David Starlyre is another gifted pony with special needs. He, too, has Unicorn Syndrome. He was troubled much like Nightlight three years ago. But now it has become fairly easy for him to make friends.

Starlyre is one of Princess Skysparkle's special students -- along with Nightlight and her brother White Night. Skysparkle is sending Nightlight to a small village to learn about the great world of friendship. Over there, Starlyre is to be her mentor -- to act as a big brother for her on behalf of White Night.

Much like Nightlight, Starlyre can be afraid of big crowds. Big, crowded cities with lots of lights can also be distressing to them -- along with big parties with flashing lights. Anything that overwhelms their senses can cause fear and distress. No matter what scares him, though, Starlyre will find the courage when he needs to.

Starlyre is initially shy about trying to make friends in a village he doesn't know. Fortunately, one of the mares -- nicknamed "Rainbowbarf" -- manages to break the ice with little trouble. From there, she introduces him to her girlfriends. The vast majority of Starlyre's friends have been girls. It seems that girls are usually better at connecting with him -- showing motherly tenderness to various degrees. Conversely, his very best friend has been White Night -- another stallion with many friends who are mares.

Overall, Starlyre is both an athlete and an intellectual. He embraces both practical knowledge and learning for its own sake. When you first look at him, you might think he feels too cool for school -- only to find that he's both a team captain and a teacher's assistant! Truly, he is a bridge between White Night's practical interests and Nightlight's intellectual interests.

Starlyre is an earthbound pony, but he's capable of some cartoonish feats. For example, he can jump onto the roof of a one-story house. At times, he might manage to reverse a fall or do a jump in midair. With great effort, he can dig through rock. He might also be able to use an item in a way that wouldn't normally be physically possible -- such as using an umbrella as a parachute. Starlyre's abilities to harness cartoonish powers are not entirely consistent. However, his ability is often magnified when his emotions are intense.

In addition to cartoonish superpowers, Starlyre is a gifted spell-writer and potion-maker. In fact, he has been a student at the Royal Unicorn Academy -- a highly unusual feat for an earthbound pony. In addition, Starlyre has a seemingly magical ability to play a harp or lyre. When he plays such an instrument, he can often calm down a violent situation or lull people to sleep. He keeps a lyre in the pockets of his fursuit (an example of cartoonish storage space). (In my work, ponies wear fursuits over their actual fur -- at least around the torso, bottom, and thighs.)

As a mentor for Nightlight, Starlyre finds that he still has some important friendship lessons left to learn. He must learn to show the grace and patience toward his student that White Night has shown her. It is tempting for him to think she's getting in the way of his new life in Friendsville. Rainbowbarf and her girlfriends must also struggle to include Nightlight.

One of the major points of contention is that Starlyre has OCD, in addition to Unicorn Syndrome. He is obsessed with keeping things clean and well-organized. He will make lists to keep track of his lists. Nightlight, on the other hand, will often leave things in a mess. Her own hair tends to be messy. Even so, she often has a good map in her head of where things are -- much as an English speaker may have a good map of how English words are spelled. Conversely, Nightlight is fairly careful when it comes to germs. And there are certain things she loves to keep beautifully arranged.

When he remembers that White Night is his best friend, Starlyre realizes he must be there for Nightlight the way her actual big brother is. White Night is like a big brother to Starlyre, too. White Night shows fatherly strength and motherly tenderness. Starlyre seeks to show the same.

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Starponys: Crowns of Friendship / Friends with Unicorn Syndrome © and ™ of M. Wayne Howell (starponys87@gmail.com), along with all characters therein.