"N-no, th-this just isn't right!" Twilight Sparkle stuttered out of disbelief, breaking the long silence. "This wasn't supposed to happen! Th-that drug was supposed to purge the radiation from his body and restore his DNA! It wasn't supposed to kill him!"

Shining Armor was always there for his sister to lend support and this time was no different as he placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug as she burst into tears. Seemingly out of the blue, Soarin began sobbing not only for the fallen mutant, but for the fact that every one of them were exhausted, sick, sore, battered, bruised, and dirty. Frederick wanted nothing more than to get them all back home and return to his own home himself so he retrieved a mic from one of the trucks' radios to call in transportation for them as they badly needed medical care and rest. All the while, Celestia stared blankly down at Radius's body, all the events over the past two weeks rushing through her mind.

Just over a week ago, the Princess was going taking a pause from her duties in remembrance of a supposedly deceased loved one. In that short amount of time, she had learned that he had been alive all this time and begins a search for him just to actually see him die before her very eyes. It was a lot to take in to say the least but after a taking the moment she needed to gather her thoughts, she turned to her trembling student and slowly trotted towards her. With her lips quivering and tears flowing down her cheeks, Celestia embraced the lavender alicorn and broke down, completely unable to keep her emotions in check.

"Twi-T-Twilight, it's *hic* it's okay, Twilight, I know it wasn't!" Celestia sobbed along with Twilight, their heads resting on the other's shoulders. "I know it was *sniff* it was supposed to cure him b-but he...I just...I didn't want to accept it before but...he was too far gone."

"P-princess, I'm s-so sorry!" Twilight sobbed.

"No, no Twilight, listen to me! He was here for thirty years! There was nothing else we could have done! Don't ever think you did anything wrong, do you understand!? You set him free! You're his hero, Twilight!"

Still hugging her student tightly, Celestia then lifted her head to face her subjects, everyone of them with the look in their eyes only those who've worked hard just to have their progress ruined would give. Tears rushed down their own faces from their sunken in eyes complimented by dark rings. They were all filthy, covered in insect bites, cuts, scrapes and bruises, they had lost weight and worst of all, they were irradiated and sick. To have worked so tirelessly to find somepony just to watch him die brought everypony to their emotional breaking point but Celestia refused to allow them to think their efforts were in vain.

"You're all his heroes!" Celestia announced as she continued to weep. "Every one of you! For thirty years, Radius was here suffering like this...and because we all came here, he's free now. After today...we can all go home knowing that we all worked together to bring peace to somepony who it was long over due. We should all be proud of ourselves f-for th-this and we *sniff* we...*hic* let's just go home, everypony! I just want to go home!"

Every pony and human alike could not possibly agree more as they had all been through more than enough for a long time to come and now that their primary subject was finally at rest, their own beds were the first things on their minds. Slowly, the group of soldiers walked back to their trucks with their heads hung low with Frederick making a beeline to the nearest radio to call in for more necessary help. As everypony held each other close and let their emotions flow freely in the form of buckets of tears, one by one, the trucks of soldiers departed back to the checkpoint save for just a few.

It did not take long for an ambulance from the nearest town and Denys to arrive to bring deliver Radius's body everypony else respectively from the exclusion zone. With one final salute, one by one everypony somberly trotted past the cold, lifeless body of Radius Hoofenschtov as they headed to board the bus that would finally take them home. Their hearts ached badly as did their entire bodies but now their work was done and they at long last could get the rest they needed. While two men in hazmat suits who brought the ambulance prepared a stretcher, Princess Celestia took one final moment to grieve in peace and reached down with a hoof to gently close Radius's stone dead eyes before offering her final goodbyes.

"You don't have to suffer anymore..." Celestia whispered as the tears continued to flow down her cheeks.

Like her subjects before her, the weary Princess whom refused an offer for an ambulance of her own then limped her way to the bus where Denys kindly helped her board as she could barely lift a hoof off the ground. The men with the ambulance had hoisted Radius up onto the stretcher and with one stroke of a zipper, he was bagged, tagged, and rolled into the back of the red and white van where he would finally be returned home for the burial he deserved. It was all finally over and everypony could return home knowing that they had done another an invaluable service. For Princess Celestia on the other hoof, though she was overjoyed that her long lost subject was now in a better place, her largest regret was that he had not died instantly in Chernobyls explosion as it was originally perceived. Instead, he had stayed there and needlessly suffered for so long and the weeping Princess knew it would be many years before she could forgive herself for having not done something sooner; that is, if she ever would.

"What a waste..." Rainbow Dash said wistfully as she watched the paramedics shut the back door of the ambulance. "What...a fucking...waste."

"We did all we could, Rainbow." Shining Armor said, his voice trembling as he failed to stifle his tears.

"Not for the past thirty years, we didn't."

"Nopony could have known." Daring Do added. "How easy can it be to find somepony who goes out of his way to avoid being found. It's nopony's fault."

"Can we please all just talk about this later?" Celestia cut in. "I can't...I just can't do this right now."

Celestia had hit a record low point in her life and as she sat in her seat and soaked the nearest window with her tears, she could think of nothing but what could have been if Radius had been rescued much sooner. The loving uncle he was could have watched his nieces and nephews grow up and spent all that time with his family that loved him so. What if he had proposed to Celestia? The loved they once shared for each other was undying and she though she never found out for certain that Radius had planned to do so, she had often suspected that he did and she knew she would have gladly accepted. Now, thirty years of unnecessary pain and agony had come to a well deserved end and now Celestia had to return home and face Radius's family and his dying elderly parents to tell them that he had been alive all this time but ended up getting killed after they had found him.

With the bus full of ponies in the front, the ambulance just behind and Frederick in the first truck with two more behind, the next stop would be the checkpoint a few miles away. Everypony was so exhausted that most had already fallen asleep as soon as their rump hit their seat and the ones who had not yet dozed off were not far from doing so. Still, there were procedures they all had to follow upon leaving the exclusion zone before returning home so there was still quite some time before they could all enjoy the divine comfort of their own beds. As Denys hastily cranked the engine over and shifted into gear, Celestia herself quietly cried herself to sleep with her cheek resting against the cold glass of the side window. Little did everypony know, while they slept and drifted into their own dreams, another dream of sorts was occurring in a completely different world for a certain soul who would otherwise enter paradise.

Complete silence and a blinding white light was all Radius could hear or see. He could not feel nor could he speak, try as he might. For the longest time, Radius anxiously awaited his ultimate fate and whatever paradise or punishment was in store for him. As his thoughts drifted about, he began to wonder if this was it. This strange white abyss that he was stuck in could be the afterlife he was destined for. Though immensely boring, surly better than suffering in a radioactive city, needing to poison his body daily in order to keep an alternate personality at bay. Or would it? He would soon find out however as he would notice his sense of touch making a slow return.

It started with the sudden sensation of sitting on his rump followed by a strange, cold feeling right where he sat. Slowly, the bright light began to fade as well, revealing the new surroundings that Radius would soon find himself in. With his eyes still closed, he waited for the bright flash to disperse and once it finally subsided, he opened his eyes and blinked several times as he double took.

Radius Hoofenschtov returned to his hooves and stared in awe at what seemed like a park of sorts that he found himself in. Every one of the countless trees in the area were completely barren and the ground covered in a thin layer of snow, slowly growing thicker as more flakes fell from the gray, cloud filled sky. As he turned around to get a better look, he noticed the clicking of his hooves on a hard surface and looked down to see that he was standing on a narrow path made of bricks leading through the strange park he found himself in. The road of brick was the least of his concern however as he stared down at his cleanly polished hooves attached to legs covered in short, gray fur.

"Gah! My hooves!" Radius yelped as he sat on his rump and looked his body up and down.

Radius glanced over every inch of his body that his eyes were not attached to and stared in shock as he was covered in the natural, healthy, coat of gray that he was born with. He then reached up to his forehead and rubbed his horn, finding that it was straight, of normal length and consistently tapered from the base to the tip. Upon further observation, he could see that the two underdeveloped, mutated legs that once jutted from his chest were no longer there. For the first time in a great many years, he was his old, normal self and as such, he was no longer experiencing the constant burning pain that plagued his entire body for so long.

He needed a moment for everything to sink in. Though he could not quite remember precisely why he had suddenly arrived in such a strange, unfamiliar place, the fact that his body was the only thing he could have ever asked for and he relished in the moment. His seemingly endless torment was at long last, finally over. Why or how, he simply did not care. However, he did have a few unanswered questions of which he would prefer to gain closure. As he paused another moment to look around before beginning a leisurely trot down the brick path, the snowfall slightly picked up the pace to a point where it was just heavy enough but not so much where it would obstruct visibility.

"I wonder if the sun ever comes out." Radius said to himself. "A bit colder than any paradise I've ever thought of but this place isn't so bad....huh...I wonder if..."

Radius trailed off as a new thought popped into his mind and the more he mulled it over, the more he wanted to bring closure to it. Radius like most ponies was always a social being and as such, he desired companionship and if he could just find at least one other living being to talk to, he could not care less about the dreary weather.

"Hello?" Radius called out as he continued to trot down the path. "Hello? Anypony here?"

He so badly hoped to hear a reply but much to his dismay, not a single voice or movement could be heard from either direction. Surely he was not the only one there as the area appeared to be fairly large as far as he could tell. Perhaps, there would be a town or village nearby as there were plenty signs of civilization including the brick path, several benches and lamp posts that dotted the park. There was only one way to find out and Radius decided to hoof it through the snow and the icy wind.

"Can anypony hear me!?" Radius called out, refusing to give up his hopes that he would find someone or somepony to talk to.

The path seemed endless. Radius was talented when it came to judging how much time had gone by without the aid of a watch so once he had realized that precisely an hour had gone by, he began to experience difficulty in trotting through the snow. The fluffy ice was now up to the chest of the now normal sized equine and upon being slowed down in his journey, the cold was beginning to affect him much more. More tired than cold however, Radius thought to himself that surely in the afterlife, he could not simply die again so the discomfort of the icy air would simply be just that. Still however, it confused Radius immensely that his supposed paradise should be much more enjoyable or at least after a short break perhaps he could continue his trek and find another sentient being to help him make sense of everything. For now, the nearest park bench would have to suffice.

Even in death, Radius could feel discomfort much to his confusion. Though he would consider it foal's play in comparison to what he had endured before, he began to wonder if perhaps he was to be punished rather than rewarded. For all he knew, the worst could be yet to come and as he sat on that park bench and shivered in the cold, the very idea that he may have to endure worse torment for all eternity made his blood run colder than the icy wind. Fortunately for Radius, he was about to learn otherwise as a pair of gloved hands came up behind him and gently placed a warm blanket on his back.

"Here, friend, take this." The voice of an older sounding man said.

"Oh...uh, th-thanks." Radius stuttered as he shivered before relishing in the newly found warmth that a kind soul had just given him.

"Don't mention it. May I join you?"

"Of course! I've been looking for someone else to talk to for a while!"

The man behind Radius then took up his offer and slowly walked over to the other side of the bench and slowly sat down next to him. He did not say anything else and Radius looked over to see a man in a heavy gray coat, appearing to be wool of some sort. The man also wore a black ushanka style hat and simply sat next to the confused pony just twiddling his thumbs as if contemplating what to say next. The only part of the man's face past the flaps of the hat was his nose and a neatly trimmed gray mustache just underneath. Before Radius could introduce himself to break the awkward silence, the man finally took it upon himself to do so, revealing that he and the pony knew each other in the distant past.

"Wow...You're finally here..." The man said quietly, sounding as if he were on the verge of tears. "I can't believe you're finally here...I've been waiting here for so long to talk to you."

Much to Radius's confusion, he had gotten more than he bargained for as he was certainly relieved to find that he was not the only soul there but as he thought for a moment, the man's voice did sound familiar. Unless Radius saw his face, he could not for the life of him put his hoof on it. Perhaps this man was an old friend or a work colleague. There was only one way to find out.

"Uh, have we met before?" Radius asked with a raised eyebrow.

The man responded by simply nodding his head as he continued to nervously fidget with his hands. The warm comfort the blanket the man had given to him was too good to just jump out of and off the bench to see who exactly he was talking to but he felt quite tempted to. Finally, the mysterious man slowly turned towards the pony he sat on the bench next to and looked him directly in the eye. The sudden realization that the only person around he could talk to was a man whose name he had cursed for thirty years made Radius's blood boil, ridding him of his need for the blanket.

"YOU!!" Radius shouted as he sprang up to his hooves, his veins quickly jutting from under the skin of his neck. "You're here!? Oh god, I'm in hell!"

"Of course you're not, Radius, you've done nothing wrong." Anatoly Dyatlov calmly assured the enraged pony, completely unsurprised by his reaction. "I understand why you're not happy to see me but all I ask is that you please just hear me out for a mome-"

"Not happy!? I fucking despise you!! You caused me so much pain and suffering for so goddamn long!! You...I'm so pissed I can't even see straight, you son of a bitch!!"

Suddenly, the normally peaceful pony that Radius was snapped under the pressures of his blind anger and raised one of his rock hard hooves as he grabbed the scarf around Dyatlov's neck with the other. With every ounce of his strength, the furious equine tightly shut his eyes and jammed his hoof into Dyatlov's face as hard as his front leg would allow. Instead of the sensation of hitting his enemy's soft, fleshy face or hearing the satisfying sound of a nose breaking or teeth being crushed, there was nothing more than the "whoosh" of his hoof flying through the air. Upon opening his eyes, Radius was greeted with the sight of most of his front leg buried deep within Dyatlov's face and his hoof coming out the other side. There was no blood whatsoever and when Radius flung his hoof about, repeatedly going through what appeared to be the smoke-like form of Anatoly, every hair on his body stood on end.

"What!? Radius yelped as he stumbled and fell off the bench and into the fluffy layer of snow on the ground. "Wh-wh-what the...what the fuck!?"

"Trust me, Doctor Hoofenschtov, if you could land a blow, I'd turn the other cheek." Anatoly said, the sad, droopy expression never leaving his face.

"Wha-what is this!?"

"You're dead, Radius. We...we both are."

"No shit, but what is this place and why do I have to be stuck here with you!?"

"I don't really know. I guess the only way I can describe it is like a...some kind of a 'Purgatory' I guess. It's certainly no paradise but...I wouldn't say it's awful."

"How long have you been here?"

"Since December of ninety-five. The day my heart gave out, I was certain one of two things would happen. I would eith-"

"I don't care! Why the hell am I even talking to you!?"

"I understand. If you change your mind, I'll be waiting here."

"I'll say the same thing to you now that I said thirty years ago! Bite me!"

With his entire coat still standing on end and his teeth clenched nearly to the point of crumbling in his jaw, Radius stormed away and continued onward, leaving Anatoly Dyatlov to sit alone on the bench. The furious unicorn indeed desired some companionship if this was to be his home for all of eternity but surely there had to be someone or somepony else other than the man he hated so badly. Anyone but him would do. He was so enraged to see him that the snow he trotted through seemed to melt from the heat of his body brought on by his anger alone.

Step after step, the snow sizzled and steam wafted from every hoof print Radius had left behind as he stomped further away from whom he saw as his sworn enemy. Though he was incredibly miffed to have seen Dyatlov again, it did feel rather nostalgic to cuss him out like he had a mere hour before his life would be ruined forever. The only difference was that it did not feel nearly as satisfying as it had the last time. Normally, Anatoly would have earned such rude choice words thrown his way as he was usually the one to instigate and back then, he simply pushed Radius over the edge. Now that he had calmed down and began to think for a moment, Radius realized that the tables had turned. This time, he was the one shouting and Anatoly simply sat there and took it.

"Huh...weird..." Radius muttered to himself as he continued to trot in search of anyone else to talk to. "That's not like him. I've never seen him that calm before...and why would he just let me talk to him like that?"

Radius was always known for rationality and logical thinking but nopony was immune to the occasional allowing their emotions to cloud their judgement. As he continued to trot down the snowy path, the fluffy, white ice no longer melting in his wake, he began to ponder the situation he found himself in. This just was not the Anatoly Dyatlov he knew from before as for once he had addressed him properly and just nodded politely while Radius cursed at him. Still, Radius badly wanted someone to talk to and if he could get a better understanding of what was going on and dare he think perhaps even find some closure, Dyatlov would suffice. After all, he seemed much more approachable than Radius had remembered so what could he have to lose? Now that he himself had a moment to calm down, perhaps he could trot back simply to learn more of what made the two such terrible enemies.

While the now calm and collected pony trotted back towards the bench where he had left Dyatlov, his heart rate slowly started to pick up again as the man came into his sight. Again, his hair began to stand on end as he trotted closer to Dyatlov who occupied himself with a newspaper until finally, Radius stopped directly at his feet. Dyatlov was well aware that the pony he badly wished to speak with was standing directly in front of him and he knew very well that he was still not happy to see him. Radius, having gone so many years without contact with others and having always experienced difficulty picking up on social cues could plainly see the man's hands nervously shake as he slowly lowered the paper before folding it neatly and placing it down on his lap.

There they both sat and stood respectively staring each other directly in the eye, two mortal enemies Anatoly Stepanovich Dyatlov and Radius Circumfrancis Hoofenschtov. For the first time in thirty years, Radius finally had a chance to tell the man who ruined his life how he felt and get everything off his chest. For the first time ever, Dyatlov made it quite clear that he intended to listen to what the pony whom he had hurt had to say and allow him the closure he knew he deserved. For the first time ever, Dyatlov gave complete control over the conversation to Radius.

"Do you have any idea..." Radius said through clenched teeth as he glared daggers up at the man who sat on the bench. "...any conceivable fucking clue...of the hell I've been through these past three decades? The things I've had to do to survive all the while, I was completely unable to kill myself and end it?"

"No..." Dyatlov answered quietly as his lips quivered. "I'm not going to lie to you and say that I d-"

"Just a simple 'no' is more than enough. Now, I know there was a window to the control room that I should have been assigned to that day. Tell me...what went through your mind when you looked out to see that massive fire where the reactor was? What were you thinking when you realized that you caused so many others to die and thousands more to suffer?"

Instead of replying, Anatoly Dyatlov simply sat there with his eyes tightly shut then proceeded to hyperventilate until he simply could no longer hold his emotions at bay. The little pony who stood no higher that Dyatlov's waist had gotten to him and reduced him to a sobbing mess who could not help but tightly squeeze the newspaper he held in his hand. To see a man who had always tried to make himself appear tough no matter what to weep so openly was the last thing he expected. Finally, after a minute or two of profuse sobbing, Dyatlov was able to speak coherently and answer Radius's question.

"Th-that's what I was trying to tell you." Dyatlov whimpered as the tears flowed down his cheeks and formed a pool in his gray mustache. "W-when I had my heart attack back in ninety-five...I thought for sure I was going to Hell to pay for it but...I ended up here. I was given another chance, Radius, we both were! We were both brou-...we were all brought here for a reason!"

Anatoly then slowly arose from the bench and held his arms out to Radius as he walked towards him, much to the pony's confusion. Noticing that instead of allowing him to come any closer, Radius was trotting backwards with the same bemused expression on his face, Dyatlov threw the last bit of pride he had left away and dropped to his knees.

"P-please I just..." Anatoly sobbed. "I always wanted to tell you I'm sorry! W-when I saw the explosion, it was right then that I knew I'd caused the worst nuclear accident in history! Th-that's why I tried to hard to keep total control of the test on the reactor! I was a jealous fool because I knew you were a better engineer than I ever was!"

"What do you want from me, Dyatlov!?" Radius asked as he trotted backwards, Dyatlov having become a sad sight.

"Your forgiveness!"

"Not a chance, asshole!"

"I know nothing can ever give you back those years you lost! Just know that not a day has gone by without me thinking about it whether I was alive or not!"

"And you think I can forgive all that? You're crazy!"

"Please, I beg of you! This is why we were both brought here! Please, find it somewhere in your heart to forgive me!"

"I get it...soon before the explosion...Vlad and Valeriy told me you had a son who died from leukemia, right?"

"Y-yes, th-that's right."

"So lemme guess...if I forgive you, you get to see him again? Is that it?"

"I...I..."

"Well, then guess what!? Maybe, I'll just keep your ass here and you'll never see him again! How about that!?"

Radius then plastered on one of the shittiest of shit eating grins on his face much like that of his alter ego whom terrorized him for so many years. Though Spazz himself seemed to be gone for the time being, Radius was behaving frighteningly like him and to a pair of bipedal beings who Radius failed to notice standing behind him, it was disappointing to see. Regardless of what he had been through, those who knew Radius knew that it was against everything he once stood for to wish harm on others in any way shape or form and to see him do so, was incredibly saddening and unbecoming of who he was.

"Raddy...buddy, how could you say that?" A man's voice said wistfully behind Radius.

"We get it. You went through hell." Said another. "You have family back at home too, man. And this...this just isn't like you."

Radius's pupils dilated and completely filled his eyes as the sudden realization of who stood behind him hit him. Radius whipped around and looked up at the faces of none other than his two favorite work colleagues whom of which died in his arms that fateful night. The looks on their faces much resembled the droopy, depressed expression Dyatlov donned before he began sobbing and it was rather clear that witnessing Radius explicitly go against his own nature was the reason for it. As long as he lived back home in Canterlot, he was well known for living by his own philosophy of never wishing harm or harboring ill will towards others and he had just broken his own rule that he had always taken such pride in.

"G-guys!" Radius stuttered as he looked into the sad eyes of his friends whom he had not seen since the meltdown. "Oh my god, you're here too!?"

"Yeah, man we've been here since you last saw us." Vladimir said with a sigh. "I guess going through what you had to would change anyone though."

"We get it if you can't forgive the guy but at least don't toy with him about his son." Valeriy said as he shook his head in disapproval. "Ain't cool at all."

Radius was speechless but he understood where his two deceased friends were coming from as Radius's hatred had made him lose touch with his own past self. Though he did not wish to show it, he did feel guilty over his malicious comment as he too knew what it was like to have loved ones taken from him. If that was not enough to really make Radius think, what he saw when he turned back towards Anatoly would surely persuade him to view the situation from a different perspective. To the confused equine's surprise, there were two more familiar men helping Anatoly back up to his feet as they patted him on the back in attempt to comfort him.

"What the...Aleksandr!? Leonid!?" Radius gasped at the sight of two more colleagues who died because of the man they both took pity on. "What the...how did..."

"Hello, Radius." Said the mustached Aleksandr Akimov said in the calm and welcoming tone he was known for.

"Nice to see you again, Doctor." Leonid Toptunov greeted much the same.

Though they were all deceased and stuck in an icy cold limbo, Radius could still feel a strange pain in his heart as he watched his former colleagues offer support to the man who was allegedly responsible for their deaths. Akimov and Toptunov, like many others did not see a swift nor painless end to their lives as their radiation poisoning had slowly eaten away at their flesh and skin while they lived to deal with it. They had to endure great pain and agony because of human error and negligence and yet they treated the man allegedly mostly to blame like a friend. Radius was rather shocked yet touched at the same time to see them show such kindness towards Dyatlov; Especially Toptunov, who met his demise at age twenty-six, right when he began his promising career just to have it tragically cut short.

"I...guys, I don't..." Radius fumbled with his words, unable to form a complete sentence.

"We've all been here for a while, Radius." Toptunov sighed. "We've had a lot of time to think and talk things over. Once Anatoly got here, we had already long forgiven him."

"We know, it'll be hard for you to do the same." Akimov said. "We couldn't even begin to describe how good it felt to just drop all that weight off our shoulders."

"Hey, those deer are back, guys." Vladimir said as he and Valeriy stood behind Radius.

Wondering why there would be a herd of deer in a place such as this, Radius turned around to see that sure enough, there were six deer crowding around his two work colleagues as they petted and scratched behind their ears. They were all just normal looking deer and behaved as such, save for two that appeared to be identical to each other and mimicked each other's every move and never left the other's side. It was then and there that Radius realized just who he was looking at and his pupils dilated as the memory involving them came back to him.

"Radius...you wouldn't do this... A familiar voice echoed through the stunned pony's mind as he stared into the eyes of one deer in particular. "I know this isn't you...whatever happens...I forgive you...

"M-Mikail?" Radius whimpered as the seemingly non-sentient animal trotted towards him.

"These guys got here a little while after we did." Vladimir said, noticing Radius addressing one of the deceased souls. "Do you know them from somewhere?"

"Yes...I do..."

"How about that wolf over there?" Akimov asked as he pointed over towards the more forested side of the brick path. "He just got here a few hours ago?"

"What!? Where!?"

Again, Radius shifted his focus to see that there indeed was a wolf behind a bush and it ducked down when he and the pony made eye contact, as if it were afraid. It was just a normal European breed of wolf and the first that Radius had seen lacking grotesque mutations in many years. As the sudden realization of who exactly that shy wolf that hid from him was sunk in, it acted as the final nudge needed to push Radius over the edge. With several people and animals he once knew forming a circle around him, he turned to face Anatoly Dyatlov for what would be his final time. As tears poured down the face of the man and the pony who faced each other, much to the amazement and awe of everyone present, the latter's body began to slowly levitate off the ground.

Try as he might, Radius could no longer hold it. The anger, the hatred, the ill will, and malice he once held onto for so long was slipping away and for the first time in thirty long, painful, tortuous years of loneliness and misery, he gave up on his tight grip on it. He himself had been forgiven by the herd of deer who died because of his own bodily actions, their blood finally having been cleansed from his hooves. Not only that but Bolnoyvolk, whom he had just had a battle to the death with was finally at peace and free from the mutations that sickened both his body and mind. After having his heart touched in such a way was the last straw and he simply no longer had the will to hold onto his grudge anymore.

After a moment of shutting his eyes as the indescribable weight dropped off of Radius's back, he gasped as he had just noticed that he was now hovering six feet off the ground. A bright aura of light slowly came into existence and enveloped his floating body as he kicked his hooves about. Everyone watching was as confused as he was as they had yet to see such a phenomenon occur in their realm. As the light that surrounded Radius grew brighter and brighter still, his eyes began to glow an even brighter white until finally, his entire body followed suit as slowly twirled in a circle while still air born. What came next was what would astonish all who watched more than anything they had ever bore witness to in all their days alive or dead alike.

With his eyes shut tight as if accepting his transformation, everyone gasped in amazement as an appendage sprouted from the left side of Radius's upper back, near his shoulder blades. Still completely enveloped in his divine, white glow, the strange object that jutted from his back that quickly spread and fanned out and another immediately followed suit from the opposite side. After the two strange appendages had completed their growth, Radius's entire body did a slight amount of growing of its own, his legs and neck slowly becoming longer and taller. To the pony experiencing these odd transformations, it neither painful nor even mildly uncomfortable and not a result of radiation.

Finally, the light dispersed and Radius slowly floated back down to the ground and landed as gently as a leaf in the cold snow. Once he knew he was back on solid ground, he opened his eyes to see everyone still staring at him, their eyes much resembling saucers. Curious and admittedly rather worried as to what had happened to him this time that earned such stares from everyone else, Radius turned his gaze to his right to see plain as day, a large, unfurled wing attached to his own body. It took a good, long minute for the genius to process what exactly it was that he was staring at and when he turned to his left, he saw another wing just like the other, the feathers matching the same light gray as the rest of his coat.

"No..." Radius whispered to himself. "This...can't be...there's no way, this just isn't possible! I'm...an alicorn? Oh my god, guys! What's happening to you all!?"

Turning back his attention to the onlookers, Radius gasped as he could see straight through them and their fading bodies. With a final wave, all of the humans completely faded away having been finally set free by the final grudge being let go. Radius then frantically turned back to the herd of deer to see that they too had become transparent and within seconds were totally gone, at long last being able to depart to the afterlife. It was then and there that Radius realized that by his forgiveness of a man he had hated so badly for so long, he had just given several restless souls the freedom they too longed for and now after waiting so patiently, they could finally rest in peace.

Soon, the sky quickly darkened as they snow fall increased intensity and quickly became a whiteout. As Radius frantically looked around with his new wings flared out, the darkness quickly took over until a pitch black abyss was all that remained. It was much like the transitions between some of the memories he had shared with Shining Armor mere hours ago but he truly had no idea why it was happening now or what was to come next. Much to his new found good fortune, he would not have to wait long as the darkness would promptly give way to light once again.

Finally, the light faded away, revealing the next place Radius would find himself in the form of a very large, grassy meadow with a great many hills and thousands of gravestones and monuments as far as the eye could see. The cool wind that whipped about blew scores of fallen leaves around a series of brick paths that lead through what apparently was a cemetery.

"I know he would have forgiven you too, Anatoly." A familiar female voice said behind Radius. "That's just the type of pony he was."

As his pupils dilated and filled his eyes, Radius quickly turned around to see none other than the magnificent, beautiful mare he once fell in love with so long ago trotting down the path towards him. Accompanying her by her side was Anatoly Dyatlov himself, appearing to have fared much worse than when he had seen him just moments ago. Princess Celestia trotted at a slug's pace to allow the sickly and weak Dyatlov to keep up as he huffed and puffed with every little step he took. Still, despite his struggles to simply walk along the path, he tried his very best to express his gratitude towards the princess who had just made peace with him as deep within the back of his mind, he knew he would not live much longer.

"Bless your heart, Your Majesty." Anatoly wheezed between his severely labored breaths. "It's true, he was so kind. I always remembered the rest of the staff saying that he never truly hated me despite my...my..."

Before Anatoly could finish his sentence, he collapsed to his knees and succumbed to a full fledged coughing fit. There he was on his knees, wheezing and gasping for breath a mere five feet from where Radius stood as tears flowed down his cheeks. Meanwhile, Celestia gently rubbed the ailing man's back with her hoof as she waited for his coughing to subside. After he could finally catch his breath, the Princess enveloped Dyatlov within her aura and gently placed him on her back where she proceeded to begin her trot to where he would be catching his train back to Earth.

"Bless you, Princess." Dyatlov choked as he continued to weep at the alicorn's kindness towards him.

"I'm...I-I'm so glad we met here today." Celestia said as she too let her emotions out and began to openly weep. "This is what Radius would have wanted. This would have made him so happy and...and...*sniff* I-if he were still alive today, I'd hope he'd never change the way he was!"

It was those last words from his former lover that once again tugged firmly at Radius's heart and as he watched her trot away with the dying Anatoly on her back, he hung his head low and created a puddle of tears on the ground beneath his face. Though he had felt the liberation of having let go of his grudge, he felt ashamed that he had gone against his very own nature and that Celestia would have been so disappointed if she ever knew. Now, it could finally all be put to rest along with the souls who he had just set free. For Radius on the other hoof, fate would have other plans.

"Radius!" The voices of all his work colleagues echoed in unison as the scene before him once again began to fade. "Radius! Go home, Radius!"

"Home?" Radius whimpered. "Wh-what about home?"

"You need to go home, Radius! It's not your time yet!"

Instead of fading to black, a blinding, white light was all that Radius could see for mere minutes that felt like years as the voices of his friends called out to him one last time.

"Go home, Radius! Go hoooome! Go hooooooome!"

As suddenly as the light brought an end to the last bit of scenery, it vanished just as quickly and gave way to darkness. The feeling of having been set free replaced by pain all over his body and after a moment of feeling about with his hooves, he could tell that he was lying on his back. Finally, his eyes fully adjusted to the change and revealed a strange, gray obstruction that sat directly on top of his muzzle. It seemed like a wall of sorts that was laying over top his whole body that rustled and crinkled much like a tarp or a plastic bag found in a cereal box as he flailed his hooves about. In the very center of the strange, plastic wall was a seam of sorts that lead to an extremely tiny opening on the very top. Very carefully, Radius pressed his hoof against this small opening which turned out to be a zipper and pushed it down just enough to let in a refreshing gulp of much needed air much to the dismay of another being who watched from outside his plastic prison.

"Haaahh! H-hey, g-guys!" A man's voice hollered out in a state of near panic. "Y-y-you might wanna come look at this!"

"What? What's going on back there!?" Asked another man from where sounded like the front cockpit of a moving vehicle.

"I-I-I don't th-thhhh..."

"Out with it, comrade! What's the problem!?"

"The patient's not dead..."

Author's Notes:

I truly hope Radius's new "change" is received well however, due to past experiences that I've seen involving wings, I have rather low expectations. Just know though that Radius's ascension into alicornhood will only take place while in the realm of the dead. The beautiful image you see above depicting Radius's magnificent transformation was made by the incredibly talented mix-up.