Hee hee...you really cannot write anything that isn't Spike/Rarity, hm? Not that I mind reading more stories in that vein from an author proven to be really good at it. Keep it up.

Sounds promising. And I'm a fan of a little sparity thrown in

Submit to Sparity please.

Nice start, looking forward to more!

>>849794849794

The Sparity fics she writes are awesome though! The best I've ever read on this site, it's like the author is the Sparity Queen or something.

This fic looks very promising.

I love it!

And my day is now complete. Great author, Sparity fan extraordinaire, writes another epic Sparity fic. Can't wait to bite into this. By the way when a story is unrelated to other stories but use the same characters their known as stand alones.

A man's mustache is his life. *pounds chest with fist and stares into the distance stoically*

Nervous Rarity sounds extremely cute.

I do love how Celestia was like "Screw your question! Come here! Save world!"

A Rarity centric Sparity fic is a nice change of pace, I like it.

Tracking.

>>850259850259 Hey what are you doing reading dont you have some storys to be working on?

I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOUR STORY I LOVE EVERTHING!

now I feel like pinkie pie

>>850509850509 Can't write clop with children in house and awake. Reading a everyone story though is still safe though. Anyways, I still have a duty as the contributor for the Sparity group to read everything Sparity!

>>850553850553 What? you have to read Sparity stuff? I hate you a bit I would love to have this as a job. You sir have made me a bit jelly.

>>850601850601 Well I'm not payed to do it, so job might be a bit strong of a word. But yes, ideally I have a responsibility to. One I'm shurkien on cause I'v still yet to read Of Laurels and Lace.

Wow what a great start to what will likely be another great story from you.

Can not what to see what happens next.

Keep up the great work andy can not wait until the next chapter is posted.

You have made my day! This was awesome!

I can't wait to see how this plays out!

Hmm, an epic Sparity? I'm all in!

Sparity? Good. Epic Sparity? Hell ya! Favoriting now.

But for some reason, this chapter reminds me of the metroid storyline, Metroid Zero, when samus gets a reply she didnt want and was forced to have the metroid dna put in her. I dunno why, but it feels like that.

Poor Rarity, the shit she has to do

Haha! I forgot you were on this site too! Now I don't have to worry about missing a moment more than after you post a chapter!

This is pretty good. I am digg'n it. When can we expect the second chapter?

Ok so I read "Nine Steps" a while back and my god was it fantastic. It was one of those things where you forget you're reading fanfiction, it felt like I was reading a written version of a future two part episode event. In other words, it was probably one of, if not the best, pieces of fan made literature I've ever read.

So know that you know that you'll understand this analogy.....

To me, you're one of my favorite bands on the Internet, and I just got the chance to listen to the first track off your new album.

I. AM. EXCITED. AS. HELL.

It's got a new sound. The first chapter is dipping its toes into a subject that's a bit more dark and mature from the "Nine Steps" sound. I can't wait to hear more.

Oh and sorry I shortened the title of your fiction down to "Nine Steps". Me and my friends call it this when we talk about how cute it was

I loved it~!! This is my first fic that I've read off fimfiction.net, and it was wonderful. Can't wait until your next update

nice start ^^-

Has quite the quality in it, which kinda surprises me. I guess I'm used to the average, kinda rushed quality beginnings to adventure stories. I look forward to the next update.

Almost seems like a misunderstanding on Celestia's part... but I have to admit. This is one interesting story right from the start. Chapter 1 combined with the summary grabs people's attention and want's them to know more, doubly so with this pesudo cliff-hanger ending.

Rarity is obviously the protagonist of this story, with the story being completely from her view point. The fact that she is so nervous around Spike is rather cute I think, though a bit uncertain. Wouldn't Rarity be the boldest when it comes to such affairs? ... Then again, a relationship with Spike is an iffy one... Still, her eye for detail is there, as shown with the last sentence about Opal. Also, I love how you remembered Peewee, good to see the bird appearing in stories!

Ooooh~ Shiny new story from the author of my favorite Spikity fic.

And it's off to a good start too. You always write Rarity well, and I like how her inner debate mirrors the conversation within the fandom about whether or not it's a valid/appropriate pairing. Just a few days ago I was making some of those same points for how Spike's age/maturity level isn't as cut-and-dry as it would be for one of the CMC or such.

before I read I just have to say this

I just realized I've read 2 out of 4 of your stories without even realizing it was the same author, and it seems all you write are spike and rarity fics....I might need to become friends with you lol.

LMAO REALLY?? I hope theres a hopedate to this soon, because I'm already interested.

Its amazing though, they call spike a baby dragon, yet he's more mature than the 6 mane mares of the story...hell he's more mature than most ponies in ponyville. if physical appearance is the problem, than all rarity needs to do is make spike greedy again and bam full grown spike. I honestly thing spike doesnt need to practice greed, but needs to maintain a balance. Because if spike doesnt practice greed, he may stay in that baby form forever, if greed is the way a dragon matures, than he has to practice, but he needs to learn restraint.

When can we expect the next chapter?

Ooh, excellent opening!

>>883683883683 No promises, but the next chapter is coming along nicely, and I hope to have it ready within a week.

In general with this story, I'll be posting new chapters every 1-2 weeks. I can't promise extreme consistency, however, since I'm "cheating" from working on my actual novels by writing fanfiction. When I need to concentrate on my novels, fanfiction takes a backseat for a few days. So while I can't promise exactly when each chapter will be delivered, I can promise that this story is planned out and will definitely be completed...just perhaps not quite as quickly as HTWYLINES was. Hopefully my readers will be patient with me! Trust me, I could toss up a chapter right now, but it wouldn't be of high quality at all. And with this being a Rarity-centric story, low-quality just won't cut it. "Going for perfection, here," and all that jazz.

>>891593891593 Of course, revising for quality, I completely understand that. Also, what is HTWYLINES?

>>891593891593 Oh, How to Woo Your Lady, nvm

Did you consider tying this in with "How to Woo" at all? Because I can definitely see this as a follow-up to that story.

>>892748892748 Nope. This story is its own thing. A "stand alone" piece, as I have been informed it to be called.

HTWYLINES won't have a real sequel. I don't plan on doing much beyond possibly a few one-shots as follow-ups to HTWYLINES, because I feel like that story is complete. Not everyone feels that way, but I do.

So this is a brand new story, unrelated to any of my other works. This time around, I wanted to explore Spike and Rarity's developing relationship from Rarity's side of things and also provide a true adventure for our little diva. So there will be a different feel to this story. Not super different, but a little bit different. I'm also finding it to be more challenging to write than HTWYLINES because of some of these differences. That unfortunately means it takes longer to perfect each chapter, but I'm hoping will also mean that this new story will be highly entertaining and interesting. I guess we'll all find out together.

I've always thought that spike was of some special breed of dragon. We've seen other dragons that were bigger than spike, but not nearly as obsessed with possessions. What I figure is spike's breed is very closely related to magic. Think about it: he's hatched from his egg by magic, he's able to do the teleporting paper thing, and both times he's giagantic he both grew and regressed in the blink of an eye. I always assumed that the second time his concience basicly said "if you're going to act like a dragon you'll be one as well"... I wonder if I'm over analyzing again.

wooooooooooooooooow this is soooooooo awesomeeeeeeee  as your other fics X3 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uh oh... Girls, you really should of kept your muzzle's out of things.

As now things have gone from bad to worse.

Oh mate you are evil for leaving it like that. Brilliant chapter. Keep up the good work.

What the-! I sense foul play here.

Enter the dragons, stage east!

It's never easy it is. I'm curious how Spike's role in all this will play out.

dern cliffhangers! I WANT MORE XD if you don't mind

Oh....I think I know what Rarity did to get the sea serpents so enamored with her...  Well played.  

That cliffhanger will only make the wait that much worse

This was awesome, as always! Can't wait to read more

>>921986921986

Really? It took you that long to figure it out? I've known it ever since it was mentioned that the Sea Serpents ONLY wanted her in Chapter 1 my dear Watson!

lol, So the dragon lover has to go to the land of dragon and sea serpants to stop a war.... lmao... I'm more interested in how the author will portray the two. Will we see the never ending portroyal of dragons as vicious beasts and monster, or will we see another culture that has been wrongfully portrayed by ponies simply because they don't understand the dragon culture and are too afraid to attempt relations.

Great chapter as well as the cliff hanger you put at the end of it. Can not wait to see what Spike will do next and how in sideway this will be connected to Rarity's assignment in starting the war as I have a feeling they will meet up in the future.

As always keep up the great work, and I can not wait to read the next chapter.

I found a few minor spelling mistakes while I was reading; I'll list them here so you can make changes.

incidences > incidents

up her ally > up her alley

Woo, more backstory for Spike! And Shining Armor being friendly; that's always nice. Faust knows we don't have nearly enough of either in canon.

... Ohhh. It's the sea serpents who asked for Rarity. Damn, that actually makes much more sense- her relationship with dragonkind is rather unique, sure, but how would any dragon authorities know about it?

And the conflict over the territory at the water's edge is connected to the destruction of the Bumblebee River bridge, I'm sure... nice foreshadowing there.

"Alright then." She regained her composure. "Then I expect you'll be selecting some guards to escort me – "

"Unfortunately, no," Princess Celestia interrupted again. "I wish I could, more than anything. But the sea serpents were very clear: only you."

Sheee-it.

art of negation > art of negotiation

... dammit, Sweetie Belle, have you learned nothing from being Gabby Gums!?

"No," Rarity said. Though it wouldn't matter if she did. I'll be gone by then.

The formatting here is confusing- is "No" italicized because Rarity is saying it especially stressfully, like the "wasn't" in "No it wasn't" earlier on? Or are the italics just carried over from the internal monologue that follows?

In the first case, I would adjust the wording so as to eliminate the italics from Rarity's thoughts- change it to "Not that it would matter if she did- the older unicorn would be gone by then." or something similar.

In the second case, I would simply remove the italics from the dialogue.

Sweetie Belle hugged her sister back. "Don't worry about me, Rarity. I'm a big filly. And you'll see, I'm going to prove to you just how mature and helpful I can be."

... Oh dear lord what is Sweetie planning.

"Cutie Mark Crusaders, Pony Trackers!"

Dammit.

Holy crap, shit just got real. And a cliffhanger! Damn.

>>928458928458 Thank you! I will fix those immediately. Serves me right for uploading after a night of barely any sleep. Good eyes!

Ouch. Why do I have the feeling this is going to hurt even worse than it already did in this chapter? Repeatedly?

One small thing: near the end, it says Rarity was "pouring through" her maps. Unless she was actually soaking them with some liquid, I believe that should be "poring over".

I will be disappointed if spike and rarity don't end up on this quest together.

Sweetie Belle... when will you ever learn...

Spike just can't catch a break.

And Sweetie never learns.

Which means escalation! Yay!

Now that I think about it, "I'm sending some guards to watch over you on your journey; they'll meet you on the far side of the Everfree freakin' Forest" is kind of a mixed message from Celestia, there. If the guards had met her in Ponyville, or even just inside the forest for secrecy's sake, this could all have been avoided... except that Rarity started walking long before they were supposed to arrive anyway, so they wouldn't have been there yet. In any case, I'll be watching the remainder of the forest sequence to see if there might have been a way to set up all the necessary plot points without resorting to the sort of thing the Trollestia interpretation is based on.

On the other hand, I'm loving Rarity's characterization. Her panicked dialogue felt almost as realistic as most of Brian Michael Bendis's dialogue, without resorting to sentence fragments (as he so often does) OR breaking character. Nicely done.

Also, to anyone reacting to the ending with "Sweetie never learns," ( >>10168741016874 >>10169891016989 ) consider this: Rarity got a full explanation for what the girls and Spike were doing in the forest from them, but she only explained her own presence to Spike, not to her sister. Sweetie was still faced with her sister walking alone into one of the most dangerous places she knows, and still didn't even know why she was going, let alone why she felt she had to do so alone and unprotected. If that were me, and my brother was the one determined to walk into Celestia-knows-what without so much as a safety helmet, I'd chase after him too! And I am useless in a fight.

OH!!! continue?

Oh, crap.

I have a feeling we'll be seeing more gargoyles very soon...

Spike:...AH GREAT!

Ugh, Sweetie Belle! >:(

Goddammit sweetie belle!

Well...This ain't getting any better anytime soon.

Dear lord! I can't get enough, this story is so perfect already!!!

A very interesting start, with a question I've sometimes asked myself.  I like that you write Rarity as having feelings for Spike, it not being entirely one-sided like so many others.

There's something quite charming about the way this is written.  I like it.  Easy, and even fun, to read.  I can already feel for both Rarity and Spike.  Their relationship is certainly a tricky one; I've stayed away from fics like this until now.  Glad I gave this one a try.  Great synopsis on EqD, by the way.  Sucked me in.

eagerly awaiting more.

Oh, SNAP!  What an ending!  Way to set up the story so nicely before slapping us across the face with dire conflict.  I can't see where this is going yet, which is always a good thing for fiction.

Your writing for Rarity is excellent.  I'm a little put off by the casual syntax of her inner thoughts, but I guess it makes sense.  She doesn't have to think properly, after all.  Her dialogue is always spot on, too.  Great job there.

When Rarity said "I'm not much of a soldier" at the beginning, I immediately thought of FiW.  "Not the trenches, anything but the trenches!"  

Hooked.

Isn't Shining Armor Princess Celestia's brother-in-law, not nephew-in-law??

I just.. I mean.. I dont even..

I all excited and stuff! This is gold!

Wish I wrote this good..

>>10554601055460

Cadence is Celestia's niece

Author miss direction or a headstrong filly who needs a spanking... hmm...

I do believe this deserves a brohoof. To the max.

Oooh, this is looking very hopeful. I like me some Spike/Rarity (even if, mostly, if I'm honest, as backlash against the whole "Spike rows up miserable and alone" cliche that perculated around the early fandom.) Excellent work, I am looking forward to the next chapter!

Okay, something does not add up for me.

Princess Celestia: *Princess* of the ponies. Lived for at least 1000 years. Turned a hideous creature into a stone figure, thus stopping horrible war. Took another pony and sent her to the moon. Status: not legendary.

Rarity: an overemotional drama queen fashionista. Once gave her tail to a certain equally overemotional sea serpent. Can produce sofas from thin air. Status: legendary.

Hah! who knew that giving a sea serpent your tail would get you drafted as an emmisary.

wait so there's soarin'dash and dislestia and twidash what's spike and rairty is it rike or spairty

But all I have to say is this is a awesome story and I just love love love it.

I already know. It is going to be a good story. Please continue.

Hrm, I wonder if the scrolls Twilight's translating have anything to do with this...

And yet... I can't help but wonder what a Pony/Dragon hybrid would look like...

Great adventure! You have me watching now, and I look forward to your next installment.

Getting caught in the woods because of noise.

OH SHIT

GOD DAMMIT SWEETIE BELLE You made a cliffhanger!

Sweetie Belle tailing Rarity who will likely now get tailed by Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Spike; while a few Royal Guards tail Rarity. Eventually Rarity will hear one hell of a surprise when Sweetie runs into two or four unsuspecting Royal Guards not expecting a filly. Either that or Sweetie is tailing the Guards.  

Question: did any your other stories occur before this one?, I.E. are they canon with this fanfiction?

Oops, made it through the whole fic so far without commenting.

I faved this story because of its interesting concept, how you're combining the shippyness I enjoy with something I had actually never thought about in this world (dragons/sea monsters) but make total sense to write about. I'll be eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

Wow-wow-wow! I didn't expect such a cliffhanger!!

Nice storytelling there. Just a bit convoluted (new elements are kinda feeling like detours rather than plot advancement), but really involving. Flustered/confused Rarity is coming out a bit Out Of Character to me, she tends to be a fair bit more ladylike when embarassed as well. Consider the first few scenes of Sweet and Elite or Secret of My Excess. Otherwise, lovely work!! Please more!

Last update: Aug 7

More please.

Yay an update. Brilliant chapter. Also I saw what you did there, well done. Keep up the good work.

Its Alive!!!

Also that Name!

Can't wait for more sir or mad'am

oh Gosh... and now the waiting... again... xDD

very nice chapter! can't wait for the next one

It's been so long...

I barely remember even favoriting this, it was so long ago Awesome to see you come back to this

I have only one thing to say:

Image: http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/22489608.jpg

That is all.  

An update? Funny, I had completely forgotten this story even existed for a while. I guess it pays off to have incomplete stories like this one in your favorites.

Man, been waiting for this update for a while now! It's good to see you haven't cancelled it. All the time you put aside to work on this in order to provide a quality product is appreciated.

Yes! The update on this fic was most unexpected! A part of my day has been made.

Also,

My name is Stef'an Ma'Ganette, Duke of Sea Serpentia

Steven Magnet.... I see what you did there....

And moreover, oh Sweetie Belle.... Whatever shall Rarity do with you?

Well, the secret mission isn't really a secret mission anymore... I look forwards to read the next chapter.

lol