Part 1
—The chapter name, Arrival, is a reference to the Slenderman video game Slender: The Arrival, which was a partial inspiration for this story.
—While I love stories where Scootaloo is an orphan/raised by abusive parents and is adopted by Rainbow Dash, I wanted to give her parents for my story. Scootaloo's father, Zipline, and this chapter came from this picture.
—Originally, Rain Breeze (who is my character) was supposed to be an Earth pony, but I made her a unicorn to make my "background six (Ditzy Do, Time Turner, Lyra, Bon Bon, Rain Breeze and Zipline)" even: two Earth ponies, two unicorn and two pegasi.
—I liked the idea that Rain Breeze was a "helicopter worrywart parent" because it contrasted with the daredevil nature of her husband and daughter. I don't know where I got the idea for her to be a psychiatrist, but I liked it, so I kept it.
—The picture on Scootaloo's stand of her parents was done for me as a commission by a friend on deviantArt, EmR0304.
—I wanted to have a sniper character in my stories, and Zipline fit the bill well. I imagine Equestria being in the era of revolvers and bolt-action rifles, and are only using guns in a small part of the Guard. For the record, I have no idea how they pull the trigger, either.
—Flash gives a demonstration of his observation and deductive abilities. Phillip has taught him well.

Part 2
—"Besides," she added, slowly drawing her tail across his face, "We'll have some time to ourselves tomorrow when she's at school.": In the words of George Takei: "Oh, my."
—Scootaloo's a daddy's girl through and through.
—Realizing that I needed to give Zipline both a flaw and a fear for him to work through later in the story, I decided to give him a fear of heights and severe vertigo when he's high up.
—Zipline's sighting of the pony watching him is foreshadowing of future events.
—"Boom! Headshot!": reference to the popular "Boom, headshot" line used by FPS users.
—The raven cawing is something that is repeated throughout the story.
—Time Turner's long, multicolored scarf is a reference to the Fourth Doctor from the classic Doctor Who series, played by Tom Baker, known for his distinctive scarf.
—a soft tapping of wood: "While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping/as if of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door"
—The picture Zipline finds on his door is based off of the pages from the Slenderman game, Slender: The Eight Pages.
—The idea of Slenderpony twitching and flickering came from the Slenderman fan video, Fathom.

Part 3
—Phillip's first appearance in the story.
—There is another Slenderpony page in the corpse's mouth.
—The raven caws again, startling Phillip.
—"And why did this feel...familiar?": foreshadowing that this is not what it seems.
—It should be unusual and suspicious that the entire town is quiet and afraid.
—Flash is right to be open to any possibility, including the possibility that this is an elaborate hoax. This is also the first time I've had Twilight and Flash argue.

Part 4
—"Which is another way of saying he has no idea how he died.": I got that from a CSI episode. I don't remember what episode.
—Phillip's pyrophobia comes from myself: fire makes me extremely nervous, though I do not fear it at the same level as Phil.
—In case I didn't make it clear, Phillip's pyrophobia stems from the Sydneigh fire that destroyed his home.
—Guest appearances of Berry Punch, Berry Pinch, Minuette, and Carrot Top.
—Another character flaw with Flash and Zipline: their recklessness.
—In case I didn't make it clear, Flash hallucinates that Zipline is Slenderpony.
—There's that raven again.

Part 5
—The pattern of cracks in the burnt wood is called alligatoring.
—Compare Flash and Phillip's argument here with Rainbow and Phillip's argument in Time Flies. This is another flaw in both of their characters: Phillip's difficulty trusting others and Flash's dislike of not being taken seriously and difficulty controlling his emotions.
—BNP: Bucking New Pony. See The Blue Moon Brings Death.
—This is the first time I have had a character curse.
—Phillip's internal dialogue reveals a strong part of his character: the conflict between his rational side and his emotions, which he buries.
—I think we all knew that raven was no good.

Part 6
—There aren't enough good stories with interactions between Spike and Flash. Spike, being the one who knows Twilight the best, and probably the one who best understands Flash's frustration, is the one here who starts a reconciliation between the two.
—Flash and Twilight manage to figure out the source of the terror and hallucinations.
—I mentioned that Phillip's hat was passed down from his father in my short story Passed Down.
—I based Doctor Nevermore primarily off of the Batman villain Scarecrow. His appearance is inspired by Lon Chaney's performance as Erik from the 1925 silent film Phantom of the Opera. See a picture here. Nevermore's name and the name of his raven, Lenore, are both references to Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven.
—"For God's sake": I've never bought the fan theory that Celestia and Luna are worshipped as gods by the Equestrians. This is only my personal view.

Part 7
—Zipline's and Phillip's hallucinations both represent their deepest fears: heights and fire, respectively, and the fear of being unable to protect those they care about.
—"We just have to find the rest of the pages!": Pinkie references Slender: The Eight Pages.
—Flash's claustrophobia comes into play again in this chapter.
—The ponies' hallucination is inspired by the first Scarecrow encounter in the video game Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Part 8
—Zipline's special talent for accuracy with projectiles saves the day.
—Pinkie tries to sing The Laughter Song from Friendship is Magic part 2.
—shaken but not badly stirred: subtle reference to James Bond, who takes his martinis "shaken, not stirred."
—Flash and Twilight almost kiss: I'm saving that for later!
—Pinkie ruins the moment with her chiroptophobia (fear of bats), referenced in The Ticket Master.
—"Ace job": Australian slang, "good job."
—Playcolt: pony version of Playboy.
—And thus begins the odd bromance of Flash Sentry and Phillip Finder.

Author's Notes:

Chapter notes from the story.

Side note: I did not intend for this story to be as long as it turned out, but that's the way it turned out. Do you think more of my stories should be as long as this?