This entry contains spoilers for its corresponding chapter of At the End. Be warned...

"Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him."

And the rest is history. Everyone on the planet knows the guy. He's Satan! 'But Journeyman!' you cry out, 'what does this have to do with At the End? Well, I'll tell you.

Things change, whether we want them to or not. Systems fold, gears realign, and we must change our vantage point in response. Sometimes lies are simply truths from another's point of view. Sometimes you must become a protector of what remains. Sometimes you must be an avenger of what was lost. Maybe this will sound familiar:

"Those mob fools want you gone so they can get back to the way things were. But I know the truth: there's no going back. You've changed things... forever. "

An event, as small as a spark or as grand as Ragnarok will cause waves. Change. That's what I want in At the End.

The central theme of my story is a loss of innocence. A fall from grace, if you will. When an event occurs and there is no possible means of recovering from it... well, you must grow and adapt. The arrival of the Crafter has set in forth a chain of events that will reshape not only Equestria, but its very soul. Grand things, terrible things are coming, and it will take every fiber of these pony's beings to face the wrath of fate.

Their lives won't be the same; it's as simple as that. Equestria is an Edenic land, one free from strife and pain. But the gears are moving, and not in the direction these ponies want. The Crafter has hurt ponies, a monster dwells in the souls of others to carry out its unknown deeds, and a creeper, a beast built for destruction, has found its way into the land of innocents. Alone, these are small things. Ponies can adapt, fight, and hope for the best, but what will they lose in the process? What will be sacrificed to return the balance of peace? Will that price be too high?

Innocence is not unique to the ponies, however. The Crafter, a peaceful soul whom only dwell within the confines of his own mind, is now thrust face first into a world filled with sentient, sapient life. How will he adapt? How will he survive?

Things change. That's what I want. I don't want this to be a story with a happy ending or a sad ending. I want an honest ending. Sometimes victory requires sacrifice. Sometimes pain galvanizes souls into glorious, radiant things. I want these ponies to not be the same when I am done with them. I want them to view events that they have witnessed and experienced and grow as characters.

Evolution. Losing one's innocence at the cost of knowledge and pain. That's what I want.

That is why the Cadance and Shining Armor lovemaking scene exists. As a husband and wife, love and sex is not an uncommon thing. Did it break up the tension and pacing? Yes, but stick with me for a moment; I'll get to that. Also, keep in mind, this is my first time I have ever seriously written ANYTHING, and is only the second written work I have ever produced. I hate English classes. Always have. I suck at English. I needed the couple's emotion in order to progress them as characters. After that, I could start their growth. Couples go through sad times and bad times; Cadance has panic attacks, for instance. Shining, white knight that he is, does everything he can to comfort and protect her. Love is what I needed, but there's a problem:

I suck at writing it. I needed to start somewhere, and lovemaking was my best bet. Not under any lecherous impulses on my part, I just struggle with making love between two individuals honest. Sex, as cheap and uninspired as it is, was my best starting point. Now I could have read other people's works and see how they did it, but that helps me only so much. That tells me how THEY can do it. How can I write it? Judging solely by what I have read, no one writes like I do. Thus, I had to make do with the tools I possessed.

Now for a little exposition. I originally had the lovemaking scene around chapter 8, give or take. But due to real life problems (family, sickness, school), I kept on having to shove it back chapter after chapter. Do you remember the scene where the Voice was speaking to the Endermen in Chapter 9? You remember the abrupt cut I made afterwards? Well, that's where one of the scenes was. I, however, ran out of time to write it and didn't have the time to make sure it fit the mood as well as I wanted. I had to boot it back again. Finally, I decided that I needed to get that scene out, and out now. I didn't want to, but there are scenes in the future that rely on the dynamics between Cadance and Shining. Was the sex itself important? No, but I needed the emotion the two had with each other. Sex was, however, the best way I could convey it. Despite what some of my fans my think, I do not believe I am that good of a writer. I'm a one trick pony (pardon the pun), and am restricted to certain emotions when writing scenes. I simply did not know any other way to convey the emotion I needed (at that particular moment) without the sex coming in somewhere.

With that scene out of the way, I could finally focus on their growth as characters. My other choice was to shove the scene back even further. While it would be a much smoother transition if I could make it work, tone wise, it would disrupt the series of events I have planned. I had to pick the lesser of the two evils. Yes, I know it clashed horribly with the creeper scene at the end of Chapter 10 and the entire behemoth chapter 9, but it had to be done. I didn't want to put it there and I don't like this chapter for having to put it there, but, for the greater good, it needed to be.

Now, for the creeper. I honestly don't have too much to say about it, save many of you need to play the game again. Think about my mythos so far. Think about what I have changed in MLP:FIM and minecraft. Now read the scene again.

You know how it got there. The question is, why was it there?

I can't answer that yet. And for those wondering what the Emperor is up to, don't worry; we haven't seen the last of it.