The Foreword is finally back up. Sorry for the delay. XP

The Good: Ch. 2 is in final proofing and Ch. 3 is in the works. The redone foreward of Railroad Builder should be up by Friday or later.

The Bad: Forever,re's still gone. I'll probably just post Ch. 2 without him, but it feels empty since he's been part of the team for so long.

The Sh*t: My day went from okay to shit in 5 seconds and now I'm worried as f*ck over my Final Exams. I'm scared that I won't be able to become a senior and get into the Naval Academy and accomplish my dream and all that sh*t yada yada yada.

DAMMIT FOREV WHERE U AT?!

I think it's about time I explained some things. Forgive me if I don't answer everything you guys are wondering. I'm not omniscient. Please leave any burning specific questions in the comments.

The first thing on my list is why I chose to rewrite Clockwork again. Despite what many of you say (the story was fine! you didn't need to delete everything! etc), the story was majorly flawed in some areas.

Area 1: Characterization. I began writing this story with the intent NOT to have my characters (Clockwork especially) become Mary Sues. Unfortunately, Clocky was that from the start. He was the 3rd smartest pony in Equestria, made a shape shifting wing, bonded with it, and used it to kill an enemy twice his size (minimum) all within 72 hours. Also, he became a member of what is basically the Equestrian equivalent of SEAL Team 6 in about a week without any prior training, managing to help take back 2 major cities in record time. He also pulled a Tony Stark not 5 inches from a giant scorpion's face. He learned how to use a gun and modified within 48 hours (while in the Royal Sister's personal hospital room) & became best friends with the ditagonist of the fic in less than a chapter. Lastly, even when I explicitly stated that our hero's special talent is steam and gear machinery, he has displayed profession in strategy, combat, and translation. He also has suffered relatively little in the way of PTSD despite the messed up stuff he's seen. Did I mention this kid is only 16 (pony equivalent anyway) and has yet to finish his junior year in high school?

TL;DR: Clock was the exact thing I didn't want him to be from the very start.

Area 2: Pacing. The war starts 8 chapters in, and the next 30 something involved only a few major battles with little information on the rest of the war, not to mention the time skips. Things were jumpy and hard to follow.

Area 3: Realism. I know, a FANFICTION ABOUT BRIGHTLY COLORED ENGLISH SPEAKING EQUINES FIGHTING A STEAMPUNK WAR is hardly realistic. However, I wanted to try to make it as believable a war as it could be. I seriously failed at that. I wanted to portray the hell that war is, but I ended up glorifying it (which is okay to A VERY SMALL EXTENT) and making the war seem like a massive adventure with the only concern being the amount of Redshirts available to both sides. In fact, I think the most genuinely war-esque thing I wrote in V2 was Clockwork's first contact with Tearcloud during the Zebrican campaign.

Area 4: Focus. I picked the genre tags knowing what I wanted but failed to live up to them. V2 was an alternate universe adventure with tiny flakes of romance to help justify the tag. I focused more on action sequences and fighting instead of the events that occurred before and after the violence. I once read that War is 98% boredom & 2% pure hell. My war was 70% fighting, 20% dialogue, 5% glory & 5% romance.

Now that that's done. I'd like to say a few last things in no real order.

No matter what you guys say about how V2 was better, I was effectively blind until a few users (ones that hold some serious value to me) pointed the sh*t out amongst the gleaming fool's gold sculpture of Rambo Bambi I had created.

I will not stop writing V3 until it is done. You should all take some comfort in the fact that I will not make a V4 of this.

I won't re-upload former chapters because they are very likely to be modified in the near future.

I couldn't keep the former chapters up and simply redo everything from there, as there is no way to notify everyone that I redid something unless I blog about every update. Let's face it, not all of my followers read my blog.

I could not write "better chapters" as V2 progressed because it would seem strange. Wouldn't it be odd if an actor died in the middle of filming and was just replaced by better actor rather than redoing said character's scenes? I didn't want to change the story's quality mid-way.

I could not leave the old version up and simply post the rewritten version as a separate story. That's the equivalent of posting the same story twice, which is against site rules. The last thing I need right now is an angry mod breathing down my neck.

The original storyline will be changed, but not ridiculously so. I can't say more than that due to spoilers, but Clockwork won't become a girl or meet Long Shot during some other battle. Things will be different, but not unfamiliar.

I am not trying to force readers to like my new story. If did, I'm no better than George Lucas and the Blu-Ray version of Episode 6.

Lastly, thanks a bunch to everyone out there that has put up with my bullshit. You guys could've unfollowed me and left at any time you wanted, but you chose not to.

So that's it for me. Thanks for reading and being patient. If Forevermore will ever reply to any of the PMs I sent him in the near future, Ch. 2 should be our very soon.

Carniferous gloria, gloria imperium.

-Guy

For Journal of a Railroad builder, I mean.

Don't worry, this isn't going to be some ridiculously long hiatus with the entire structure of the story redone. I'm just goona rewrite the opening chapter a bit to be more informative and whatnot.

I've got it all figured out.

I'm totally serious now.

Why I write stories, I mean.

Do you guys know what the word "escapism" means?

That's probably why. I have a great and loving family that puts up with my shit, a good house, clean water, a nice house, and a warm bed. I've watched every episode of MLP:FiM at least 3 times over now.

Yet I somehow still feel angry, sad, or indifferent to the world at the end of the day. I guess I started writing Clockwork because I wanted to get away from it all, to live a different life, to hide.

Not sure what to do at this point, or when the first redone chapter will be out. I have a feeling it may never release. If that's the case, I'll post what was supposed to happen in a massive "making of" chapter if that's even allowed anymore.

I get ahead of myself way to quckily (as if that wasn't already obvious).

I will stay on FimFiction, though posting chapters will be slow. Mark my words though, Clockwork will be finished, in all its glory and all its horror.

I still put academics first though, so don't expect me to post chapters on days like the SAT or ACT test days.

I may or may not take up drawing ponies again. I've been weaning myself off video games lately, so I might as well do something that isn't Starcraft 2, SWTOR, or Minecraft (Xbox Edition), which are pretty much the only 2 games that I still actively play (only on weekends).

Last thing is a sort of question. Should I change my username to the ponified version of me (Voyager)? or should I  just leave my name of semi-anonymity as is?

If you have any questions about anything FimFiction related, pleas elet me know in the comments.

I shall be present for as long as neccessary,

perhaps in the shadows, perhaps in the spotlight,

but I will be present.

Sort of.

Its come to my recent attention that if I am to accomplish my goals in life, I must make major life changes.

These things include video games (to an extent, still keeping SWTOR, Starcraft, Minecraft, & the Mass Effect trilogy), large portions of the internet (this site, GITP, tumblr, etc), and other things. I intend to focus more on school, playing Bass, and increasing physical attributes to military standards.

I will delete my account some time soon, though I can't tell for sure as of this blog's writing. The same goes for my tumblr and maybe my deviantART. It is a shame, really. I still haven't read My Little Dashie, the ballad and legend of Echo, or many of the other stories this site has buried within its data. When I do plan to delete my internet life, I will post the pieces of Clockwork that I never got around to writing.

I'm going to join the Navy, get my pilot's license, join cross country/track & field, and eventually leave this planet.

However, I will never forget the good times ponies let me have. The bronies, the friendship, and the memories.

Thanks. /)

-Max

No, this is not an April Fools thing.

I think it's safe to say that I'm probably in the top 10 most conflicted authors on this site.

On 1 hoof, I'm currently trying to rewrite a story about magical talking ponies that go to war. On the other, I (try) write stories about magical talking ponies.

Eh, I'm someone who thinks about stuff in the long run. 1 day, whatever I write will fade into the dusty corners of this site. Yet, I feel like I want to write it, no matter how ridiculous it seems. Then again, whenever I sit down to write, the inspiration leaves my brain for some far off place. Not only that, but the stories I've focused on for a while now are highly unlikely to ever take place in the actual universe. Yes, I know that this is fanfiction, but something just irks me when my story (or stories) don't measure up to the canon of the show.

*shrug*

I'm gonna lay low for a while. Focus on real life. I'll write if I have the time and motivation to do so. I'm not leaving the site for some time, but I can't help but feel that I already have.

Eh, we had a good ride though, right?

...right?

I just realized that I've been a member of this site for a full year + 23 days. Yay? S:/

Anyhoo, I've been thinking, pondering, wondering, etc. Specifically, about Clockwork and any other stories I might write afterwards.

See, writing's a hobby, and the only pressure I have to write is the worries I place on myself to make sure that I satisfy the general public's (that's you) desire to read about a semi-crippled genius stallion who has his innocence torn away from him thanks to what is essentially WWI in a steampunk Equestria. Yet, I need to be satisfied with the story before anyone else, and shouldn't worry what you guys think about it as long as I like it, right?

Guh, I can't word today (thanks a bunch, Glitch Mob). I'll get to my last point. I'm debating in my head whether or not to focus solely on writing Clockwork and then leave this site, or try to write more then just 1 story, no matter how large. I have 1 other idea (based in the Equestria Divided world) in my head that I really like, but the storyline's not totally figured out yet.

Bro...

Yeah yeah.

So...thanks for reading through my gibberish.

Cheers. /)