"Woohoo! I never knew the Gala was so much fun back then!" Shining Armor cheered as he followed the thirty-three year old Radius out of the palace.

"Was? Back then?" The raspy voice of the modern day Radius asked in confusion. "What happened to it?"

"Nowadays, it's the most boring thing going on in Canterlot. A lot of ponies still go but I've never seen this many humans before. Especially ones as famous as the ones we just saw."

"I guess they figured it wasn't worth it to travel through portals for something so boring. Anyway, brace your eyes. We're about to cross into another one of my memories. Oh, and Shining Armor?"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to laugh at me."

Once again, a bright flash of white ended the memory and marked the beginning of the next and again, Shining Armor found himself in another familiar place though decorated differently than he remembered. Once the light fully faded away, revealing the dining hall of the palace with a fifty foot long dining table in the center where he and the search team were treated to dinner before departing, he noticed two familiar figures sitting together at the opposite end. Upon trotting over for a closer look, sure enough, the two ponies enjoying a nice candle lit dinner were none other than Radius and Princess Celestia, the latter with her muzzle scrunched up out of frustration.

Though Radius was maintaining eye contact with no problem, still he seemed to be completely oblivious to the bemused look on the Princess's face. Shining Armor knew however, that it was not as if she was not enjoying Radius's company but the fact that his Aunt had told him before that she had a difficult time getting the stallion she was interested in to notice her hints. As Radius proceeded to talk about the half lives of different types of elements, the Princess then looked down at the table and noticed that he had his hoof resting on it. Seeing this as another chance to get her point across, she then looked Radius directly in the eyes as he continued to talk and slowly slid her hoof across the table towards his. Once her hoof reached its destination, she then gently placed it on top of Radius's which as far as Shining Armor was concerned, it could not have been more obvious as he tried to stifle his laughter at how clueless Radius seemed to be.

The oblivious unicorn did not so much as even glance down at the Princess's attempt to take him by the hoof and still rambled on about the dangers of handling uranium without proper protective equipment. Again, the frustrated look on Celestia's made an abrupt return and she then withdrew her hoof and started to rub her temples as if she was experiencing some sort of head discomfort. Finally, Radius took notice of the social cue and looked up at the taller Princess in concern as she did not appear to be the slightest bit pleased.

"Is there something wrong, Your Majesty?" Radius asked.

"Uh, well gee, I dunno, I do recall offering that you simply call me Celestia." Celestia sighed.

"Oh right, sorry, Celest-"

"Radius, if you're not interested, you can just tell me. I won't be upset with you, okay?"

"Huh?"

"Pretending you had no idea was cute at first but now it's just getting old."

"With all due respect, Celestia, what are you talking about?"

"Wait...you mean you really didn't know? All these hints I've been giving you?"

"What hints?"

"Oh...Wow, I've got some explaining to do then."

While Shining Armor snickered as he watched the incredibly awkward and admittedly comical conversation come to a pause, Celestia tapped her chin as she put serious thought into her next choice of words. Surely saying something to imply her intentions with any amount of subtlety would not work as she had tried it too many times to count over the past few weeks. After putting what little she had left to work with together, Celestia would have no other alternative but to be up front about her feelings.

"Radius, can I be quite frank with you?" Celestia asked as she began to blush.

"Of course." Radius replied, not knowing what to expect.

"I like you."

"Oh, is that all? Well, that's entirely mutual."

"No no, that's not what I meant. I mean I really like you."

"Uhh..."

"And when I say I really like you, by that I mean I...I..."

"You...?"

"...want you to be my special somepony...there, I said it."

Shining Armor's long anticipated wait for the exact moment where Celestia awkwardly confessed her feelings to Radius and just the look on the latter's face as his lower jaw hit the table was priceless to the observing invisible unicorn. Though the modern day Radius had asked him to refrain from excessive laughter at his ignorance to the Princess's feelings, Shining Armor could no longer hold it and was soon rolling on the floor as the two at the table continued to silently stare at each other. Finally, Shining Armor's hysterical laughter subsided and as he returned to his hooves and proceeded to dry his tears, still Radius and Celestia stared at each other. Shining Armor used the silence as a chance to rub his sore sides until finally, the newly formed layer of ice was broken by Radius.

"So...you were serious about that?" Radius asked, his eyes wide open out of shock.

"Very." Celestia replied firmly.

"B-but...but...y-you're royalty."

"So?"

"I'm not."

"And?"

"Wow...I-I don't know what to say but...that...you actually want to...date me?"

"If you want to date me, then yes, I do. Otherwise, I'd never pressure you into something you don't want to do."

Even though Shining Armor knew that later the two ponies that sat at a table before him would end up in a serious relationship, still he anxiously watched very closely for what would happen next. Throughout most of the years that Princess Luna was away, Celestia had been unbearably lonely and so badly wished for somepony to talk with and get close to. She had found that certain somepony she genuinely enjoyed spending time with but her hopes were seemingly crushed as Radius still gave her every indication that he was not interested in pursuing something more.

"I...I understand, Radius." Celestia said with her head hung low and her lips quivering. "I need to...I need to go lie down for a while. I bid you good night, my friend."

With that, Celestia then arose from her chair and began trotting to the nearest door with her bedroom as her next destination in mind. The princess was not only disappointed but immensely embarrassed and felt that by being so upfront with Radius, she may have just risked making him uncomfortable and possibly losing him as a friend. Celestia reached for the door handle with her aura and she was nearly to the point of tears when from that moment on, the lives of both she and Radius would be changed forever.

"Wait!" Radius called out as he leaped from his chair. "Celestia, I...I..."

"Huh?" Celestia asked as she turned around to see Radius trotting over to her.

"I admit it, my social skills are...pretty much nonexistent. I swear, I had no idea that you...I honestly can't believe I'm saying this but I can't believe you actually have these feelings for me. Why me? I'm a total geek. Not only that but I'm no Prince or a Noble or anything like that. What do you see in me? Wait, is this conversation actually hap-"

"You wanna know what I see in you, Radius? I happen to like geeks. You're incredibly smart, down to Earth, fun to talk to, you're kind, you care about others and you're undying loyalty to your family is just...it's beautiful! And you know how much you not being royal really means?"

"What?"

"Fuck all, that's what. At least to me anyway."

"Whoa! I've never known you to swear!"

"I...I know, I usually don't but I'm just so anxious right now! Nonetheless, didn't you hear anything I said before that?"

"Of course, but...Celestia, I'm so sorry but you've got to understand that this is a bit hard to believe right now. Part of my social skills training I had when I was a colt was how to try seeing things from others' perspectives. Please, try to see it from my point of view, I'll need a few minutes for this to sink in. I've just been told by the ruler of Equestria, the one who raises the sun that she's been courting me. That's a lot to take in."

"Radius, I...you're right, I'm sorry. Look, maybe we both have had some issues with this. You can't help that you have social difficulties and it's been...oh my god, Radius, it's been so long since I've dated I don't even know what I'm doing."

"Well, I've never dated before so...I guess that's something we've got in common. So hey, you don't have to go. Why don't we just have a seat at the table and we can talk about this, okay?"

"O-okay."

Still partially in shock over what Celestia had just told him, he and the love struck Princess sat back down at the table where they expected things to get even more awkward. To their pleasant surprise, the rest of the conversations they had flowed rather naturally as the hours ticked by. Shining Armor even managed to grow bored and became incredibly frustrated when he attempted to sift through a large bookcase just to have his hooves glide right through them. The only thing he could do as the candle on the table melted down further and further was anxiously pace the floors, hoping and waiting for something interesting to happen. Fortunately at this point, he would not have to wait much longer.

"Oh my!" Celestia gasped as she glanced at the grandfather clock on the opposite side of the room. "I had no idea it was two o'clock in the morning!"

"Time goes by fast when you're having such a great time." Radius said as he smiled up at the taller Princess. "I am getting really tired though so I should get going home. Trot to the front door with me?"

"Of course."

At long last, this memory would soon give way to the next and Shining Armor promptly followed as Radius and Celestia trotted towards the front entrance to the palace where the former proceeded to put on his winter coat. Before they parted ways for the night, they trotted out to the front steps where they made it a frequent routine to wish each other a good night and plan for their next time together. There they stood in front of each other as Shining Armor anxiously waited for what he expected would be another one of Radius's life changing moments. There they stood, gazing into each other's eyes, the royal and regal Princess Celestia and the brilliant genius of a scientist Radius Circumfrancis Hoofenschtov. After a long week of searching for the lost unicorn and hearing his heartbreaking stories once he was found, Shining Armor was in the mood to see something more light hearted for a change and he was about to get his wish.

The several seconds that seemed like hours ticked by as the two heavily blushing ponies stared into each other's eyes as the snow began to fall on the clear, moonlit winter night. Finally, Celestia made her first move and slowly began to inch her face towards Radius's. Now that he fully understood both of their feelings, the nervous and trembling nerd that Radius was followed suit. Finally, with both of their eyes closed, Celestia lowered her face down to the level of the shorter stallion whom she longed for and the distance between their muzzles came to a close as they pressed their lips against each other's. To Celestia, to have her lips locked with Radius's seemed to have right then and there, filled an empty void that the lonely Princess had been holding onto for centuries. To the shaking and border-line convulsing Radius, it was the sudden realization that he at long last at age thirty-three was now experiencing his very first kiss and because of who it was that his lips were attached to, he understood why he had waited so long. The wait was so well worth it and for a magnificent, loving marefriend like Celestia, he would do it again without hesitation. To Both ponies, it just simply felt right.

Shining Armor was very open regarding his emotions, especially at that moment as tears soaked his cheeks while he watched the two lovers before him break their kiss. Being a happily married pony himself, Shining Armor could not help but fondly look back at his first kiss with his loving wife Cadence as he then felt the shame that came along with it of having taken her for granted as of late. To see the beautiful scene play out before him was the last he needed to see to be fully prepared to stop at nothing until this wonderful, and beloved pony that Radius once was ended up back into the hooves of his loving family. As the two lovers stood there to gaze into each other's eyes as the falling snow sparkled in the moonlight, they would finally part ways for the evening and sleep soundly with the warm feeling of their kiss setting their hearts ablaze.

"Same time tomorrow?" Radius asked, his voice trembling and his blush intensifying.

"Same time tomorrow." Princess Celestia repeated, faring no better.

"Good night, Celestia."

"Tia. Call me Tia from now on."

"Good night, Tia."

"Good night, Radius."

As wonderful as it was to see something that changed Radius's and Celestia's life in such a positive way was, Shining Armor knew it would finally soon be time to see what happened next. With the front door of the castle now closed, Radius had difficulty keeping solid hoofing on the ground and could barely trot in a straight line. Most would find themselves behaving in such a manner after consumption of too much alcohol but Radius was drunk on love and enjoyed every moment of it. As he proceeded to trot back home for the night, the cool, crisp winter wind that blew had no affect on him as the warmth of his first kiss would linger with him the whole time. Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, inside the castle, Celestia clumsily stumbled up the stairs to her bedroom like a love struck school filly with her eyes half lidded and a goofy, silly grin before laying down on her bed and falling asleep nearly instantly. Finally, the further Shining Armor followed Radius down the sidewalk, the brighter the returning flash of light became as he prepared to cross into the next memory.

Just like before, the light faded and Shining Armor found himself in a different place and this time he recognized it as his Aunt Celestia's personal bedroom. Aside from the various posters of eighties bands and singers from both Equestria and Earth alike, it looked much the same as he had remembered it from when his guard duty would lead him there. Though he was confused as to what kind of memory Radius had that would bring him to such a place, still he was curious. It would not be much longer however as any and all questions he would have were about to be answered.

"Hey, why are we in Celestia's bedroom?" Shining Armor asked.

"Oh, you'll see." Radius's voice chuckled. "In fact, I think the real action starts right about...now."

Suddenly, as if on cue, the door behind Shining Armor burst open and before he could turn around as a reflex to the startling slam, Celestia and Radius both tumbled through him, their lips locked and their tongues down each other's throats. Unlike the soft, gentle kiss that touched his heart to have been witness to, Shining Armor blushed as he watched his Aunt and her flame engage in a full fledged sloppy make out. For the life of him, he had not a clue what to make of the scene that played out before him but finally when the two sweaty lovers tumbled down onto the bed is when the sudden realization hit the observing and slightly disturbed unicorn.

"Ahh, yes..." Radius's voice sighed as the sweet memory came back to him. "The day I lost my virginity to Celestia. Man, she really rocked my world if you know what I mean."

"Aaand that's my cue to get out of here." The blushing Shining Armor said as he tugged at the now locked door hoping to escape. "Hey! What gives!?"

"Oh Radius, Darling, take me!" Celestia gasped behind Shining Armor as the couple prepared to engage in intercourse.

"Dude!" Shining Armor snapped. "Let me out of here! I don't wanna watch you rut my Aunt!"

"How is she your Aunt, anyway?" Radius's voice asked.

"I married her niece Cadence! Now open the damn door!"

"Actually, I had some other plans. See, you're not able to leave until I'm ready to do the same. Plus, you shouldn't have laughed at me, buddy."

"Are you getting off to this!?"

"Don't you judge me, that's myself I'm watching get lucky there! Cut me some slack, I haven't been laid in thirty years!"

"T-Tia!" The eighties Radius gasped as he penetrated, prompting Shining Armor to cover his ears. "Oh my g-Ahhhhhh yeeeeesss! Ah! *huff* Ohhh! *puff* Tia, I love youuu!"

"I swear, I'm gonna kick your fucking ass when we're done with this!" Shining Armor cursed as he found that covering his ears did nothing.

"Try it and see what happens, tough guy!" Radius's voice countered.

"Ahh! Yes! Harder!" Celestia screamed as the speed of her lover's thrusting picked up. "I lo-ahh! I love you, Rad-hnnngggg! Oh my god, yes! Right there!"

"Winter wrap up, winter wrap uuup!" Shining Armor sang loudly hoping to drown out the sound of the passionate love making session occurring behind him. "Cause tomorrow spring is here, 'cause tomorrow spring is heeeerrrreee!"

After several long and admittedly impressive minutes of Radius rutting Celestia silly, finally they could no longer be heard over Shining Armor's singing much to his relief. Unfortunately for the unicorn who felt as if he had seen and heard enough for several lifetimes, the relief of silence from the two seemingly finished lovers would be short lived. As Shining Armor listened for any more signs of suggestive movements or moaning, he would find himself immensely disappointed as instead of being finished, the two sweaty lovers behind him were simply changing positions. Despite his ghostly form as an invisible observer in Radius's memories, Shining Armor could feel his face turning beet red as he listened to the slapping sound of Radius's thighs hitting Celestia's rump as he rutted her from behind.

"Holy fuck, how are you still going at it!?" Shining Armor yelled with his hooves over his ears again. "My first time was super awkward and hardly lasted ten minutes!"

"Naturally gifted?" Radius's voice said with a shrug. "Hey, if you think this is impressive, I was abl-"

"Lalalalalalalalalaaa, I don't wanna hear it!"

Saying that the situation that Shining Armor was in was awkward would have been a massive understatement and the modern Radius proved that his sense of humor, though slightly dirtier than before was still well intact. Princess Celestia was not a blood relative of Shining Armor's nor of Cadence's for that matter but despite that, he considered her to be close family and would rather have not endured sitting in the same room in which she was currently being plowed. Not only were all the sounds of passionate love making ever present but much to Shining Armor's dismay, he still had his sense of smell within Radius's memories as the room began to reek of sex from the sweat and ejaculatory fluids that rendered the bed sheets soaked.

Finally, Radius seemed to have finished rutting Celestia but once again, the two aroused ponies only paused for a moment to change positions and by the sound of things, Celestia was now on top. Shining Armor had to sing unreasonably loudly to drown out the sounds of vigorous riding by the Princess and the constant moaning and gasping by both of them. By this point, Celestia had spent centuries without sex and Radius had been a virgin until age thirty-four so it seemed as if they were making up for lost time. It almost seemed like there would be no end to their love making as badly as Shining Armor wanted but it would appear that he was finally about to get his wish.

"Hahhhh, Tia, I can't hold it anymore!" Eighties Radius screamed as he neared his peak. "I'm gonna...I'm gonna...Guhhuhuhhh!"

"Ahhh yes!" Celestia screamed as she too, reached her own orgasm. "Yes! Oh yehehehesss!"

Shining Armor was close to running out of songs he knew but at last, the sounds of the hormone crazed couple stopped. After he stopped singing, he decided to keep his back turned to the couple in bed and listen for a little while longer just in case they were simply changing their spots again. The complete silence was enough to put his mind at peace and much to his fortune, the silence remained with nothing but the soft breathing of two ponies laying still in bed together. Finally, Shining Armor could turn around to face them without the fear of seeing something he would so badly want out of his mind but would be burnt into it forever. Instead, what he saw reminded him more of the last memory and of the soft, loving kiss the couple shared.

The two lovers whom had just finished engaging in passionate intercourse with each other for their first time had given it their all to the point where they both passed out. They both lay on the bed holding each other tightly in their hooves as they slept soundly together with warm smiles. Though they slept in their own sweat and ejaculatory fluids of which Shining Armor chose to ignore, the way they held each other made it seem as if their very heartbeats were in sync with each other's. Overall, it was clear to Shining Armor that the couple that lay before him were most certainly not after a fling or simply a quick intimate encounter but instead were madly in love with each other.

"I loved her so much..." Radius's voice said with a sniffle. "We both loved each other."

"Okay, that's sweet..." Shining Armor began. "...but did you have to make me listen to you two getting it on?"

"Ahahahah...Yes."

"Asshole."

"Well, we're about to head to my next memory."

"Finally!"

"You're going to wish we were back at this one. It all goes downhill from here. Consider yourself warned."

Since having experienced the crossing from one memory to another several times by this point, Shining Armor partially knew what to expect as he braced his eyes for yet another blinding flash. What he did not expect however, was instead of fading and revealing the next memory right away, the flash of white light slowly began to dim until the empty abyss was pitch black. This had not happened before so it was rightfully unsettling to Shining Armor and with Radius's clear warning to boot, the observing unicorn developed a strange sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

For a while still, there was nothing. No sounds, or movements, or any new lights to speak of as Shining Armor anxiously waited for what Radius had to show him. Finally, the silence was broken in the form of a high pitched wailing which sounded like an emergency alarm sounding off as it echoed through a large facility. At last, the darkness slowly gave way to the sight of a massive, dimly lit room with the ceiling at least fifty feet above where Shining Armor was standing. Now that he could properly see, Shining Armor noticed that he was standing on a steel deck with railings approximately twenty feet from the solid concrete floor below. To his right, jutting off the ground level was a gigantic, round, cylindrical shaped object and After a moment of observing the strange rods shaking out from the top he realized exactly what it was that he was staring down at making his blood run cold.

"We've gotta get outta here!" An unfamiliar male voice shouted from the direction Shining Armor was facing.

Directly in front of Shining Armor, on the opposite end of the steel deck were two men wearing white lab coats and hard hats bolting up the stairs as fast as their legs could carry them. A moment later, a shorter, four legged figure galloped up the stairs and joined the two men in a run for their lives. Vladimir Shashenok, Valeriy Khodemchuk, and Radius were sprinting down the steel deck in search of the nearest exit to the building as Shining Armor realized that he was about to relive that fateful night on the twenty-sixth of April in the year 1986. Though he knew in the back of his mind that it was merely a memory he was seeing and that he was not actually standing above an unstable nuclear reactor the hairs on the back of Shining Armor's neck stood on end at the thought of what he knew was about to happen.

"Raddy, Look out!" One of the men shouted as he grabbed Radius by the collar, pulling him out of the path of a pipe that had burst.

The man who grabbed Radius had ended up saving the terrified pony from a bolt that shot out from the burst pipe that certainly would have meant his death otherwise as it would have hit him directly in his temple. All three colleagues tumbled to the floor of the steel deck as a result but if they could just get back to their feet and hooves, surely there was still time to escape. Sadly, that would not be the case and Shining Armor was about to see with his own eyes the true horror of what happened to Radius and his two friends whom all had friends and families who loved them dearly. As the two men and the pony attempted to get back off the floor to resume their run for their very lives, another much larger pipe burst, causing them to all fall off the deck and plummet to the reactor below.

Shining Armor quickly galloped over to the side of the deck and stared in horror at the injured men and pony whom allegedly had mere moments to live as they tightly embraced each other as friends one last time. The observing unicorn's heart rate began to rise and his adrenaline began to run through his veins as he clutched the side railing and awaited the inevitable. The tremors brought on my the imminent destruction of reactor number four shook the building down to each bolt and steel girder that held it together. Shining Armor's grip on the railing was so tight that his front hooves started going numb as he began to hyperventilate until finally, it happened.

With his adrenaline pumping through his blood stream at full bore, the horrific scene seemed to play out in slow motion as the gargantuan lid on top of the reactor shot up into the air with a massive flames bursting from underneath. The jolt of the sudden motion of the concrete lid knocked Radius and his two friends onto their backs as they waited for the massive object to crush them against the ceiling before smashing through. According to the reports after the event, because Radius's body was never found, he was thought to have fallen back directly into the reactor where he was allegedly vaporized by what resembled the fires of Hell. Shining Armor however was about to witness the truth of what happened as it appeared that Radius had other plans.

Before the top could get more than five feet off the reactor, Radius surrounded himself and the two men in a large bubble as his horn glowed the color of his own bright green aura. Since he had been to Earth several time before, his magic there was strong enough to perform a shield spell and make a last ditch effort to save himself and his two friends. Shining Armor held on to the railing with all his might and watched as the massive flames and what appeared to be a bright red, glowing molten metal erupted from the reactor until finally, the concrete lid crashed through the ceiling. It was a blood curdling sight to the horrified observing Shining Armor. The entire building shook with the force of a massive earthquake once the huge concrete disc crashed through the roof but what goes up must come down and once it does, the true damage is done.

A tsunami of shrapnel, chunks of concrete, molten metals, and highly radioactive materials hit all side of the inside of the building like a shock wave and went directly through Shining Armor's ghostly form. Though he was unharmed, still it was a horrifyingly frightening experience, especially having molten lava being splattered everywhere and much of it even being shot through him. If this alone was not terrifying enough, the reactor's top soon came crashing back down and once it hit the gigantic cauldron of uranium, the affects were devastating beyond imagination. The blast that came along with the collision was enough to render Shining Armor blinded and deafened as for a whole agonizing minute, he stumbled about seeing nothing but bright red and white flashes and hearing nothing but a painful ringing.

Not long after, Shining Armor's vision and hearing slowly returned to reveal that the steel deck he stood on was seconds from giving out and crashing to the floor below. Remembering that he was inside Radius's mind and could not be harmed, he leaped from the deck and down onto the lower level in search of Radius and his friends. He did not have to go very far to find the terrified and crippled trio holding onto each other for dear life while they tried to ride out the storm inside the shield bubble that Radius was struggling to keep around them. Shining Armor galloped over to get a closer look as broken pipes and girders came crashing down all over the room and the fire from the reactor raged on. In the far corner of the room, a few feet away from a door that lead to a maintenance closet, Shining Armor could plainly see the strained look on Radius's face that both unicorns could understand.

"I can't..." Radius whimpered as his shield spell was repeatedly pelted by falling debris. "No...n-not like this...guys, I can't hold it anymore...I-I can't...I'm sorry."

After blinking on and off several times as if he was running out of power, Radius's bubble that he tried to use to save his friends fizzled out leaving them all at the mercy of the fire and the radiation that filled the air. The two men that Radius held onto with what little strength he had left hugged their pony friend for their last moments until they quickly went unconscious. Radius took notice as he felt their grip on him loosening due to the lethal radiation levels they were all being directly exposed to. With the men's bodies going limp and their breathing becoming faint, Shining Armor wept as he watched a genius lose every last bit of his composure and wail in anguish as his two friends died in his hooves.

"I'm sooorrryyyy!!" Radius shrieked as he held the two men while their skin began melting from their flesh. "I'm so sorryyyy! I couldn't do it! I couldn't save you! WAAAHAAHAAAA!!"

The sight that Shining Armor witnessed before him was absolutely sickening. Everything from the blood oozing out of the bodies of the men, to the emotional and physical trauma that a wonderful, family oriented pony whom was loved by so many had to endure, all the way to the fact that no one could hear him scream. Finally accepting that his two friends were gone, Radius made the hardest decision of his life and gently laid the two bodies down, closed their eyes with a trembling hoof and crawled over to the nearest door. With his leg badly broken and his body quickly growing weaker by the second, Radius reached up to the door handle and pushed it open. Once he had the door to the supply closet open, he dragged himself into the tiny room and having made it just a few feet inside, he simply could go no further and collapsed onto the floor. With the very last bit of strength he had left, Radius used his unbroken back leg to push the door shut just in time before his vision blurred and he passed out and awaited whatever fate was in store for him.

The bright white light that flashed before Shining Armor in previous memories was replaced by the pitch black abyss that he saw at the beginning of the last one involving the explosion of Chernobyl's reactor. Once his vision returned, Shining Armor could see that he was seemingly in the very same spot that he found himself in when he watched Radius crawl into a closet. This time however, instead of a raging fire, falling girders, and alarms going off in every direction there was dead silence. The fire that consumed what remained of the reactor had been reduced to nothing more than a smolder and the sun shined through the massive gaping hole that the explosion had created in the ceiling of the building. Upon further observation, Shining Armor even noticed that the bodies of Radius's friends were gone and whoever it was from the rescue crews that removed them was mere feet away from Radius as he took shelter in the supply room. To think that all it would have taken for so much of Radius's suffering to be prevented was for a firefighter or EMT to simply open that one door and peak inside made Shining Armor feel physically ill. The saddened unicorn would soon find however, that what he would see next would truly be fuel for nightmares for years to come.

"Help me..." A trembling voice whimpered from behind the door to the supply closet.

Shining Armor turned his attention back to the door he saw Radius crawl into as it slowly swung open revealing something that immediately brought him to tears. On his three good legs with his broken one slightly lifted off the floor stood Radius in a state in which Shining Armor nearly felt his pain by just looking at him. His coat had completely fallen off and his pink exposed skin was completely covered in blisters, open soars and blood. His eyes were tightly shut as it was quite clear to the observing Shining Armor that just by existing, he was in a tremendous deal of pain.

"H-hello?" Radius whimpered as he opened his eyes and looked around. "Is anyone there? Can anyon-oh my god..."

Radius looked down at his forehooves and saw the truly devastating effects the radiation had on him. What was even more terrifying was that by being mere yards away from the still exposed nuclear reactor, he was still absorbing massive amounts of rem with each passing second. Though he was in unbearable pain and still getting sicker, he felt that one of the more important questions was why the radiation had not killed him as it had his friends a week ago before he passed out.

"Why am I alive?..." Radius asked as the pain all over his body became all too real. "I shouldn't be alive after this!"

Ever since the search team first found Radius living in Pripyat thirty years after the tragic day, they often wondered the same thing. How could he have survived not only the explosion but the lethal levels of radiation? Any human without certain genetic advantages would have quickly succumbed to radiation poisoning and died so perhaps Radius may have had those factors in his favor. Then again, even with those genes, any living being with the most possible resistance would surely not survive. Also, Radius was the first Equestrian pony and unicorn in history to have been exposed to such levels of gamma.

Shining Armor's mouth went dry as he stared with his mouth agape at the hairless and crippled Radius hobbling towards the nearest exit of the destroyed building. As the irradiated unicorn winced in pain with each and every step he took out into the warm, sunny outside of the facility, Shining Armor began to understand why Radius often wished to end his life. The former guard captain was brought up on and was a firm believer in the principles of life being a gift which must be appreciated but to see the horrible, heart wrenching trauma that this kind, caring, selfless family stallion was enduring made him see things differently.

"Oh my god..." Shining Armor sniffled as he followed the badly burned Radius as he slowly hobbled towards the town in search of help. "You poor, poor guy..."

"Relax, this is in the past." Radius's voice said. "We're just digging up a memory, remember? This isn't really happening right now"

"But it did happen! You had to go through this! You...Rainbow Dash was right. You're tougher than anypony I've ever met. To survive this shit and still care for others..."

"Thank you. That...that means a lot to me. There's a bit of a problem though."

"W-what's that?"

"This isn't even the worst part. I've gotta say though, you're pretty tough to be able to watch all this. Nonetheless, if we want to find out if I'm guilty of murdering three men, we need to press on. Shining? C-can I call you that?"

"Of course!"

"Shining, I apologize in advance for this but we need to keep going. I need to warn you...the next one might scar you for a long time to come."

Shining Armor braced himself once more as everything went dark yet again as the image of Radius crawling into a small convenience store slowly faded away. This time however, it stayed dark for several seconds longer than before or rather appeared that way as Shining Armor's eyes finally adjusted to the dark of the night that Radius's body and his life would change forever. The moon was shining bright and full in the warm night near the end of May as it had been a few weeks since the meltdown. With no one around to help and in his injured and badly burned state, Radius had no way of getting help so he took shelter in the gas station where there was still plenty of food, drinks and protection from the elements as he took time to attend to his wounds.

Shining Armor was beginning to grow quite fond of Radius as he was getting to know a great deal about him and his background so to see in grave detail the things he had to endure sent chills down his spine. Still though, Shining Armor wished so badly to help Radius to the best of his abilities so for him, he would go through his memories no matter how difficult or downright painful they would be to watch. With nothing but doing it for Radius in mind, Shining Armor trotted up to the door of the gas station and slowly stepped through. With the bright moonlight shining through the windows, everything inside the small building was illuminated rather well as the empty food wrappers and drink bottles that Radius used for sustenance could be seen neatly organized by brand in small heaps. Behind the counter with the cash register still sitting on top was Radius laying on sofa cushions trying very hard to get his much needed rest.

As he stepped closer, Shining Armor noticed that Radius's fur had grown back but was more of an unhealthy grayish yellow instead of his natural light gray. Not only was his coat discolored but it was also heavily drenched in sweat and with each passing second, his breathing became heavier until he stood back up to a sitting position with his hooves over his eyes. After a moment, Radius removed his hooves from his bloodshot eyes revealing the look of terror and confusion as he began to hyperventilate. Shining Armor had already seen a sickening amount of pain that this poor pony had to endure but it could hardly compare to what he was about to see within the next minute.

Suddenly, Radius stood up on all fours as his leg had healed rather quickly. Not able to trot in a straight line, he clumsily staggered out the door as he hallucinated from the effects of his poisoning. After taking a few steps, Radius paused before vomiting on the ground. After finishing ejecting the contents of his stomach, he staggered a few more feet before sitting back down on his rump. Within moments, the very event that Shining Armor dreaded was about take place as the invisible observer wept for the pony whom he watched suffer.

"What's happening to meee?" Radius whimpered as he crossed his forelegs as he felt a great deal of pain in his sides.

Without any forewarning, Radius's breathing picked up the pace and became heavier and with each breath, several of his teeth fell from his gums. As the sweat poured down his face and body and his breathing became faster and heavier, the weaker his legs would get until finally they could no longer even hold him in his sitting position. Radius's legs gave out causing him to collapse onto his side and as he lay there on the cold, hard ground his pain became worse and worse still until finally, he could no longer keep himself silent. While Shining Armor continued to weep heavily for him, Radius let out a series of blood curdling screams as his body began to grow larger right before his eyes. As he continued to scream and squeal in agony, more of his teeth flew out of his mouth with sharper canine-like teeth taking their places.

"KILL MEEE!!" Radius screamed as he squirmed on the ground. "Somepony please kill meeeee!!"

For several agonizing minutes, Radius writhed and convulsed on the ground as he screamed, squeaked, yelped in high pitches that few if any grown male ponies were even capable of. First began the rapid growth of his body along with his herbivore teeth being replaced by those of a savage killing machine and then his horn began to change into the most gnarled up, jagged appendage to have protruded from any living being's head. What came next was enough to send Shining Armor into a hysterical sobbing fit as two bulges began forming on Radius's sides just below his forelegs. Within moments, these bulges burst open revealing the two devolved limbs with deer-like cloven hooves at the ends. It was as this moment Radius had stopped screaming as the pain was so severe that it sent him into shock. After a few more seconds of twitching, Radius's eyes rolled back into his head as he passed out in a puddle of his own blood.

"Oh my gaahahaaawwd!" Shining Armor sobbed. "I'm so sorry! I'm sooo sorrryyy! You went through all of this and you still care so much about others! Radius, you're a fucking saint!!"

"W-well, I..." Radius began. "I-I didn't mean to make you feel b-"

"You're so *hic* Radius, you're so brave! You've suff-*sniff* suffered so much in ways that would kill anyone else! You are without any doubt the toughest, strongest, bravest, most amazing pony I have ever met and...goddamnit, we're getting you home when we get out of here!"

"I...I...*sniff* you know, I...I dunno, it's weird but...I'm feeling some kind of a...like a connection with you."

"You could have been my uncle, you know. Even if you don't love Celestia like you used to, will you still come home with us? I'd like to...offer you my friendship and I got a feeling everypony else would too."

"F-f-f-frie...f-f-friendsh...f-friednship...oh my god. I almost forgot what having friends was like...I'd like that."

Author's Notes:

Well, that went from zero to crazy rather quickly. I hope you enjoy the clop (if you wanna call it that) as I don't write it very often. Also, I hope you like getting to know more about Radius and his time with Celestia. That image by the very talented mix-up should depict their relationship quite nicely.