Silent Wings: one year later · 4:40pm May 19th, 2021
On the 19th of May 2020, I was getting burned out on My Little Pony fanfiction. I'd signed up for the Depth in Innocence contest, but didn't have any ideas for what to write. I'd been entertaining the notion of a fic where Gallus is deaf on r/mylittlepony, but I couldn't think of any direction for it. That all changed that night. While in an active conversation in the Discord server, two sentences popped into my head:
Silverstream hadn't always been deaf.
Gallus had always been deaf.
Straight away, I created a new story on Fimfiction to jot those words down. Originally, it was going to be a oneshot, until I realised that Gallus and Silverstream's perspectives could warrant their own chapters each, and then I decided to explore how their school lives would be different. Since these first two chapters together served to contrast the lives of the poor, lonely orphan and the rich girl surrounded by family, I decided to make it my Depth in Innocence entry. Originally, my idea was that Silverstream would use her privilege to help Gallus, but due to a combination of my plans changing and having to rush to get it finished by the deadline, I didn't convey that very well.
Silent Wings holds a special place in my heart for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it coincided with my emotions finally stabilising after almost a fortnight of taking antidepressants1 and finally gave me something to feel passionate about again. Secondly, it inspired me to make the roleswap contest when I realised that I might've written the first Student Six roleswap. Thirdly, and most importantly, it made me realise my direction as a writer. Before, I'd been too self-conscious to write canon characters in fear that I'd get their personalities wrong, instead relying on OCs or blank slates who I couldn't develop for the life of me or give an appropriate amount of focus. It was also the origin of some techniques that I still use, such as starting stories with a one-sentence hook and littering throwaway lines with worldbuilding and Noodle Incidents. Asking for proofreaders on Discord allowed me to form relationships with other authors that are still going strong.
If I had more time, I definitely would've written Silent Wings differently. The ending feels rushed, and that's mainly because I got stuck on writing chapter three for a while. I'd like to rewrite it one day, with more time spent at the School of Friendship, but I want to focus on Polaris and my YouTube channel for now.
