//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two 
// Story: Finding My Light 
// by RuneSeek 
//------------------------------//

He only waited,  hearing the clopping sounds of the hooves on the crystal floor before picking up the book and reading the spell.  It was a light spell with illusions mixed with some needed steps and things to get the setup.  Musing,  the male drake rubbed his chin in looking over the whole layout with a smile of the details.  The unicorn had changed a lot in the generations and such steps nowadays might even be seen as primitive to some magic users.

Yet,  this type of magic step by step and detail was all a Twilight and much as a thought in musing,  a Starlight Glimmer thing as well.  Spike only read the book,  biting his inner left cheek in the memorizing of the words and rolled his shoulders in the thoughts spinning for the spell work.

"I hope Pinkie Pie does a huge thank you to Star for this one."  He thought,  eyeing the sunlight and timing and holding onto the ruby in his claws, "She is really going all out to for this thing...."

That was his worry hidden in his mind as his thoughts slipped by in the moment to churn.  Seeing Starlight lose her magic like that had been a bit of his surprise in keeping it hidden in just brushing it off and easing her to take a break.  Hades,  by now he was a Pro at after living and dealing with Twilight for so long!

Which was the point,   Starlight had been pushing herself so hard and it seemed to lose her magic in random moments like the glass just moments ago.  Looking around, he had a bit of conversation with Twilight Sparkle a few days ago about his concerns for his newest friend and castle mate in this room looking back.

"Twilight,  I'm worried a little about Starlight.  She may look like she's all fine and calm and happy,  but I think some things are going on under the hood to the speech of."  Spike had lightly cornered his friend and sister figure in the library.

Shaking her lavender shaded mane,  the princess only smiled in thinking of what books to pack for her trip as the glow of her magic softly pulled them from the shelves,"  I know your worry Spike but Starlight can handle these things.  Yes, I know this is a big change in her life and it might have shaken her up a little. She just needs a little time to get used to things and the new idea of friendships in her life."

"Yah and also the fear of not living up to your trust and being your student and also holding up also to having these new friends and those fears all at once.  Than also finding herself living in a huge castle in a town she's never been too and having to make new friends and learn those lessons."  Spike dry tone was crispy in his green eyes narrowing and crossing his arms with a known deadpan look.

Nail on the head much?

Twilight looked at Spike with a bit of a strange mix of shock he just used that tone on her and a bit of knowledge he was growing up at his own pace.  "Ok Spike,  I'll talk to her when I get back from the Empire."

Turning to roll his eyes and hunk his shoulders as his alicorn went back to her book list in a hum.  Sometimes even as a Princess of Friendship,  she missed the obsessive points in life still which had not changed even when coming to Ponyville.  You would think having gone through these same things in life in being a student of a Princess of the Sun and learning these lessons and etc such as Glimmer.  Twilight would have a better grasp of what the other mare was going through all the more.

"Some lessons still needed to be learned even if you are a princess now Twi..."Spike muttered,  walking away to start dinner for the mares and him.

Shaking from the memories of the past days,  he only recalled some other things in narrowing his eyes when it came to his friend's problem that seemed to be growing in small steps of the loss of her magic.

Starlight Glimmer off the had been the first pony to expect Spike as a full-on drake in his eating habits.  Such as his guilty pleasure of eating fish now and then.    Whenever he ate the fish,  he did it not around Twilight given she felt uneasy in seeing her friend act on his predatory instincts even if it was cooked.   

Did he feel guilty for having those urges in being what he was?  Yes.

Spike was a dragon and dragons hunted and ate meat in a wild setting.   He covered those urgers in fish which overall was better for the growing youth.   It had been one summer evening in the kitchen that Spike was browning up some trout he had bought for himself when Starlight had walked into the kitchen.   Seeing the pony,  him cooking the flesh of a once living thing had brought on the guilt in mutters of sorry and he could wait.

"You know,  you might add some Italian dressing a bit to get some nice spice of flavor Spike.   My grandmother cooked it for me like that,  but I also like some good salmon  when I can get some."  Glimmer had smiled,  taking the scents with a smile.

Jaw nearly hitting the floor of this little bit of info made his mind reel in the grasp, "You eat fish and you're a pony!"

She had laughed.  One of those true gut laughs that was checking in seeing the drake's reaction all the more,  "Yes its a bit of the shock to find a pony in all of Equestria who will part take of fish huh?  I might have been raised in Canterlot,  but my summers were spent with my grandmother Twinkle-star who lived in the Emerald Isles."

"So the Star in your name comes from her?"

Smiling all the more, his sharp mind snapping in place was always a pleasure to her,  "Yep,  her talent was healing magic and herd lore.  She got trained in the Old Ways by her parents but learn a lot of magic in Canterlot at the College, which is where she met the husband in a class.  My grandfather passed away after my mother was born and my grandmother chooses to raise her back in the Isles till she could also come to  Canterlot and well,  met my dad and that's the sum of that.  My mother never forgot her roots and would when I got old a nuff,  sent me to spend my summers with my Grandmother Twinkle.  She taught so much Spike...."

Smiling,  seeing the tears of happiness and missing,  he only padded her shoulder,  "So then how do you eat fish or come to eating fish?"

Pausing,  she blinked at him still in her memories to explain. "Many of Isles are very rough and wild and not the best for growing crops minus a few hardy ones.   So the ponies there live what can catch out of the sea like fish to supply their diet.   It's normal for them to eat fish and things they caught.   Some of the bigger Isles,  they can grow crops and transport them for trade but storms make rough and the winters harsh.  Many a pony think its nuts to live in such places but it's also magical in the Old ways and wild!"

Flipping over his meal,   he grinned having learned something new about his castle-mate in thinking, "You want to join me for dinner Starlight?"

"Oh yes! I've missed some good fish cooking!   Next time I'll cook for dinner!"

He smiled in the memory all the more in his need to help his friend in some way or the other!  Placing the fire ruby in the window at the time the spell called for to capture the light of the setting sun.   Gentle warmth filled his face as Celestia let the sun slip so the moon of her younger sister would grace the sky and paint the night in stars a glow.

Spike put the diamond in the place for the time for the moonlight and took to finding a good book to wait.  Finding a book of tales from the Emerald Isle's Glimmer had pointed out,  the drake fell into his favorite beat up chair and flickered open the book as soon sleep took the young dragon to Luna's release of good dreams for the night.