Shower me with compliments.

Yeah, that little fic that could is growing up right before my eyes. When I published it, I assumed that it wou, at the end of the day, be one of my least popular fics. Instead, it's one of my most popular and definitely my most successful. Pony Fiction Vault feature, quite a few reading on Youtube, my highest rated story on this site. It's all rather shocking to get these things from a simple little story by this little sack of adorableness.

Was it a fic with flaws? Sure, but all fics have those. The ending was a bit anticlimactic, but at the same time that was the point. The real life event it was inspired by was anticlimactic itself—a bunch of paranoia and tension built up by fears that, in the end, turned out to be nothing to get worried over. I mean, I guess I could expand on the ending, but that'd be going against Apple Bloom's final line in the story—and the point of the story in general.

"It's fine just the way it is."

So, yeah, I know not many people care when a fic's birthday is, but at the same time, The Mill is special. My biggest success and the story on this site closest to my heart. So, thanks to all y'all who enjoyed! It truly does mean a lot to me.

Not-actually-that-'fun' Fun Fact: The Mill went mostly unnoticed when it was first released; the views didn't spike until after it snuck into the featured bar then skyrocketed to the top slot. And it wouldn't have even made the featured box had Chromosome not deleted his sequel to White Box (which was in the top slot at the time it was deleted).

Now that my ego stoking is out of the way, let's get to more current matters.

Chapter 13 of NAWWAL should be out by the end of this weekend at the latest, so all those digging its grave should throw away the shovels 'cause it's coming soon.

Chapter 4 of Reconstruction Site (really chapter 5, but since the "interlude" wasn't really a numbered chapter... bleh, I'm calling it chapter 4) should also be typed by the end of this week (not sure how long editing will take). I hit a few speed bumps in the first scene of the chapter, not because of writer's block but simply because it was honestly making me a bit depressed writing it, but now that I'm passed that it's going pretty good (tip: if you write an emotional scene, immediately follow it up with a Pinkie Pie scene. It'll turn that frown upside down real quick).

And, as always, I do have several unwritten and unexplored ideas waiting in the bowels of my google docs that might just rear their ugly head. I hope you like Applejack, because hatpony ideas have been flooding my head recently.