At age 16, Nightlight Sparkleheart is training to become a ruling Princess. She shows a classic case of "Unicorn Syndrome": She loves math, science, and spell programming (no magic; this is sci-fi). Unfortunately, she has a hard time opening her heart to someone else. Nightlight can be quite shy by nature, but then she can love to talk about her favorite things.

Nightlight is a powerful unicorn learning under the wings of Princess Skysparkle. She is co-mentored by her big brother, White Night Shiningheart (age 26). In the beginning, Nightlight's big brother is one of few who have managed to capture her heart.

Nightlight's brother is also a powerful unicorn. She is arguably more powerful, but she is less competent at controlling her powers. White Night himself is a prince in training.

Now that Nightlight is 16, Princess Skysparkle is sending Nightlight off on a special quest. She is to live as a normal mare in a normal house in one of the nearby pony villages. To become a Princess of friendship, she must learn to live as one of her fellow ponies. During her mission, she may not rely on her privileges as a rich girl.

Nightlight was born into a rich family. Her brother, on the other hand, can remember when their family was struggling to buy a good home.

***

The Starpony Kingdom (Stellequestria) is ruled by three Princesses and one Prince. All four of them are winged unicorns ("alicorns") -- arguably the most powerful of their kind.

Princess Skysparkle (age 1008) is the main ruler. Her co-rulers are the following:

- her son, Prince Endearment Heartwings (age 876)
- her niece, Princess Twilight Teatime (age 872)
- Princess Honeymoon (age 33) (a distant descendant of Princess Stellaluna: twin sister of Skysparkle -- who got banished to the moon 432 years ago; Teatime is Stellaluna's daughter)

***

Making friends requires the willingness to be vulnerable. This is something those with Unicorn Syndrome are naturally afraid to do. Nor does it naturally make logical sense to them. Having a heart that can be broken is something Nightlight can hardly make rational sense of. Yet part of her can't help but find it alluring, as if there's hidden joy to be found with the pain.

Unicorn Syndrome, similar to disorders on the autism spectrum, comes with an overwhelming desire to feel in control. Making friends means taking the risk that things will get messy.

Indeed, Nightlight herself is an embodiment of the struggle it takes to love a troubled person. She may scream and break things when things don't go her way. Her sometimes terrible temper is something that scares even her. She doesn't want to hurt people anymore, but she needs a lot of love and support.

***

Nightlight will not be alone in her search for friends. David Starlyre, at age 18, is another prince in training. He also has Unicorn Syndrome, and he was a lot like Nightlight just 3 years ago. But now he is exceptionally mature for a stallion.

Starlyre is an earthbound pony, but he still has some cartoonish superpowers. He is both an athlete and a skilled spell programmer. He cannot execute spells himself, but he can help unicorns compile spells and focus their powers.

Starlyre also has some of the most beautiful lyre-playing skills. His relaxing music can have a seemingly magical way of subduing dangerous creatures.

Starlyre was sent on the same basic mission three weeks earlier, and he has made five new best friends -- a circle of marefriends who are ready to welcome the new unicorn in town.

It is relatively easy for Starlyre to make friends with girls. Many girls have a way of overcoming his natural shyness. It is much harder for him to make friends with stallions. Most stallions seem much further behind in appreciating the power of friendship. Starlyre feels most stallions don't offer the environment we really need to share our feelings.

For him to open his heart properly, Starlyre needs an environment that makes him feel safe. In reality, we all probably do -- but Unicorn Syndrome can come with an overwhelming desire to feel in control of one's own environment.

Starlyre sometimes gets obsessed with routine and organization (overlapping with OCD). Starlyre's form of Unicorn Syndrome sometimes clashes with Nightlight's. And this can cause severe distress for both. Despite his obsession with neatness, he also enjoys some of the messiest games.

***

Nightlight's obsession with controlling her environment may overlap with OCD -- making for more of a perfect storm. (This is another common attribute of those with Unicorn Syndrome, though OCD is a distinct syndrome in itself.)

There are some things Nightlight gets obsessed and perfectionistic about. These things include arranging favorite toys, arranging favorite books, mastering favorite spells, fine-tuning a drawing, and rewriting essays and stories.

Whatever Nightlight is not obsessed with organizing -- she may leave in a big mess. Even then, her mess may have a logical order that helps her find and retrieve things quickly. She has naturally straight hair, but she wavers between wanting to keep it neat and embracing a bedhead.

White Night, on the other hand, tends to be obsessed with organization. He doesn't have Unicorn Syndrome -- but he often shows signs of OCD. His OCD sometimes clashes with his sister's Unicorn Syndrome -- which can cause severe distress for both. Despite his own obsession with neatness, he enjoys some of the messiest games.

Nightlight is sometimes prone to sensory overload, and so is Starlyre. Nightlight can get scared by overwhelming lights and sound, including lightning. Starlyre can be afraid of large crowds, especially when they are noisy. Both of them can feel uncomfortable in a crowded city.

***

In the past, Nightlight's parents seemed nearly helpless in the face of her tantrums. She is much more powerful than them. They have had to rely on their much more powerful son to discipline her. They have often been scared away from their own home. The trauma has partially reduced the parents to a childlike state, and White Night has had to act as a caretaker for them.

Oftentimes, even White Night cannot quite control his little sister. He and his parents have had to challenge a lot of common wisdom about the need to control children. White Night has learned to approach his little sister as a friend. He's also had to appeal to her desire to be a hero and a princess.

Now that Nightlight is 16, her sense of friendship has truly started to blossom. Everyone in Nighlight's family has had to cope with their own limitations. In the process, they are about to successfully raise a mare with Unicorn/Asperger's Syndrome. Before they know it, she will become their new ruler and friend.

It will take about a year, but this is one unicorn on the verge of earning her crown and wings.

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Starponys: Crowns of Friendship (C) and (TM) of M. Wayne Howell (starponys87@gmail.com), along with all characters therein.

Slackey Pro © Font Diner – https://www.fontdiner.com

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Visual Description:

Nightlight is a lightish purplish pink unicorn with bright purplish pink hooves. She has darkish pinkish magenta hair with a dark stripe and a golden yellow stripe.

Nightlight's hair is straight, but it is fairly messy. It extends near the tops of her forelegs. She wears dark violet glasses with half-circle frames. She has darkish purplish violet eyes.

The mark on Nightlight's flank is the following:

A tall eight-point star that stands for the North Star; beside it are seven five-point stars that make the Big Dipper. The tall eight-point star is a bright reddish hot pink. The eight-point star is made of two perpendicular crosses -- a tall one and a square one. To the upper right half is a triangle of light golden yellow hearts. The seven stars of the Big Dipper are white.