Robust societal changeling integration without yellow stars · 10:03pm Dec 5th, 2015
There are a number of fics that explore the consequences of integrating friendly changelings into Equestrian society en masse. One of the obvious problems is that of unrestricted disguises and the ever-present possibility that creates that anyone might be, or have been, a changeling, meaning that anyone now has a (theoretically) plausible alibi ("It was a changeling taking my shape, I swear!"), even other changelings. Bad as allowing arbitrary accused criminals to escape justice is, it would be still worse to simply disregard that defense entirely, since that would then allow any changeling to send anyone they wanted to jail.
Some fics solve this problem (at least in part) by having "changeling lamps" put above various public buildings and along streets at intervals to reveal any changeling within their light. Aside from the cost of implementing this solution, there's also the problem that a number of perfectly reasonable things to have productive changeling members of society do can get messed up by these, things like being an actor standin to deal with fans, a performer in their own right, or simply a citizen who won't be discriminated against in public.
Others solve this by requiring all legal changelings to wear a special hoofband at all times that's enchanted to be undisguisable. This is arguably even worse as far as discrimination goes, and is nastily reminiscent of a number of discriminatory measures in history.
But here's an idea I have not seen, or rather a set of related ideas. Every legal changeling can register one (or more) legal identities, and receive ID paperwork for them which they can present as normal... without, in most cases, having to reveal that they are a changeling. They also have ID for their changeling self with a list of registered identities. They must all wear a hoofband … but this one will detect if they're in one of their registered disguises and if so, conceal itself. To guard against hostile infiltration, the lamp solution can be retained as well (perhaps mostly around the borders or the edges of cities), as long as the hoofbands have a magic marker that instructs the lamps not to strip off the disguise. (This would not be an immunity to disguise-stripping spells, however.) This system preserves civil liberty and protects against frivolous alibis and framing both.
Not sure I'll ever be able to work this into a fic, but it's food for thought.