Flying Colors can be a little rebellious and mischievous. However, she is exceptionally loyal and understanding. Fly has made friends with some of the most troubled people. “Fly” enjoys making jokes, pulling pranks, playing sports, and doing risky activities. Over time, “Fly” has been learning not to pull pranks without others’ consent.
 
Two of Fly’s friends are Sparklefire and Dragonshy. They had highly abusive parents, whom they ran away from. Sparklefire and Dragonshy are normally kind and generous. Deep inside, unfortunately, they struggle with serious anger problems. They have had eruptions that terrify even them.
 
Fly enjoys much of the same things that most boys do. She can fit in with a group of stallions — and still be proud to look like a girl. In a group of boys, Fly will likely be the kindest and most understanding of the group. And she won’t be charged with acting “girly”.
 
Flying Colors is one of the fastest pegasi. Unfortunately, she is prone to airsickness. When she pukes, it may come out with the colors of the rainbow. For this reason, she’s sometimes called “Rainbowbarf” (or “Barfie”).
 
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“Fly” lives in the town of Friendsville. It’s a small town where everyone knows one another to some extent. Fly learns that a new stallion is moving in, and she can hardly wait to meet him. His name is David Starlyre. Rumor has that he’s a rich boy. But for some reason, he’s going to live in a small, plain house.
 
Secretly, Starlyre is a special student of Princess Skysparkle’s (the ruler of the Starpony Kingdom). He’s been sent to Friendsville to learn more about friendship. In addition, he is to be a mentor for another special student: Nightlight Sparkleheart.
 
When Fly meets Starlyre, he is really shy. Starlyre has Asperger’s Syndrome, and moving to a new town is really stressful for him. Friendsville is a nice place to visit. But to make it his home — he doesn’t know where to begin.
 
Living in a plain house is not a big deal to Starlyre; it’s like camping to him. Nor does he need servants at his beck and call; he has a strong work ethic. The problem is … he’s overwhelmed with the new decisions he must make. Once it really hits him that Friendsville is his new home … all these strange people he doesn’t know … he suddenly feels helpless to his environment. Autistic people often get distressed when the environment feels out of their control. Starlyre’s phobia is also related to sensory overload.
 
When Fly lays eyes on Starlyre, she immediately feels attracted to him. Secretly, Starlyre feels the same about her. But he doesn’t know how to break the ice. The new environment — and this beautiful girl he wants to befriend — it all makes him scared and anxious.
 
Back in the Royal Village, Starlyre already has a healthy web of friends. Back there, he is a popular stallion — especially with girls. Most girls seem more understanding and appreciative of people’s feelings. Ironically, Starlyre’s best friend is White Night — another stallion whose best friends are mostly mares. In an unfamiliar environment, Starlyre has had to regain his confidence — seemingly having to relearn what he knows how to do in his hometown.
 
As Starlyre gets to know Flying Colors, he quickly finds her becoming his best female friend. In Starlyre, Fly sees a stallion who is kind and heroic like her father.
 
“Fly” has been raised by strongly religious parents. Her parents believe friendship — with the Creator and his creation — is the central goal. In leading by example, Fly’s father (Cloudpuncher) tries to be her best friend. As a good friend, he tries not to make unnecessary demands. In turn, he does not let his daughter harm others or cause serious harm to herself.
 
Fly’s mother (Stormsbreak) is more fundamentalist. She ran off from a fundamentalist cult, but she still carries some of its baggage. With children, she’s accustomed to leading with force. Conversely, Stormsbreak believes the father is the head of the household. Cloudpuncher himself believes his wife is nearly equal in authority. Even so, he takes the opportunity to suppress most of his wife’s domineering tendencies with children. Overall, Stormsbreak is not accustomed to ruling through friendship. Slowly, she starts to learn from her husband’s example.
 
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As you might imagine, “Fly” is sometimes afraid to fly. She carries barf bags in her fursuit. (Technically, the ponies are not naked. They wear fursuits over their actual fur.) On her best days, she may just puke and throw out the bag like it’s no big deal. On her worst days, Fly really wants to stay on the ground. When she barfs, she sometimes feels humiliated. She has so much talent for flight — yet she is handicapped by her stomach.
 
For a long time, Fly’s parents have suspected she has food sensitivities. They want to limit the foods she may eat. However, Mr. Waterson doesn’t want to put her under great stress. For the most part, he feels she has to learn on her own. Otherwise, he fears, she might throw out the rules once she feels free to do so. Foods they don’t otherwise allow for her, Fly has to buy with her own money.
 
In addition to airsickness, Flying Colors can barely read. She has a hard time reading basic children’s books. She knows the words — but has a hard time decoding them from paper. Fly likes to say that reading is for eggheads, geeks, or nerds. In reality, it’s a lie she tells herself to save herself from humiliation. Now and then, Fly is reminded of how handicapped she really feels.
 
Fly’s parents don’t quite realize she is dyslexic. Mainly, they think she just hates school. She kind of does; she doesn’t feel high school teaches much that she really needs to know. However, the main problem is having to read textbooks and take written tests. When she studies, she tries to have others do the reading. She often fails tests even when she knows the material.
 
Fly can read things if she really labors to do so. Because she knows the words, reading high-school material is not always harder than reading little children’s books. In Friendsville, children normally go to the next grade regardless of performance. Therefore, she has never been held back a grade. To graduate, however, students must pass an exit exam.
 
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Starponys: Friends with Unicorn Syndrome / Crowns of Friendship © and ™ of M. Wayne Howell (starponys87@gmail.com), along with all characters therein.