Finally! Just... finally.

I don't think this will show up as any other notification, so I'm sending a blog post to update everyone. It's taken way, way too long, but I've finally rewritten the first chapter (really the first two chapters) of Filly Fluttershy: Uprising. In some aspects, the revamped chapter is quite a bit different from the original version, and those of you who recently read or reread the chapter will definitely notice a difference. I will try to outline the major differences in this post before any of you get to reading it. As for the original version, it's... hidden. Rather than immediately deleting it, I'm maintaining a copy of it for the time being.

-Did anyone realize before me that Applejack's "slice of the pie" remark in Chapter 2 was an accidental pun?
When I first published the first chapters of Filly Fluttershy, I had only been on Fimfiction for a few months. Since this is the first fan community I've ever actually participated in, let alone written fanfiction for, it should come as no surprise that my early work would be unpolished. It also doesn't help that I didn't have an editor or prereader. Over the months that followed, I had managed to write about two-thirds of this story. Having written this adaptation/crossover and having played the game it's based on, I assure you that the story gets better as you go further in, and I would like to believe that my writing has gotten better over time (even though I still don't have an editor or prereader).

In fact, it's because I believe that my writing has improved that I want to go back to the early chapters in the first place. Whenever this story gets updated and shows up on the front page, those first chapters are what every prospective reader reads, and I worry that they'll judge the story poorly because of it. Frankly, I've gone back and read the early chapters from time to time while working on the more recent ones, and believe me, a rewrite is something I've wanted to do for a very long time. The whole point of the rewrite has basically been to bring the first chapters to the same standards for prose and narration as the later ones. Because of that, the rewritten version is now much longer than the original (9,648 words vs. 6,050).

Additionally, those of you who've played Kid Icarus: Uprising will notice that much of the dialogue in the early chapters is heavily adapted from the game. That... was a mistake. Going back to those chapters, I've noticed that many of the lines don't match the personality, temperament, or even the diction of the character speaking, even with the added alterations I'd made to Fluttershy's lines in the original version (because Fluttershy is clearly not Pit). So in addition to the improvements I've made to the prose and narration, I also redid much of the dialogue for the characters, even adding a lot of original lines.

I do have to note that because this rewrite was done to improve the prose and character dialogue, the plot itself was largely unaffected. Really, the only scene in these two chapters that plays out differently is the Cerberus encounter at the end of Chapter 1. If you remember, the original version had Fluttershy pacifying Cerberus and then going apeshit on him with the First Blade. I felt I needed to change that because Fluttershy's behavior just comes out of fucking nowhere in that scene. However, I'm also concerned that the newer version clashes with the lighthearted, more comical tone of the first few chapters, so feedback on the Cerberus scene- particularly whether you prefer the old or the new version- would really be appreciated.

Fuck it. Just fuck it.
Another major change I've made to the first two chapters was to take out all of the in-text links to the game's music tracks. While I've been on the fence about doing that for a while, the main reason I did it was because a lot of the links simply don't work anymore. You see, I've generally relied on a Youtube channel called BrawlBRSTMS for about 60% of the tracks. That's because they have 30 minute versions of a ton of video game tracks. Their stuff is high quality and loops seamlessly, which is great for the land battle, character, and boss themes. Unfortunately, their account tends to gets terminated a lot due to copyright complaints. That means I have to go back into each chapter and change every single link, and that's something I really don't want to have to do.

Incidentally, those of you who've had this story favorited for a while know that I also had a bunch of links to Divinipedia for all the enemy monsters and all the weapons Fluttershy would use in each chapter. The whole point of that was to allow readers to pull up another tab if they wanted to get a good look at a new enemy or weapon in that chapter. I actually got rid of those links months ago, partly because it seems like a pace breaker for the readers, and partly because it seemed ridiculous for me to have a dozen or so Youtube and wiki links in the text of every single chapter.

But back on the subject of the Youtube links, another reason I'm removing them is because I don't really get a lot of feedback about them. Actually, I've hardly gotten any feedback about them. Now if I knew that some of you actually do listen to the game's soundtrack while reading the chapters and do like having the links embedded in the text, I'd be more than happy to keep the music links in. In fact, getting feedback from all of you about the story, whether it's something you like or something you had a problem with, is one of the things I've enjoyed most about writing this story, and I've usually been eager to engage fans and followers in the comments section. But after 15 months and 17 (really 18) chapters, I've gotten the impression that it doesn't matter that much to most of you whether or not the music links are there.

Finally, I all but eliminated the mock loading screens in the first two chapters, something that I might just carry over into future chapters and revisions. Now the air battle, land battle, and boss encounters are separated by a simple scene transition, without whatever quip or comment I tended to add to them. If they're that worthwhile, I'll probably move them to the Author's Notes instead.

-And now, (hopefully) back to work
Two things are certain after finishing the Chapter1/Chapter2 revamp. One, I really want to get back to work on The Lightning Chariot, in addition to rewriting Heads of the Hewdraw. And two, taking five whole months to get out a chapter, let alone a chapter rewrite, it just dismal for me. I really need to pick up the pace here. I mean, I don't have to worry about Nintendo releasing a sequel to Uprising before I'm done with this. FiM reaching its series finale before I finish this story... now that's a concern.