the cafeteria once again.
“Maggie liked our proposal,” Lyra said after a while. “She said it’s the best one anyone has come up with yet. It’s probably going to be how we measure any damage.”
“It was a good suggestion,” Spectral agreed, nodding. “Becky should be happy.”
“Unfortunately, Becky doesn’t know much about Veils. I’m afraid most of that is going to have to come from you, working with the Harmonics team directly.”
“I… don’t suppose I could convince them to use scrolls?” he asked plaintively.
“No chance,” Lyra said with a chuckle. He looked downcast. “It’s okay. You’re part of a team, now. You don’t have to do any of this by yourself, remember? We’ll help you get used to the computers.” She patted him on his shoulder and said, “You’re not alone anymore, Spectral Charm.”
He obviously hadn’t had a lot of chance to practice the smile he showed her then. Still, it was a valiant effort. “Lyra, please. Call me Spectral.”
Lyra utterly failed to hide the thrill of excitement she felt at that. Spectral rolled his eyes at the huge grin that blossomed on her muzzle.
“Don’t read too much into that,” he muttered. “You’re still extremely annoying.”
“And you’re a colossal stick in the mud,” Lyra said happily back.
Side by side, the two ponies walked down the corridor, ready to start their new day.
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Nice little side story, though I kinda wished Spectral was fired, or quit, or fallen off his I'm better then everyone pedestal so hard that if fell over and landed on him, or got punched at least.
Very nice updates. And good to see you getting into this series of yours again.:D
This story was remarkably good. Thanks for spending the time to write it.
Off topic question for you: What's your favorite Terry Pratchett book?
Neat little side story. Really interesting, and I always love stories where the ponies kind of marvel at the different natures of the two worlds.
Nicely done, sir.
... I don't really know what to say. I feel flattered, Hoopy. I really do.
4086687
Oooh, tough one. I love them all. But there's a special place in my heart for Small Gods. I read it at a time where it just happened to be able to answer a lot of questions for me.
4086729
For? Oh, for the author's notes? Eh, you've earned it! All you guys are great, and you really help me when it comes to making my stories better!
*applause*
Well, I was right but for the wrong reasons about Spectral.
It wasn't a fillyfriend he wanted, but he knew he wasn't going to get what he needed back in Equestria. I can certainly sympathize.
4086675 You should have seen my response comments when I first read this. I hated his guts, but he has grown on me (which does mean good character design). I'll enjoy it when he shows up again.
4086750
We still know hardly anything about Harmony, so I look forwardto finally exploring it. Is it like a traditional fantasy setting, an empy magic world,or are you making something up altogether? Maybe you'll splice in another crossover; it would be beyond amazing to see Digger and Grim Eyes in Equestria.
Ooh! Ooh! Maybe it's a prehistoric Narnia-like place, and our heroes will get to see one of those kooky creation stories in action!
Eh, short, semi-adorable, a little light on what I consider the McGee flavor but it wasn't bad.
Would pair with a nice aged, dry cab.
Well, this turned out somewhat differently than I expected. Not to say it was bad, but it's different.
Aww...
It's amazing how much communication can solve, isn't it? Great four-part closer for the side stories. Thank you for them. I look forward to the full sequel.
Celestial sphere? That sounds vaguely familiar to the ancient (I think Roman) belief that the universe had the Earth at the center, and the sun, moon, and stars all revolved around us inside of a bubble that contained the entire universe.
Perhaps Celestia doesn't move the sun in Equestria, rather, rotates the entire planet, and even if she did, it would still look and feel to her like she was raising the sun, since her frame of reference would be moving at the same speed at the planets rotation, so she would just see the sun rise.
Also, If Equestria's planet doesn't revolve around their star, then how could the opening between the realms stay in the same spot all the time? I would think that it would just open from earth to the vacuum of space for most of the year, except for the short time where the worlds intersected, then the gate itself would appear to fly across the landscape so fast that no one could even step through.
**listens to music**
The Dude is happy! >=3
4086976 Not bad? I should trample you for that one.
Hmm, so Spectral might be mildly Autistic then? All in all, a good introduction to a new character and a new group to explore some of the technical questions.
4087107
Eh, it just didn't wow me like his usual stuff. No accounting for taste and all.
Hey I still paired it with a nice wine!
4087115 True, still I should trample you. Especially for not writing.
4082615
My money is on Mark finally taking the dip himself and coming out a unicorn so he finally can play with magic. Eventually, it sounds like this will be his option.
How things works out just placed a big smile on my face!
4086675
Welcome to the real world
Please, enjoy the lack of comeuppance.
"Then his voice took on a shadow of it’s former superiority." its
I'm loving this! More please! And maybe if one of you has time, another non-canon crossover with the "Mary is a Mare" story.
(Also, listening to that song after reading the chapter was a perfect ending.)
Another complete sign on a project sunflower story...
Meh, it can bother me tomorrow. Today I'll buy no sorrow.
4087762
Look at it this way: Side Projects is supposed to bridge Sunflower with its sequel. Now that Side Projects is over, the bridge needs somewhere to go...
4087049
The same reason Marty McFly doesn't end up in space everytime. For whatever reason, the two positions are coordinate locked.
4087952
And hopefully the bridge won't end up like the Gravina Island Bridge.
4087665
I'm glad he didn't, though. For all that he's utterly lacking in teamwork or social skills he still knows what he's doing. Like it was mentioned in-story he has the potential to be a great addition to the team if he'd just get over himself already.
4087049 Don't think about it too hard. In the end it's fiction.
4087124
You're right
So, the story is marked complete, but the author's notes say that this is the final chapter in "the Lyra arc" of this story. Is the Lyra arc the final one here, or will there be future chapters in Sunflower–Side Projects?
4088358 *huggles* Aw, you know I just want to see more of that story.
4087049
That's what you get for only thinking in three dimensions.
4089969
The fact that I didn't refer to more than three dimensions was me trying to simplify the problem. In case you forgot, time can easily run at different speeds depending on velocity through space. The difference between Earth and Equestria would not just be spatial, but also time would be running much faster in Equestria.
4086746
I've always enjoyed your writing, and now I found yet another reason to adore the words you put on paper. Small Gods is definitely one of his best.
As for the story itself, kudos to you. I really enjoyed it. Seeing Lyra and Specs try to do whatever it is they're gonna be doing in the sequel is gonna be loads of fun.
In unrelated news, the whole time I was reading this arc, I was thinking to myself that I really didn't want Lyra to get shipped with Spectral somehow, and finding out that he's gay was a pleasant surprise. I still have hope for one random pony x human relationship to pop up before this is all over (Erin x Big Mac OTP!).
4088043
Exactly my thoughts, but in most stories, he would have suffered some form of comeuppance. Frankly, it's a realistic and well-written conclusion if you ask me. (Hence the 'welcome to the real world')
4087994
I don't know who that is, and what does "coordinate locked" mean in this sense?
4088323
I know it's fiction, but the point is that I'm asking if the ponies know more about their world than we know about ours. It's obvious that the ponies understanding of magic far exceeds our own, but have they discovered special relativity? General relativity? What is their greatest understanding of their universe as a whole? Judging by this whole "celestial sphere" business, it is probably a lot less than I originally anticipated.
4090269
Time is not a dimension.
For example, take the series of hypercubes:
0th dimension: A singularity (0 cells, 0 faces, 0 edges, 0 vertices)
1st dimension: A line (0 cells, 0 faces, 1 edge, 2 vertices)
2nd dimension: A square (0 cells, 1 face, 4 edges, 4 vertices)
3rd dimension: A cube (1 cell, 6 faces, 12 edges, 8 vertices)
4th dimension: A tesseract (8 cells, 24 faces, 32 edges, 16 vertices)
.
.
.
10th dimension: A dekeract (15360 cells, 11520 faces, 5120 edges, 1024 vertices)
etc.
4091899
Please return your nerd card.
Marty is the protagonist and audience stand-in in the Back to the Future series. He travels through time repeatedly, usually travelling in a souped-up DeLorean.
4092012
Time and space are one and the same. Maybe you should look up special relativity at some point.
4092231
1) The space-time manifold of a Minkowski space does not treat space and time as being one and the same. Space and time are considered together and are related, yes, but they are decidedly not the same thing.
2) Space-time is only a useful model at relativistic speeds, which is roughly 10% of c. (At non-relativistic speeds, normal Euclidean models are the norm.) 10% c is nearly 30 million m/s. Earth's rotational speed at the equator is ~450 m/s, speed in orbit around the sun is ~30,000 m/s, our solar system's speed around the Milky Way is ~220,000 m/s, and our local cluster is ~280 m/s towards the Great Attractor. I think it is reasonable to assume that Equestria is not moving significantly faster than that in any reference frame.
3) Neither special nor general relativity have anything to do with alternate universes.
4) The only object in our knowledge of theoretical physics that can connect two universes is a Schwarzchild wormhole, which has a number of problems for this story including the requirement for an eternal black hole with no charge or rotation, the existence of "white holes," and the fact that a Schwarzchild wormhole is not bi-directional. (Traveling through a Schawrzchild wormhole to another universe would be a one-way trip.)
4091899
Basically, the point where the portal opens is locked in place. In the film series, the protagonist travels through time, yet never has to worry about the planet moving. A lot of time traveling either handwaves it or attended to offscreen.
Considering gender ratios in rural Equestria are like 1:5 stallion-to-mare and 1:3 in cities, I doubt ponies would be that hung up on sexuality. Doesn't detract from the reading experience or that character moment, though.
4093739
I think its just that. Homosexuality isn't a big deal for mares.
But the rarity of males means that they're all expected to "contribute to Equestria's future generations." An openly homosexual male has a stigma that he is weakening the gene pool by removing himself from it. Take that stigma and triple that for a pony of noble or famous birth who is expected to continue the family bloodline. Spectral's credentials attending all those expensive schools indicate that his family is quite rich and probably has a title of some sort.
How long untill project sunflower: harmony will be out?
great chapter on working harmony btw I almost tought that Spec would leave the team. Then everything turned to the better if not the best possible.
4091913 It's not so much that they know more, it is that their knowledge is based on using magic to gather information and use as a baseline for everything and caused their knowledge to branch in significantly different directions. Also, if you try too hard to resolve real world physics with a realm already known to violate the rules of physics, your going to have a bad time.
At least Spectral knows how to turn on a computer. Some people I know don't even understand that.
4094661 Seems so obvious now that you've pointed it out.