Talk:Shadow Play - Part 2/@comment-31850890-20180402154522/@comment-29981995-20180703205911

The Legends of Magic comics actually address this concept quite a bit. Star Swirl was Celestia and Luna's teacher and was great at magic, and those are the things he's remembered for-thus, history has recalled him in a positive light. However, he kept the existence of the other Pillars-and apparently even the Pony of Shadows-hidden from Celestia and Luna because he figured the Pillars would be a temporary setup and that Celestia and Luna would take over Equestria's defense. As a result, the history of the Pillars and the Pony of Shadows weren't properly preserved, resulting in them coming to be seen as figures of legend whose existence is doubted.

To be fair, back in season three it was indicated that Star Swirl didn't understand friendship, hence his creating a spell that messed up everybody's cutie marks and destinies. Yes, he was a jerk to Twilight, but that's because she messed up his big act of self-sacrifice in sealing away the Pony of Shadows. Wisdom and insight also aren't necessarily results of inidivuals accquiring power through experience and practice-see pretty much any dark magic user character ever.