At the End Commentary: Chapter 8 · 5:02am Sep 14th, 2012
This entry contains spoilers for its corresponding chapter of At the End. Be warned...
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You should notice by now one thing about the Crafter-orientated chapters: they only have a single word for a title. While not intentional at first, I liked the idea and kept it up for Chapter 5 and now Chapter 8. It seed to fit in with the Crafer's own personality traits quite well. Even if he understood what the ponies were saying, he still does not speak. But still, he is a deep and thoughtful creature, carefully analyzing what is around him in great detail. Take, for instance, the waterfall in the Everfree Forest. Here's how Lightning Chaser thought of it:
Fifty yards ahead was the source of the thunderous noise: a large waterfall from a raised clifftop that was divided by a large boulder. The first path drained into a cave complex to her right and vanished into the darkness below. The second split to the left and turned into a river that snaked through the massive trees, disappearing into the forest.
Okay, now here's how the Crafter thought of it:
A waterfall, one far larger than any I had ever seen before, dumped hundreds of gallons of water every minute across an outcropping of granite. But it was not just the sight of it that set my mind in awe and my heart aflutter, it was the sound. It was great and tumultuous, a loud, all-consuming roar that deafened me to any other distraction or impulse. No event in the Overworld, or even anything I had seen up to that point in time, came anywhere close to matching the glory and splendor of that moment. I was enchanted at first sight.
I walked to the riverbank’s edge, almost slipping on the moist rocks in the process. The crashing water split into two paths, one in the deeper depths of the earth and the other snaked its way into the forest. The river started with a rapids that sprayed a fine layer of mist into the air and onto my face.
I simply stood on the stones, letting the roar wash over me. I watched the water turn into tiny droplets of liquid. I watched the cascade produce a vast swath of foam as it crashed into the riverbed. The water raced into the forest, the current looking like a thousand racing strands, each attempting to beat each other to the end of the line.
Notice the difference?
Of course, it was the first time the Crafter examined something in great detail that produced many richer sensations and emotions, but how he described it was important. Despite his ignorance of the world we take for granted, he is not stupid. Unlucky, yes, but he is a philosophical and intelligent being.
Listing off what the Crafter carried was more for my own benefit than anything else, but it was still useful for him to go through his supplies. That way, I wouldn't sound contrite or pretentious if the Crafter pulls something out last minute. By listing of what he has, I've set in stone what he does and does not have, preventing me, if I ever feel the temptation, to pull out a dues ex machina.
Now I had to include the monsters; it is the Everfree Forest after all. Monsters own the forest. there is no getting around that. That's not to say the Crafter could not defend himself from the beasts, but I had to, under no circumstance, exclude them. My personal favorite was smacking the cockatrice in the face with a shovel. For some reason, that thought dug its way into my head and I needed to include it I just had to.
But any respectable Minecraft miner would eventually make his or her way underground. It's Minecraft; it will be your nature to dig, to embrace the dark and the quiet underground. I didn't have an exact time when he would go underground in my script, but with the Royal Guard swarming the skies and creatures hot on the Crafter's trail, this chapter seemed like a good enough time if any.
The torch was the turning point. In Minecraft, the darkness breads monsters like locus. When the Crafter decided to not leave a torch to mark his path, that was the first, true strategy he implemented to hide his trail. The Royal Guard is hunting him. He did commit a crime, but the unanswered questions surrounding the Nether Portal, including how it got there, create a fear in the minds of the ponies that start to override their sense of reason. Will he pay for his crime of hitting Lyra in the face? Maybe. I'm not there yet.
But the gemstones. Equestria is a miner's dream when it comes to raw ore. I'm going to implement the other ores, like iron and coal, later, but the gemstones are what would make any miner squeal in delight. Despite the likelihood for a player to go overboard with diamonds, I realized that's exactly what the miner would do in his set of circumstances. He's been pursued, attacked, and has been running scared ever since he got to Equestria. The very first thing he would do would be to construct full diamond armor and weapons. He'd be mad otherwise, and he's not there yet. With a concealed base of operations to work with, enough food to last him for a while and the skills to turn any landscape into a fortress, he'd batten down the hatches.
But of course if there is one thing you wanted me to talk about in this entry, it would be the monster. Due to me being in my third rewrite of Chapter 9, I included the Crafter meeting the pegasus and a few scenes in the next chapter to make a certain event in the future seem more believable. I can't go into more details than that without delving into massive spoilers. Obviously, something is very wrong with the Crafter's 'guest.' I have given two clue's as to the pony's identity, but you'll have to wait for the next chapter for confirmation.
But what did the pony want? Why did it frighten the Crafter and fly away as silently as it came? What pony could possible have that much hatred in his or her heart?
There is more than darkness down in the caves with the Crafter. In Chapter 9, a few questions will be answered, many more will be asked, we'll finally figure out where has Zecora been all this time, and one pony will tremble in terror at events to come.
Until next time...
Damn your to-epic-to-be-true post.
You've done well, impersonating our favorite Crafters mental reasoning, survival, adaptation and general combat eficiency. In minecraft, NO ONE goes guns blazing into anything new, more specifically if playing at HARDCORE which you know, ONLY ONE LIFE, and your done.
Exactly as our Steve sees everything.
Until now this is the most realistic interaction of minecraftxMLP i have EVER seen and i thank you for that, i read repeatedly the chapters only to read the reactions again and see that, thats exacly how it would happend in, those exact words in, that situation, IT IS LOGICAL AND PERFECT.
Thank you for taking your time to write such a good piece of work. It is....
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304369
I thank you very much for you kind words. I do receive it on occasion, but it's not often one praises my writing style, expecially since this is the second thing I've written, ever.
As a thank you, here's a few lines from the next chapter to whet your appetite.
304387
Five minutes ago
Drawdex>Well did a good comment on an awesome story's author post, i should check whats new in FimFic, *Clicks homepage*, what..*sees notification* a response so soon?
*Sees response* *Reads response half way*
>As a thank you, here's a few lines from the next chapter to whet your appetite.
*Reads the rest*
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Mind destroyed....
Writes response....
304387 Okay, now I'm curious as to who's speaking. The mysterious pony he saw? Herobrine? (If HB is even in this) Someone else?
Anyway, this is going to be awesome!
306686
I won't say who's speaking just yet. Military brats can figure it out, but I guess none read my story.
Ah, what the hell, here's another set of lines:
306695 Well, I know, nor was I expecting you to say. I was just musing aloud.
....Is it sad that the first thing that came to mind when I read that was 'A Cubs fan'?
771682
I dunno. Never heard of it.
771702 It was a joke at the expense of fans of the Chicago Cubs, a sports team. A rather bad one at that.