Antares had told Twilight her gender once she was sure of her safety. She had also become quite the bookworm, telling Twilight that many starponies simply told stories by mouth and not by script. She did relent on the fact that it may be quite a biased way of recording history, and had begun editing one of Luna's starguides to mark out which starponies were the best at what.
"Scorpius starponies like me are alchemists," she had explained, "working with the elements to create new stars and to destroy the old ones. We follow the Word of Stella by replacing the dim stars with brighter ones, in order to maintain the Balance."
"Destroy the old stars? Like, kill them?"
"Nothing so barbaric," Antares shook her head. "No, when an old star is beginning to burn out, they release all of their energy at once, going supernova. It can be catastrophic at close range, but they often leave their constellations before they do so no harm comes to any other star. After they supernova, they are... dropped, in a way, out of the astral plain. They may survive for a short while in their weakened state, gray husks of what they once were, but when whatever material form they have left disintegrates their spirits merge with that of the Flow of Life, and they are born again as mortals."
"The Flow of Life? The Word of Stella? The Balance? I don't understand. What do these mean?" Twilight questioned.
Luna stepped in, taking a seat beside Twilight to watch Antares continue with labeling the chart. "The Balance and the Flow of Life are what enable magic in Equestria," she began. "Think of it like a spiderweb over the world; when one tendril breaks, another must replace it. That is the Balance. The Sun, Moon and the stars are what keep that web in place. The stars are... connections between the lines of web, and the Sun and Moon are their anchors. If the Sun and Moon do not move, areas where magic is used a lot, like Canterlot, would soon deplete that area of magic and at section of web would break. With one section gone, the others are unable to stabilize, and the rest of the web begins to dissolve.
"That was why Nightmare Moon's eternal night was so dangerous," Luna continued, her voice hardening. "Without the rotation of the web, the Flow would soon be disrupted. The magic would leech from the earth and air whenever it was used, instead of the web being able to replenish itself over the low-use areas. It was not solely the lack of sun that would kill crops, but the fact that the magical qualities of the earth ponies were drained. The weather was cold and dry, because the pegasi were unable to manipulate the clouds or fly as well as they used to. Unicorns tried to replace them, but their access magic only tore the web worse. It was a terrible time."
Twilight nodded. "And the Word of Stella?"
"Stella was one of the first of my subjects. She was an earth pony, about your age, and she had grown up in my care. When Nightmare Moon took hold of me, she sought out the Elements of Harmony for Celestia, as my sister was greatly weakened by the shift in the Balance. The Elements work on a web of their own, separate from the Balance, and that was what defeated the Nightmare; she drew her strength from the damaged web, while Celestia drew hers from an intact source. When the only solution left was banishment, Stella was distraught. She had grown up under my protection, and so she told Celestia it was her turn to protect me.
"Celestia aided her in her wish; she shifted the Balance to allow room for four more stars. Stella allowed her mortal form to be destroyed, and her spirit to be broken into four pieces. Her greatest strengths became my four guardians. Her courage, her bravery, her knowledge, and her love. Each became a separate star, but her being was lost in the process. Her sacrifice empowered Celestia's spell. Though I was banished, I could no longer feel hunger, thirst or physical pain. She saved me from losing what I had left of myself.
"Celestia later found a list in Stella's notes, while she was preparing to accept you into her care. It was a code of conduct of sorts, to help the stars better understand their duties. Many of the stars from my time had gone, and some of the new ones of your time had not been fully taught. Celestia projected herself to each of the constellations, sharing Stella's knowledge and hopes for peace, and ultimately brought back the Balance that had been destroyed from the deaths of stars when Nightmare Moon halted them. The unified power of those stars allowed your magical fluctuation to happen on the day of your entrance exam, along with the Sonic Rainboom and the other events that coincided with it. It restored the magic of Equestria to a stronger past state. Ever since, the Word of Stella has guided the starponies in order to maintain the Balance and to keep the starponies in line while I was unable to care for them."
"Wow," Twilght whispered. "...What happened to Stella's stars when you were released?"
Luna's mane tossed, flashing purple and red as the stars inside it burned. She calmed quickly, her voice betraying her hurt. "The Nightmare destroyed her. She was forced to go supernova. She is nothing but a memory, now."
"But you just said the stars return as ponies, didn't you?"
"I have searched long and hard for any ponies who carry her aura, but I haven't found her. I am lucky, as a Princess, that people enjoy me being interested in their children. But I fear that splitting her soul has caused her to be gone forever, and that is a burden I must carry."
"The one bore my energy before me once said that the starponies may not take mortal form if they feel a task is unfinished," Antares added in the following silence. "Perhaps she feels she still needs to watch over you, and you just can't see her yet."
Luna nodded, looking calmer. "Yes. Now, Twilight, I need you to study those charts and see what else you can find in the libraries about starponies. I'll be sending you a quiz scroll later, to see how much you know."
"Of course." Twilight started packing up her things, rolling up Antares's chart and setting it down between her wings.
"Don't disappoint me."
-----
"When Celestia said you were a quick learner, she wasn't kidding." Luna levitated the papers in front of her, checking over each one. "I don't think you got anything wrong."
"I stayed up as long as I could so that I could memorize all of their names and appearances!" Twilight smiled weakly, bags sagging under her eyes.
"You realize you still have a week before Antares can even start working on her wing strength, right?"
Twilight nodded quickly, stumbling as it unbalanced her. "I just wanted to make sure I knew everything."
"Well," Luna said, putting the papers back into a neat pile. "You've gotten pretty close. You can have the rest of today off. Meet me in the gardens at dawn, and I'll begin training you to project."