//------------------------------//
// Chapter Two: Into the Unknown 
// Story: My Little Pony: Rise of the Elements 
// by Featherdust418 
//------------------------------//

The time had finally come. Twilight spent the last two days preparing for this moment. She read, studied, calculated her provisions, and bolstered her spells as much as she could in what limited time was available to her. She even made a spy outfit to sneak out after the guards in.  It was black as night and nearly covered her entire body, up to the base of her neck. She also had a white hoofkerchief tied around her head and a large eye patch.

'Ok, Twilight. You got this. All you have to do is go up there, take a look around, find that place Shiny was talking about two nights ago, and get back before anyone notices you're gone! Simple! Aaand... I'm talking to myself. I- I'm gonna stop now.' 
The lavender mare took a deep breath, stretching out her hoof as she tried to relax. The little exercise was taught to her by Cadance, and it worked wonders to help Twilight keep calm when she was stressed out or under pressure. She knew the cause of her speaking to herself was the cause of a mix of emotions, mainly nervousness and excitement. Nervous at the thought of getting caught during her little excursion, and excited at the prospect of seeing something new outside of the cave where she had been forced to stay her entire life. In fact, one could say (if such a word were to exist) that she was quite "nervousited" about the entire situation that was about to come to fruition before her. Or at least she hoped strongly that it would.

After getting dressed into her outfit and filling a saddlebag with her necessities, which included: Food, water, and "saddlebag-sized" edition books on any information having to do with "The World Above", she decided it was time to move out. The guards would be gathering soon to get ready for the raid, and she needed to be ready or she would miss her chance. She exited her small cavernous den and moved out of her room, and as she walked down the hallway and approached the doorway to the kitchen she heard a familiar humming sound. 

'Oh Spike, always such a happy little guy! I'm so glad t- SPIKE!' 

As she thought his name quite loudly she squeaked a bit, nearly saying it out loud. In that moment, smiling as his happy little tune reached her ears, she had forgotten that the baby dragon could not know of her plans. If he found out he would do anything to stop her, including warning Shining Armor and his guards of what she intended to do.

'Well, I could use my invisibility spell... no no no! That spell is very straining and I can only keep it up a short time. I have to use it to get past the guards.' 
She decided to use a muffling spell, allowing her to sneak past unheard at least. Hiding around the corner of the entryway to the kitchen, she cast the spell upon herself. A soft flash illuminated the area briefly, and she squeezed her eyes shut as she waited for Spike to come and investigate. After a few minutes of not hearing any questioning, she opened her eyes and resumed her focus. Had she been doing so earlier she would have realized that Spike was humming the entire time, completely unaware of any spell casting taking place or lights flashing. Twilight giddily trotted in place, closing her eyes again but this time out of excitement rather than fear of being caught. No sound was emitted from the excessive trotting of her hooves, and this pleased her immensely. She took a deep breath and focused again.

Coming out from behind the wall, she slank along the floor as she quickly tried to make it across unnoticed. Although her hoofsteps couldn't be heard, she could still be seen and wanted to be cautious in case he turned around. Which is exactly what ended up happening. About a third of the way across, Spike turned around about halfway and caught site of the mare, dressed in a ninja-pirate outfit and slinking around. The two locked eyes for a minute, then the baby dragon began to speak.

"Uh, Twilight? Wha... what are you doing? And why are you dressed as... a ninja pirate?" 

He gave Twilight a quizzical look as his eyes darted from her suit to her headband to her eye patch. Twilight, although starting to grow nervous, suddenly gave him a deadpan look. Ninja-pirate!? It was so obvious her outfit screamed "Spy!" Ah, how naive Spike was in his adolescence.

"Oh Spike, please. Obviously this is a, a..." Before she finished her sentence, a plan formed in her mind.
"Ninja-pirate costume! Oh wow Spike, you nailed that on the head! How did you know, you clever little dragon you! Ah-ha! W-well you see, I'm wearing this cause, I-I'm going to a costume party! Yeah! Can't believe I almost forgot about it! well I don't want to be late, So I better get going. Don't worry about me and dinner, I'll be fine. See ya Spike, I'll be back later o-"

"Twilight? Who's party is this?" the small dragon interrupted. He didn't mean to be rude, but something seemed off about what she was telling him. It wasn't like her to forget things like this, on top of the fact that she wasn't the most social or outgoing pony so something like this would be very out of place for her, to him at least.
"A new... friend?" Twilight lied, growing nervous again.
Spike gave her a peculiar look, eyeing her with a small frown. "New friend, huh? Ok... so what's her name?"

"H-her name? Oh it's-" She then glanced all around the small kitchen, and began to put a couple of words together from objects she took notice of. "Sugar Spoon! Oh yup, that's my new friend! Well I better go before I'm late! By-"

"Twilight, Wait! You mean to tell me that you just happened to make a new friend out of the blue? When did you even meet this friend?" 

Spike knew something was up. Her story was coming from nowhere, and she kept herself holed up in her little den ninety nine point nine percent of the time. How could she possibly have met a new pony? She didn't even have an interest in making friends!

"Geez Spike, you sure ask a lot of questions! I'm not a little filly, and you're not my parent. I can leave when I want to!" Twilight snapped, and then her gaze soften as she saw the hurt in the baby dragon's eyes. "Spike... I-I'm sorry. I just, I'm just a bit on edge cause I really don't want to be late. Please... you just have to trust me. I know you can do that, right?" 

While she was speaking she had gotten up and walked over to the baby dragon, pulling him into a gentle hug. He sighed, then looking up at her he replied,

"Twilight... I know you. You're super smart. And, although you don't do it often I know that when you want something you tend to make up these crazy plans to try and get what you want. Remember when you tried sneaking into the castle's basement to get at the latest shipment of moonberry juice?" 
Twilight paused, remembering that day. She had actually attempted to drill down from the outside to try and break through to the castle basement. And she had nearly been successful too, had it not been for her popping out right in front of the drink cooler's door... an the guard keeping watch. Spike began to chuckle, with her following, and they both broke out into a fit of laughter. Finally, Twilight was able to calm down enough to give him a response.

"Oh Spike, t-that was a long time ago! Come on, I'm a lot better now! I've learned from that mistake and it won't happen again." 
Spike shook his head and sighed again. "Maybe so, and maybe your plans have gotten better. However I know this is one of those moments. Twilight, please be honest with me... in fact, how about a deal? You tell me what's really going on, and I promise I won't tell anypony ever. Dragon's Oath. So, there... is no Sugar Spoon, is there?"
Now it was Twilight's turn to sigh as she closed her eyes. He gave her a Dragon's Oath, which he insisted was a promise among dragons you kept unless you wanted something very bad to happen to you. Although very little was known about dragons, he always said deep down he could feel it in his dragon blood and bones that it was a very real thing, and he would never, ever betray an oath he had made... at least not a Dragon's Oath. Finally, Twilight gave in.

"Alright Spike... y-you win. No, there is no Sugar Spoon, at least none that I have met. The truth is... well, the truth is I'm going up! I'm going to sneak out and see The World Above! I just want to see that area Shiny was talking about, that's it I promise! I won't be long. And now you can't tell anyone. Just wait for me to come home, I'll be in and out before the guards get back!" 

Spike stared at her with wide eyes, the shock clearly evident on his face. He then shook his head and replied,
"Twilight... I- I want to stop you. I can't now, but at the very least I want to go with you! Please, please don't go by yourself. What if something happens to you? At least then if anything happens maybe one of us could get help. I just... We barely know anything about what's really up there. And if something happened to you, I would blame myself for not being there. Please take me? Please..." 
He stared up at her with big, sad eyes, on the verge of tears. Twilight stared back down at him, this time she being the one in shock. This was not at all what she expected. Millions of possibilities raced through her mind, tugging on each side at whether or not she should allow the baby dragon to accompany her on her mission. Finally she smiled at him, deepening the hug that they had never let go of.

"Spike. If you really want to come with me, then yes you can come. I'm sure that nothing bad will happen, and this will make it all the more exciting too! I'll be able to discuss what we've seen with you! It'll be our own little secret", she said as she winked at him.
He grinned back at her, although part of his grin was due to being nervous.
"O... kay! G-great! So, uh, I guess I should pack a few thi-"

"No need, I have everything here! Let's get going, the sooner the better!"

Spike gulped, but bravely climbed up on the purple mare's back. In an instant the two were out of the house, heading for the barracks where the squadron would be gathering. After sneaking through the back alleyways to avoid any possible ponies that might be out at the late hour, they finally arrived. The two hid behind a few large crates, and they strained to listen to what Shining Armor was saying to the small troop.

"Alright, listen up! You know the drill- get up there, gather whatever provisions you can find, stay within the safety of the shield, and be back ASAP! Understood!?"
With a resolved and resounding "Yes sir!", They began to trot toward the small opening leading them to The World Above.

"Ok Spike, now's our chance! Whatever you do, don't make ANY sound! Actually..." 

Before Spike even had a chance to respond, she cast the muffling spell over herself as well as Spike. Spike began to protest, although it was useless as no sound came out. He stopped and glared at her, arms folded. Twilight merely responded with a hoof to her mouth, shushing him without the 'shhh' sound. He then rolled his eyes, and the two very carefully and very silently followed the guards. She wanted to get as close as possible before using the invisibility spell- the less time with it being active the better.

After sneaking and pausing behind several crates and boulders, they watched Shining Armor cast a spell on part of a cavern wall. Suddenly, a set of stairs revealed themselves, leading up to what appeared to be a trap door. Twilight and Spike stared in awe, watching as the guards made their way up and out of the doorway. Twilight shook her head, realizing that if she didn't act now the spell would cease and she would miss her chance up those stairs. Quickly, she cast the invisibility spell, and the now silent, unseen duo zoomed up the slowly disappearing staircase. The two squeezed their eyes shut as they popped up out of the trapdoor, and landing on the packed dirt, they opened their eyes and looked around. Immediately, both jaws dropped. Looking up was a massive, red ceiling, taller than anything she had imagined when reading books about The World Above. 

'That must be the sky', Twilight thought to herself. It's deep red color was beautiful, yet foreboding. It was almost as if it was welcoming them, yet at the same time warning them. It seemed to say, 

Welcome... And beware the unknown. The unknown of The World Above.