Are the watchful eyes of progress

A good sign of things to come?

December 31, 1013

The Canterlot Castle courtyard quickly filled with ponies as they piled in for the new year celebration.

While the biggest event for the new year took place in Manehattan, Major Sparkle was currently in Canterlot for the investigation into the Black Stripes. He, along with Mythic, came to the castle’s celebration to try and see what Luna was doing, at least from the perspective of the other civilians.

As it turned out, being targeted in an arson attack by the very group you are investigating isn’t a good sign that they want to be investigated, so new plans had been put in play for Sparkle and Mythic to follow when it came to the investigation.

A few more hooves were brought into the team to help with the investigation, their names and identity unknown by the generals and hopefully anycreature else. The generals know about it, they just don’t know who was helping, as they had given full authority to Sparkle for the investigation and trusted whatever method he chose as long as he presented information from the investigation.

Because they learned that Luna was visiting Canterlot, which they concluded was for Celestia given Luna never came here, they had decided they would take a direct approach during the new year party with hopes they noticed something helpful.

Because air defenses had been holding up against the Changelings bombing efforts against Canterlot for the past month, the party had been permitted to take place, as long as contingency plans were in place in the event a air raid did happen.

While it wasn’t preferable, the party goers would be rushed into the castle in the lower floors until any threat passed. Security at the entrances to the lower portions of the castle from the courtyard were lightly guarded, while all access points that went to upper floors and secured rooms on the lower floor were heavily guarded. Preferably, the Royal Guard didn’t want an air raid to happen, but what could they do in the midst of war and Celestia’s orders.

Outside at the courtyard, ponies gathered together in groups as they spoke with one another. A lot of them were local ponies who had been lucky to get in, while others were military officers who happened to be in the city for the new year or ponies in important governmental positions from the surrounding cities.

Because the war had stalled at the front lines more or less, the mood with everypony was high. They all held smiles and shared laughs with one another as they took bites of their slices of cakes.

Because it was a celebration, the castle paid premium prices for extra cake and drinks for everypony. There were a few dedicated servers who handled the cake, along with a guard, that way there was enough for everyone. The sugar rations were still in effect across the nation, but it was expected to stabilize in the next few months, where it would then lift.

Sparkle didn’t bother with any of the cake, he chose to just opt for a simple drink. He wanted to have full attention on the event while he looked for anything that might be off with Luna’s presence since he had seen Luna a few times at some prior celebrations before the war.

Mythic also opted for the same thing, only going for a drink as the two conversed with each other.

The two were trying to figure out where they should stand when the princesses gave the New Years Celebration speech. They still had an hour until then.

There were Royal Guards that surrounded the entire courtyard, all of whom carried pikes with a pistol. This was a standard at any celebration or party that took place at the Canterlot Castle though, but ever since 1002, there have been armed guards hidden away within the castle who could respond within seconds if anything happened.

At this point, the courtyard was jam packed with ponies. While those from the military and government were keeping to their conversations and being calm, it was the normal citizens who had gotten in that were elevating the mood and basically partying and celebrating. The most riled up ones ended up having the Royal Guards intervene and tell them to calm down a little.

While it was a celebration, the guards couldn’t have chaos taking place as it would interfere with security.

Once the hardcore core party goers were calmed and one was kicked out, it had nearly become time for the princesses to appear.

The balcony that overlooked the courtyard that wasn’t that far up, was rigged to the brim with microphones that had been installed earlier that day by all the news networks and media. There were also big film cameras that had been setup on the upper walkways that surrounded the courtyard, which aimed up at the balcony. With them, there were a plethora of photographers ready to capture whatever might happen.

Ever since the war began, the press had ramped up their work with documenting the public ongoings of Celestia and any event held at the Canterlot Castle.

While Luna also was under view of the lens, she had a lot more leeway with denying and permitting who and what could document her given her role was entirely military focus.

As the celebration started winding down as word spread that the princesses were about to come out, Sparkle and Mythic found themselves near the edge of the crowd. There had been an open spot there from them to stand that hopefully allowed them a good view of at least Luna, while having a good view of everypony else in the crowd.

Finally, after standing for an hour since being permitted into the courtyard, a member of the Royal Guard appeared on the balcony above and spoke into one of the microphones from the mess of them that lined it.

“Ladies and gentle colts, please let me gather your attention at this time!” The guard's voice was heard throughout the courtyard as it beamed from the speakers the microphone was wired up to, which caused the courtyard to quickly hush into silence, “I am Captain Pommel of the Canterlot Royal Sun Guard. It is with great pleasure to have you all gathered here tonight for the New Year Celebration. As always, it is never under the circumstances that we wish it could happen, but nonetheless we push on and will continue to hold it every year regardless of the circumstances.” There was then a quick moment where the captain caught his breath before continuing, “But now I would like to extend my hoof and invite all of you in welcoming not only Princess Celestia, but also Princess Luna tonight!”

And with that, the captain stepped back from the microphone and moved out of the way from the door that was directly behind him so Celestia could step forward.

Celestia came out from somewhere behind him, likely waiting for her cue from the captain to do so. In the time between the captain going quiet and Celestia stepping forward, the crowd riled up into cheers and hollers as they saw Celestia, but they only grew louder as Luna also stepped forward a second behind her.

Following the emotion of the crowd, Sparkle and Mythic both raised their drinks in celebration but stayed quiet. A few of the ponies around them had only celebrated when they saw Celestia, but they had come out in full yells themselves for Luna.

Sparkle and Mythic knew Luna was going to be here, but they couldn’t mention that to anycreature as it was classified information up until she made her appearance. Because of the nature of their work, before and after being assigned to the investigation, they kept quiet about most, if not all of their work. That was just the reality of working within SMILE or in military intelligence.

For nearly a full minute Celestia and Luna both waved at the crowd below as the photographers snapped away pictures and the film cameras rolled away.

One of the things that Sparkle noticed right away, which any pony could, was Luna wore her military uniform with her crown and all ribbons and medals while Celestia only wore her crown and necklace, as she always did.

It was rare for Luna to be seen out of her officers uniform since the war began. As the years passed, the amount of medals and ribbons she wore grew, which were always awarded by the other generals.

Finally, it came time for the princesses to speak, which was prompted by a simple glow from Celestia’s horn as she lowered her hoof down, which gathered the attention of everypony. The crowd quieted down and with the attention of everypony at the celebration, Celestia began.

“My ponies of Canterlot and Equestria, it brings me great joy to see you here today, not just here at the castle, but here in the country! For the past three years we have been troubled by the events out west, but you have proceeded to carry on against all ill will brought against you and continue to hold close the values you have always believed in.

With the new year upon us within the next few minutes, I would like to come forth and announce the alliance that we will be establishing with Stalliongrad. Through the many months of work I have put in with Sinister Serov and the Red Army, officially, in the new year, they will come to our aid and help us reclaim our very homes!”

And with that, Celestia finished her opening statement. While previous years, Celestia dragged on with her opening statement for a bit longer, but given the announcement and news of this, the impact of it covered the lack of length.

There was a moment of silence from the crowd, even the guards, as they heard what was said, and then ever so slowly, amongst the ponies, they each came out in hollers and cheers once again.

The sound of the crowd exceeded their previous energy, with even some guards breaking rank and looking up at Princess Celestia in astonishment, but there was one thing that Sparkle noticed immediately. Luna.

Luna looked confused at the announcement, as if that hadn’t been expected.

While the crowd continued to cheer together, the two sisters above on the balcony gave each other a quick glance, Celestia giving Luna a reassuring smile while Luna looked as if she asked a question. Celestia seemed to ignore Luna before she turned back to the crowd.

As some of the cameras pointed back up at Celestia after the eruption from the crowd, Celestia raised a hoof again to calm everypony.

“And now for the second announcement,” Celestia motioned towards Luna with a hoof, which indicated for Luna to step forward, “My sister, Princess Luna, is here today to show her own love for you, the ponies of Equestria. It has been two years since she was last able to attend with me up here, so please, show your excitement and love for her!” And with that, Celestia stepped out of the way, making way for Luna to take her spot at the podium with all the microphones.

The entire crowd ended up cheering just as loud for Luna once she stepped forward, which Luna let marinate for a few seconds as well before she also raised a hoof to quiet them down.

It took Luna a few good seconds before she was able to process what Celestia just thrust onto her. While there were some planned aspects of tonight that they had gone over before starting, this wasn’t one of them.

It had been some time since Luna had to speak before ponies in this capacity, but being a Princess herself AND a field marshal, thinking on the spot came easy for her, well at least Luna thought. She was still the lovable but introverted moon god she was.

Luna ended up giving her speech just fine, though it was heavily biased towards military speak and inspiration instead of a speech for the general population, but that didn’t stop the crowd from cheering once they finished up.

It was Luna’s speech that Sparkle really paid close attention to, though it provided nothing of value for the investigation, which showed on Sparkle’s and Mythic’s faces.

While the cheers of the crowd filled the courtyard, Sparkle looked around at them to see how they were acting.

As expected, most of them were just shouting and cheering, holding smiles and bumping into each other with excitement. But that was when Sparkle noticed a pony within the crowd looking away from his direction before they disappeared behind a pegasus with flared out wings.

With a single click in his head, Sparkle scanned the crowd yet again until he saw a pony up towards the front of the crowd looking at him, who also turned their attention away immediately.

And with that, the ethereal feeling of having multiple eyes focused on him directly became apparent to him, which caused the hair on his back to raise up.

With his newfound ability, Sparkle took one last sweep of the crowd, which resulted in success as his eyes landed on yet another pony, this time a different one that was around the same spot as the first. Following the pattern, this third one also ended up looking away just as Sparkle spotted him.

All three ponies Sparkle spotted all looked away naturally, as if they were also just passing eyes with one another by chance, but what made it weird was Sparkle didn’t notice any of the other ponies within the crowd looking at him, or trying to look around as those three had.

A shiver ran up Sparkle’s back as he felt the lingering of eyes on him from throughout the crowd, but just as quickly as his ability was found, it was lost and he wasn’t able to spot any other pony looking at him.

Sparkle tried his hardest, scanning the crowd for any new onlookers, but proceeded to fail as the crowd calmed down yet again and began looking back up at the balcony above as Celestia stepped forward with a hoof raised, gathering their attention.

Once Celestia began speaking, Sparkle gave Mythic a nudge to get his attention.

“We’re being watched,” Mythic whispered to Sparkle before turning his attention to him.

This was a surprise to Sparkle when he heard that, but he held the same face and whispered back, “Who’d you see?”

“Earth pony, brown fur, pink satchel.”

“Where?”

“Near the entrance.”

Sparkle looked out towards the entrance, giving the crowd another glance over before looking up at Celestia as she began speaking up, who paused for effect, and then continued as a few cheers began up. Sparkle then looked at Luna, who stood back from the microphones and stood there stoically with her sister.

There was no reaction or worry from Luna as the two below seemed to have realized they’ve learned they’ve been spotted.

Sparkle ended up nudging Mythic again as both their attentions had been drawn up to the balcony, “Just keep looking out for them, I’ll watch Luna and Celestia.”

For the rest of the speeches that Celelstia gave, and the few that Luna gave along with her, there didn’t seem to be any other sighting of anypony watching Sparkle and Mythic. That turned out to be more worrisome than seeing somepony watching them.

There wasn’t much that Sparkle and Mythic could do about whoever was watching them, though they had a pretty clear idea on who it might be. While none of the ponies that either saw were anypony they recognized, given that they were there investigating Luna and her brigade, they were certain it was the Black Stripes.

None of them made any moves against Sparkle or Mythic while they were at the celebration though, at least none that the two were able to notice, even all the way until the near end of the year.

Finally, it came time.

There was only one minute left now until the new year.

Celestia and Luna had finished with their speeches at this point and just stood on the balcony watching out towards the open skies behind the courtyard. Everypony had also turned around and looked up at the sky as a quiet countdown was spreading throughout the crowd.

While there were still a few ponies who looked up at the princesses and some that spoke with each other, the majority watched and waited for the new year fireworks to begin.

Sparkle and Mythic stood with one another, facing towards the open skies with everypony else, though Sparkle was keeping an eye out for anypony that was watching them.

Ever since the first sighting of the ones watching them, neither Sparkle or Mythic were able to spot them again. They also never saw anything weird with Luna that indicated anything of note, so at this point, while they waited for their speeches after the fireworks to begin, they just stood there ready to enjoy the next few minutes.

And then it was here, the crowd upped their voices as the countdown reached ten.

“Nine!”

“Eight!”

“Seven!”

“Six!”

“FIVE!”

“FOUR!”

“THREE!”

“TWO!”

“OOOONEEE!”

And the crowd of ponies threw out cheers, some of them dragging out their ones as the first firework shot up into the sky and exploded into a bright sun shaped symbol, before the thundering pound of poppers started exploding in succession from one another in the same area.

A big spectacle of lights blew up in the sky, pounding away at the air which vibrated the ground and everything nearby as they sounded away at the new year.

In the midst of the entire show, while most eyes were off of the princesses, they spoke with one another.

“Luna, please go change out of your uniform now. We need some photos without you in it. After our final speeches and some photos, I will need to prepare for my trip to Novo. It will be a very quick ten minutes.”

“Already? I thought we would have a bit more time.”

“You can stay around for the after party, I’m sure the ponies would greatly appreciate seeing you, especially the media.”

Luna’s attention was drawn to the fireworks again as a moon shaped firework exploded into sparkles, “Should there be anything I talk specifically about?”

Celestia shook her head, “No. I trust whatever you say will be sufficient for them. Though, you might get bombarded with questions about Stalliongrad, so just answer to the best of your abilities, or direct them to the royal guard. They will make more announcements regarding it once the talks are finished.”

“What if they ask about the situation with Aris or the Herzland wars?”

“Have you been following those situations like you should?”

Luna was a bit hesitant to answer, “No…”

Celestia cracked a smile, “Then redirect those questions to one of my assistants that is staying behind.”

Luna gave a nod, just in time as two fireworks exploded into the blue and white circle that tried its best to resemble the Equestrian flag.

“Now quickly sister, go get out of that uniform!” Celesetia gave Luna a small nudge to send her on the way back inside so she could remove the outfit.

The small interaction happened under the watchful eye of Sparkle, who then turned his attention back to the fireworks before any of the undercover Black Stripes saw him doing so, though he doubted he escaped their eyes anyways.

Author's Note

I struggled to write this chapter since the previous one. I wrote the chapter after this one before even starting this one, so that's why there was a big gap between the previous chapter and this one.