On a distant night, warm and starlit, the ponies of Ponyville took to their streets in droves, to revel in the colors and thrills of a Nightmare Night.

Candy was strewn across the streets as young colts and fillies flew from door to door in all manner of costumes. Stalls of games and competitions peppered the sidewalks, and gales of laughter rose up all around. Masks, everywhere, and not a single frown to be found.

And silently surveying it all from the wooded edge of Ponyville stood Princess Luna.

From Luna’s eyes, Ponyville seemed a mass of cool shadows, like great trees, silhouetted against the deep lavender sky. The town was lit with bright decorations, colorful strings of lights and lanterns, swimming in the night like congregations of fireflies, making merry with each other in the dark of the woods.

Grinning and contented, her mane floating on the breeze like a weightless veil, Luna watched the ponies at play. A pirate, a chicken, a scarecrow, nameless under their disguises.

Luna’s eyes flitted up to the pale full moon, hanging ghostly and smiling over the celebrating land. Suddenly, Luna was struck by a quiet wonder.

For this moment – for this one brief moment of their lives – they live in the moonlight, she thought. I play my part for the benefit of all Equestria.

Luna sighed and closed her eyes, the wind a cool comfort on her face.

She was glad she had come. It was good to become familiar with the land again, and the ponies of the land, after all the wasted years. Her behavior had needed some adjustments, of course, but that being done, Luna found Nightmare Night to be a marvelous time. But most of all, Luna was glad to have spent some time with Princess Celestia’s new student, Twilight Sparkle.

When Luna first set eyes on Twilight Sparkle, it had taken her a moment to identify the costume. And when she did, Luna felt something twist inside her, very deep in her core. The countless jingling sleigh-bells. The oversized stars and moons, cartoonishly plastered all over the hat and cloak – an image distorted by the unforgiving tide of years.

But Luna had tried her best to be kind. “Star Swirl the Bearded,” she had said. “Commendable costume. You… even got the bells right.”

Now, Princess Luna looked at Twilight from afar, watching her laugh with her friends, the bells adorning her hat and cloak jingling mindlessly. Luna saw how happy they all seemed. Blissful, careless happiness.

I wonder, Luna thought. I wonder how it might have been… if he’d known such times of carelessness. Or if the bitterness of life had waited, just a little longer, until he was grown and ready. I wonder…

Rapt, Luna hardly noticed Twilight’s approach until she was only a few hoof steps away.

“How’s it going, Princess Luna?” Twilight asked, waking Luna from her old dreams.

Luna smiled at Twilight. “I’m faring well, Twilight. But I’m afraid that the night grows late. Soon I must make my return to Canterlot.”

“Oh, please, stay just a little bit longer! You’ve been so much fun, and every pony has really taken a liking to you!”

“And I am pleased that they have,” said Luna. “But all the same, I must be off. Farewell, Twilight Sparkle. We shall meet again.”

Luna began walking out into the shadowed trees, the lights of Ponyville hovering in the night behind her.

“Wait – Princess Luna?”

The princess stopped and turned. “Yes, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight’s eyes were bright with the burning of a question. She spoke quickly. “I was just wondering,” she said, “about Star Swirl the Bearded. I’ve read nearly all of his work – as much as I can get my hooves on, at any rate – and based on the accounts I’ve read… you and Star Swirl the Bearded knew each other once.” Abruptly, Twilight dropped her gaze. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to pry, I know it was a long time ago, and I'm not even sure if history books that old have much truth in them.…”

Luna was gentle. “Yes, Twilight Sparkle. I knew him.”

Twilight looked back up, the question burning again. “You did!” she cried, breathless. “Wow – the very thought that you knew Star Swirl the Bearded! Princess Luna, I have to ask. What was he like?”

Princess Luna stared at Twilight. “What was he like?” she echoed.

That’s right, thought Luna, I knew him. I was one of the only ones to know him. One of the first. And now, one of the last. He’ll pass from living memory, soon enough. Only my sister and I are left, to bear him witness. Yes, I knew him. At least… I knew him as well as I could. As any pony could.

Twilight stood waiting, eyes wide. Princess Luna blinked, and smiled. Her voice was low and soothing, and somehow far away, softened in a mist.

“I shall tell you about Star Swirl, Twilight Sparkle,” said Luna. “He was gifted in the ways of magic. He was wise in a way that does not come from a book. And he was my friend. Perhaps I was his, as well…”

Luna realized that she was sad. How strange. There was no reason to be sad.

The sounds of Nightmare Night drew Luna’s attention back to Ponyville. Music played, and dancing hooves clattered in the street. Luna faced the town. She watched. She listened.

“Your friends will be waiting for you, Twilight Sparkle,” said Princess Luna. “Go to your friends. We must never forget our friends.”

With a somber, knowing smile and a mysterious gleam in her eye, Princess Luna turned and vanished into the shadows. Twilight Sparkle stood for a moment, staring into space after the princess. Finally she turned, and made the walk back to Ponyville, where joy and peace and balance filled the night.

And high above it all, suspended in space, a new light shone in the Celestial Tether. A white light, pure and bright and somehow satisfied, peering down from the deep beyond, down at the rivers and valleys and villages of Equestria.

Eventually, the world went to sleep. The stars held vigil, each one content, and each one certain of its place in the sky.

And for the briefest and most perfect of moments, balance reigned.

The End

Author's Note

A special thanks to Cerulean Voice, whose generous support and enthusiasm for this story resulted in a Las Pegasus Tribune feature and a Seattle's Angels Review.

And an enormous thank you to everyone out there who added this story to their favorites. Thanks, you guys - I'll always be grateful for your interest. You've made my time on this site an adventure I can be proud of.

It's been just short of a year since I posted the first chapter of The Tutelage of Star Swirl. I joined this site on the 28th of August, 2013, exclusively to write this story. And now, I get to type the words "The End." I admit, there were moments when I was convinced that those two words would never make it into my keyboard. But now, I finally caught up with them, and that's more than enough to make me happy.

Thanks for the read, my friends. See you around -

• Moose Mage