“Come on, Irradiance!” Moonshine called from a few steps ahead, giggling as he stumbled further toward the dark forest, the path lined with thorns. Sunny Daze laughed along, illuminating the path with his glowing horn, orange magic providing minimal comfort in the otherwise pitch-black location.

“You guys are walking too fast!” The purple Unicorn called from behind the pair, huffing heavily as he trotted to catch up to the other two ponies. “You know I exceed in magic, not physical activity, right?”

As students of Princess Celestia’s Magic Academy, the trio of ponies had grouped themselves together soon after starting. Each of their parents were professors at the Magic School, so it made sense that they’d eventually socialize their children with each other.

Moonshine, daughter of the Associate Dean of the Magic Academy, was a pretty white Unicorn with long blue hair, which never got tangled no matter what shenanigans the young filly got into. The other pair of Unicorns suspected her mother had placed some sort of enchantment on her mane.

Sunny Daze, the son of one of the scribes for the school, was a pale blue Unciorn with a short, yellow, pink, and cyan mane. He was often referred to as the “Teacher’s Pet” because of his intense attentiveness in class, always jotting down exactly what the professors said. Like father, like son, the students supposed.

Irradiance was a scholarship student, transferred from Phillydelphia all the way to Canterlot to attend the magic school. His mother, a magic professor at a neighboring private school funded by Celestia’s flagship university, had earned the right to send her son to the official Magic Academy for free. He was a purple Unicorn with a curly turquoise mane and tail. Unlike Moonshine, his antics always ended with twigs and knots all up in his mane, a nightmare to brush out at the end of the night.

“Hurry up, Irradiance!” Sunny Daze called back, finally approaching the goal destination: a crumbled castle, with sun and moon decals lining the walls. This was the fabled castle where Celestia and Luna had once lived ages ago, long before Princess Twilight took over Equestria.

“Woah,” Moonshine gaped, blue eyes gazing longingly up at the torn banners above her, awestruck at the evidence that the previous leaders of her country once lived here. “Sun and moon, Sunny Daze! Just like you and me!” The Unicorn giggled, pointing to herself and her friend in reference to the old Princesses.

Irradiance huffed loudly as he finally caught up to the other pair of Unicorns, looking around at the castle and then back at the trio. “Wait,” He furrowed his brows, lifting a hoof as he thought. “If you’re the sun and the moon, then what am I?” The trio was silent for a minute before Moonshine erupted into laughter.

“You’re Nightmare Moon, of course!” The white filly levitated an old staff, holding it out toward Irradiance as if it were a sword pointing toward an enemy. “We must defeat you so that nighttime never rules Equestria again!”

“Yeah!” Sunny Daze grabbed an old tablecloth, tearing it so it looked more like a net, “I’ll kidnap you, Nightmare Moon! Don’t think you can get away!”

Frozen in place as he smiled at the sudden creation of a game, Irradiance’s happy expression soon fell to confusion and fear as his friends began racing toward him, chasing him out of the castle as they spoke to him as if he truly were Nightmare Moon, the enemy of Equestria.

“We’ll get you, Nightmare Moon!” Moonshine shouted eyes narrowed as she tossed a staff toward her classmate, earning a shocked scream out of him. Was she trying to impale him for real?

“Stop!” Irradiance shouted, running as fast as he could away from his friends, and he wasn’t sure if he should be friends with them after this! “Guys, I can’t run very fast! Stop chasing me!”

The two other Unicorns just laughed louder, never letting up as they continued to race after the purple colt, makeshift weapons in hand. Irradiance’s breath came shorter and shorter as he struggled to stay out of reach. Just when he thought he might have to give up, something shimmering deeper inside of the forest caught his eye.

The Everfree Forest wasn’t forbidden by any means, but it was known to hold dangerous artifacts and beasts, often causing more harm than good to the ponies of Equestria. The fabled Zecora, a Zebra, had lived in the forest alone with no issue, making peace with the flora and fauna that surrounded her. Irradiance wondered if he would be able to hide away behind this shimmering, crystal-like tree and make peace with it, never revealing himself to his friends.

“The tree is the safe zone!” Irradiance pleaded, quickly making his way over to the writhing black vines, surrounding the gem-covered tree.

“You can’t just decide there’s a safe zone,” Sunny Daze complained, still several steps behind Irradiance as he approached the tree as well. “We made up the game!”

Irradiance rolled his eyes as he finally made his way all the way next to the tree, leaning on it as he let out a satisfied sigh. “Well, there is one! I decided it– woah,” looking down to where his foot was leaning on the tree, Irradiance noticed that his hoof almost looked like a crystal. In fact, he couldn’t really move it anymore…

“Oh, no,” Moonshine let down her playful persona and dropped the staff, watching crystals slowly cover her peer’s leg. “Irradiance!” She shouted, sounding panicked, “Let go of the tree! Come back over here!”

Struggling to move, breath speeding up and coming in short pants, Irradiance began to lose focus. “I can’t! I can’t move! Help!” The crystals didn’t let up. They traveled further and further up the colt’s body, covering his entire leg and moving toward his body, to his back legs, and then to his neck. They were a deep purple, nearly black, glittering in the small amount of light that shone through the canopy in the Everfree Forest. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Irradiance prayed to Celestia to let him survive this.

“Irradiance!” Sunny Daze screamed, running toward the pony before Moonshone held out a hoof and stopped him. The pair didn’t want to risk also becoming crystal statues.

“Help me!” The purple colt cried out, face lifted as he tried to avoid the final rush of crystallization that struck him, covering his entire body in glittering black-purple gems, silencing the pony at last.

“Oh, my Celestia,” Moonshine breathed, blue hair fluttering in the breeze that followed. Her bright golden eyes wavered, unsure what to do. “Should we go get help?”

Sunny Daze shook his head, not in disagreement, but in uncertainty. “I don’t know,” He paced back and forth for a minute before turning back toward the statue of what was once his classmate.

“Hang on,” Moonshine stepped forward once more, careful to avoid any of the roots connected to the crystal tree, “Is he… glowing?”

Sunny Daze and Moonshine looked closer and it appeared that a faint purple light was, in fact, emanating from the statue, slowly illuminating every crystal, eventually focusing on Irradiance’s eyes as they glowed bright white. The pair, speechless at the multiple magic events that had preceded each other, stepped back a few paces as they watched the statue glow brighter and brighter until eventually, light began to spill from cracks that began to show up, splitting across each gem’s facet until the shards exploded around the ponies, shattering into glittering dust that sprinkled the forest floor.

Remaining in its wake was a purple Unicorn with a turquoise mane and tail, heaving in exhaustion.

“Irradiance!” Moonshine gasped, stepping forward and embracing her friend. “You’re okay!”

“Yeah,” the colt sighed, green eyes half-lidded as he struggled to keep himself standing. “I remembered a spell they taught us last year about expelling light to destroy certain artifacts. I just made as much light as I could to escape the crystals and, well…” As the colt gestured to the shards across the ground, he noticed a slight change in his appearance: a grey gradient beginning at the top of his legs that ended in black at the bottom of his foot, where his hooves were now crystalized, the same material that had encased him moments ago.

“Woah,” Sunny Daze gestured above the colt, toward his head. “Irradiance,” He gaped, eyes wide, “Your horn!”

Catching his reflection in a facet of the tree (careful not to touch it this time!) Irradiance noticed that atop his head no longer sat a purple horn, but a tall, crystal amalgamation that was vaguely horn-shaped.

In a silent plea, Irradaince looked toward his classmates in misery and the trio wordlessly decided to finally head back to their school, no longer willing to explore the forest any longer. The abandoned castle could wait; Irradiance needed to see the nurse. Or a magic expert. Or someone who knew what just happened!

The trio rushed back, running as quickly as they could to find their professor and explain how a tree had crystallized Irradiance, cursing him suddenly with a crystal horn and hooves!

“Ah, my favorite students!” Perfect timing. Professor Green Thumb, a Unicorn that specialized in magical plants, had spotted the trio as they ran up to the school, calling them over. “What has you all in such a rush?”

“Irradiance got hurt!” Moonshine rushed out, shoving the purple colt forward toward the professor.

“He’s not hurt, he’s cursed! He has crystals for horns and hooves!” Sunny Daze clarified, grabbing Irradiance’s front hoof with magic, and lifting it closer for the Unicorn stallion to see.

Green eyes widened as he adjusted his glasses, and Green Thumb gasped as he took note of Irradiance’s appearance. “Where were you three? What did you touch?”

“It was this tree,” Irradiance spoke up, thinking back to the incident. “It was tall and covered in vines and made of crystals, like my hooves.”

Green Thumb hummed, letting go of Irradiance’s hoof. “An Element tree. A corrupted one, at that.”

“A what?” Moonshine repeated, her head tilted to the side in confusion.

“An Element tree,” Green Thumb said once more. “Do you all remember the lessons on the Elements of Harmony and how they originated from a tree from the Everfree Forest?” The trio nodded in unison. “Yes, well, there is more than just the one tree. Each tree creates six elements that can be harnessed to do whatever the owners decide is best. Upon corruption, the trees no longer possess the power to give these elements to ponies, rather, they suck magic away from the ponies. However, it seems that the tree got confused and imbued you with its power rather than taking it away.”

Irradiance blinked owlishly, green eyes wide. “You mean it gave me powers like the Tree of Harmony gave the Mane Six?” He clarified, unsure if this was really what Green Thumb meant.

“It’s a rare occurrence to be sure, but it appears that’s what’s happened. It was too much power for you to handle, so your body encased itself in a cocoon. You broke out, though, probably too early, and so you’ve been left with crystals that symbolize the power you now possess. There was one other instance of this several years ago with an acquaintance of mine… but he didn’t manage to break free in time. His statue still lives in the Canterlot Castle to this day.”

“That’s so not fair,” Moonshine whined, confusing those around her. “You mean to tell us that because Irradiance made the mistake of touching a big tree, now he’s more powerful than everyone else at the school?”

Green Thumb chuckled, shaking his head. “Not exactly. He has more power coursing through his veins now, but whether he’ll be able to wield it or not is entirely up to his schooling.”

Months later, Irradiance flourished. Though the crystals got him teased initially, soon his classmates understood that now he stood out more than ever in the best way possible. He earned the highest grades in his courses, performed the best on magic exams, and even began to tutor those falling behind in his classes. Everything had worked out perfectly fine.

“Hey, Irradiance!” A familiar voice called from down the hall. Just after class had ended for the day, Moonshine and Sunny Daze made their way through the school to meet their peer.

“Hey, Moonshine!” The purple colt called back, stepping toward his friends. “What’s up?”

Sunny Daze grinned, looking between the white and purple Unicorns. “We wanted to show you something! Come outside and we’ll let you see it!”

Confused but intrigued, Irradiance followed his friends closely, wondering what they wanted to show him. Another crystal tree, perhaps? A dragon egg that someone had been assigned to take care of?

“Get him!” Someone shouted, and Irradiance was pulled from his thoughts as two ponies pinned him to the ground, legs splayed out beneath him as someone else pressed his face against the grass.

“Stop!” Irradiance cried out, trying to wriggle out of the ponies’ grasp but ultimately failing to do so. “Let me go! This isn’t funny!”

Moonshine approached slowly, a dull blade held above Irradiance with the white Unicorn’s cerulean magic.

“Did you know we call you the wingless Alicorn?” Moonshine asked simply, looking down at the pony angrily. “It’s because you’ve got so much magic that you might as well be one of the ancient Princesses! You perform so well in class that none of us ever get a chance to show off. You’ve surely won scholarships for all sorts of top-league universities and we’ll never step foot out of Canterlot.”

“No, I’m just doing the best I can! I can tutor you if you need help!” Irradiance struggled again but once more was unable to break free.

“You got lucky, Irradiance. All three of us went into that forest to find the castle but you ended up with all this power. It’s not fair. I think it’s time this little Alicorn got his wings clipped, don’t you guys?” Moonshine looked around at the small crowd of other students and was met with a resounding yes. “Alright, birdy! Don’t worry, this’ll be over soon enough.”

Moonshine slowly dug the dull blade into Irradiance’s side, causing the colt to erupt into screams as he writhed beneath the ponies pinning him down. Moonshine moved from one side to the other quite quickly, digging into his side before calling off her cohorts and letting the Unicorn go.

“Stop outshining the rest of us and maybe this won’t happen again, okay?” Moonshine smiled cruelly down at her victim and retreated down the path likely toward her dormitory, the rest of the ponies following behind. Irradiance just lay there in the grass, sides on fire as he took in that his old friends had betrayed him, scarring him for life and exiling him socially from the rest of the school. Tears falling down his face, Irradiance stood up shakily and made his way toward the Everfree Forest, where this whole issue had begun.

Maybe the school would fake his death, or maybe he’d just let himself get turned to crystal forever, this time. Either way, Irradiance wasn’t going back to school. He wouldn’t let those bullies get the better of him. He’d follow in that ancient Zebra’s footsteps, Zecora, and become one with the forest. He’d thrive off of the resources there and never set foot in Canterlot again. Not until he could come back without these awful crystals on him, at least.

Author's Note

Yay! first chapter! i know the ending feels a little squished together so if you have notes feel free to reach out. Otherwise I'm excited to write more!!