Changeling Day Story Notes · 10:50pm Jul 26th, 2018
Well here we are again. I wrote a thing. It's probably not the thing you wanted. But according to my records, I have been working on this story in some capacity since 2015. That's like 3 years.
I like changelings. I was kinda upset that they had to go and get reformed (it required a technicality to be added to this story), but as with most of the reformed villains in the show, I love how they reformed them. Though the changelings of the hive kinda turned into a bunch of wimps, they still seem to have their roots in their love-sucking past. Mostly I think they resent it, they want to leave the past where it belongs, and perhaps they're a little overzealous to be peace-loving and friendly and all that.
I also liked that with Thorax, they basically confirmed all my changeling headcanon (mostly). :D
Anyway, I digress. Spoilers below!
Firstly, as I mentioned, this story was conceived before the changelings were reformed, so the original intention of Changeling Day was to end changeling paranoia (basically everyone in Canterlot suspects that everyone else is a changeling), but also to open diplomacy with them, sort of an olive branch.
Of course, I lost that bit of the story, which didn't really affect the overall plot, or much of anything.
The very beginning of the story was actually the very last thing to get written. As I wrote the end, I thought it would make a great beginning. Initially I had gone through several drafts with Blue Blossom in her apartment getting prepared to go out, only to go out and not see any changelings. I settled on a minimalist approach for a setup to introduce the situation.
The entryways of the apartment building, though not really described much in the story, are based on the blue entryway of a three flat I lived in a long time ago. The room is only about 6' x 4', having the glass entry door on one side, and two doors on the other, one for stairs up, and the other for stairs down to the basement.
My building did have a mirrored counterpart next door, but the front steps were on opposite sides.
I have on occassion been in Blue's situation, of not getting buzzed in to an apartment building, and awkwardly waiting for a resident to come or go, and let me in.
You might notice, any time Autumn starts crying, it's in response to something Blue is feeling, regarding Autumn.
I tried to be similarly clever with Autumn's dialogue, she says things here and there that have layered meanings.
I like to think that all changelings have/had an innate fear of being undisguised in view of ponies. Which the show kind of confirmed with Ocellus initially always taking different disguises.
The little 'twist' near the end was an idea I came up with relatively late. I figure, it's a thing that would be a thing, when you have shapeshifters around.
Well I hope you enjoyed the story! Thanks for reading.
