"What's the... 'Shadow Party'?" Redheart asked from behind a newspaper. To her massive discomfort, all eyes slowly turned towards her in a moment of equal, cruel humor amongst the group.
"What?? I don't get into politics!" She lamely defended herself. Not that she truly felt she had to, as Princess Celestia's strong rule meant that political parties were little more than advisors of different interests.
Both Lighthouse and Crimson Star appeared ready to answer the question, but to their surprise, it was Skinny who replied, in the same dominant tone that came so easily to him as of late:
"The Shadow Party is a political faction within Celestia's government which supposedly represents the rights and concerns of Equestria's less popular night owl citizens. Thestrals, Diamond Dogs, Centaurs, Chimeras..."
Nurse Redheart, ever concerned for the welfare of fellow ponies, narrowed her eyes. "Supposedly?"
"It is something of an open secret in Canterlot that the Shadow Party is also an advanced criminal organization dedicated to the memory of Nightmare Moon. The highest echelon of their membership is entirely composed of the descendants of Nightmare's original guards, all of whom privately claim to have been chosen by her in their dreams, to prepare Equestria for her glorious return."
Redheart's jaw dropped. She stuffed the paper away into her bag and leaned closer, her voice lowering into an instinctively conspiratorial tone. "But that's not possible! Princess Celestia would know about this!"
Lighthouse snorted from the corner. "'Course she knows about this, but what's she gonna do? Get rid of the Shadow Party and you give every bat out there an excuse to team up and wage war against the throne. They're already antsy! Nopony gives them respect, all the important things happen during daytime, they can't suck on others' blood anymore... and Luna's changed."
"The Shadow Party keeps them docile, to a degree." Skinny carried on, in the same supercilious manner. "It's their only legal guarantee that Celestia listens to what they have to say. Tampering with a powerful symbol like that could very well push things over into civil war. They'll see it as an attempt to subvert their standing in pony society even further. And before you ask, no, they have no qualms over their leaders' love for Nightmare Moon. Many still consider her to be something of an underappreciated heroine in those circles, because she never harmed her little ponies. So you see, the only alternative to the Shadow Party is to bring the night society as a whole to heel. Which would truly let everyone know who is running the show, wouldn't it, Shaggy?"
The black bat shrugged sheepishly, clearly hoping that attention would be taken off of him much like Redheart before him. He was no less unfortunate.
"Crimson Star here happens to know an awful lot about the Shadow Party, seeing as how his mother is chairman of the board and currently Princess Celestia's fiercest critic in Canterlot."
"Hey" Lighthouse barked at Skinny, baring her exceptionally developed canine teeth. "Why don't you leave him alone? He's got nothing to do with that."
Skinny rolled his eyes. "Don't be naive. How long has been in Ponyville now? Long before I got there, I know that."
Redheart looked towards Crimson, who was digging his chin into his chest tuft and trying to hide his face behind his wings. She knew Skinny wasn't lying. The thestral guard had been in the hospital for many months due to a severe wing injury.
"In fact, out of idle curiosity, I asked around and some ponies seemed to recall a clumsy little bat flying about on a particular Summer Sun Celebration. The one in which Nightmare Moon almost returned, if not for the bravery of the Elements of Harmony..."
Applejack, who had seemingly been ignoring the conversation until then, huffed. "That true?"
At this point, Crimson Star's face had become very true to the first half of his name. "Yes." He finally admitted. "My mother did send me there, in case... in case it happened. But I never believed her. I wasn't going to join! When Nightmare Moon appeared, I was as shocked as everypony else. I could see her looking right at me. The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital. I must have fainted and fallen into a tree."
"It's okay." Red cooed, rubbing her hoof against Crimson's wing to comfort him. "I believe you." She turned towards Skinny, a defiant glare shining through her blue eyes. "And I refuse to believe that Princess Celestia would condone the actions of criminals, no matter what political mumbo-jumbo she was up against. She protects and loves us, and if the night ponies can't behave, well then, too bad for night ponies!"
"Ah gotta agree with miss marshmallow o'er there." Applejack grunted, still lying on Skinny's lap. "The Princess plays by her rules. She ain't gonna bend just 'cause some fuzzy ne'er-do-wells got themselves wound up."
"Well, you could be right." Skinny shrugged. "Or perhaps, you're even more right than you realize."
Lighthouse scowled something fierce. "Now, what's that supposed to mean? Don't give us this cryptic nonsense. If you have something to say, say it!"
So he did. "If the Shadow Party is capable of operating outside of the law, then it's more than likely that so is Princess Celestia. Everything you said is true. Celestia is far too enwrapped in cotton candy and friendship to allow any of her little ponies to suffer injustice. But she is an alicorn, capable of feats that most ponies can't even conceive of. I'm sure she's perfectly capable of eking out punishments to the real troublemakers whilst avoiding detection. Thus keeping the truly innocent night-timers oblivious. After all, it's not as if criminals are going to complain."
"But what about Princess Luna? I mean, if they know that Nightmare Moon isn't coming back and she is their rightful leader..." Redheart began, but Crimson cut her off.
"My mother believes that the story about Luna is a lie that Princess Celestia tells us to keep us weak. 'Drugged' is the word she used, actually. She thinks that Luna never existed until the Elements of Harmony defeated Nightmare Moon, and that Celestia brainwashed her to retain her own power."
"Horse-apples!" Applejack spat.
Redheart sighed. "Well, if she does, then probably other ponies do too. It's sad."
"It's not all horrible." Lighthouse said. "Ever since she came back, Princess Luna has worked harder than anypony I've ever seen, trying to get the more stubborn thestrals to change their ways, to see the merits of friendship between night and day."
"And how's that working out?" Skinny asked in an irritatingly cynical tone.
Lighthouse did not accept the bait. "Well, she's got ponies like me and Crimson in the Night Guard. She managed to carry through a law preventing thestrals from sucking the blood of harmless creatures. A law which, I guarantee ya, would've had them howling for Celestia's blood. She's made personal friendships with countless bat families ranging from here to Las Pegasus. Luna's a godmother to about 350 little foals right now, all because she's that desperate to get the next generation onboard with her. Why do you think she misses so many big events? It ain't cause she's napping in a hammock! Celestia deals with the here and now... Luna's the longterm thinker. And as much as I love running wild, anypony with half a brain can tell that there's gonna be a time when they won't remember what's it like to be afraid of the dark. That'll be thanks to Luna."
Left without the answer he'd wanted, Skinny resigned himself to petting Applejack. After all, as any pony would say, petting was what he was best at.
"How do you know all about this, anyway?" Lighthouse queried, the hyooman's peculiarly in-depth understanding of Equestrian politics not having escaped her attention.
"Oh... Twilight is a very good teacher?"