"So what exactly is the plan, sister?" Luna asked as the two sisters sat at a table in Celestia's private study.

"Well, Lulu, the plan is for you and I to take some time here to make a plan." Celestia replied.

"Oh. So, you don't actually have one at the moment."

"Um, I do not."

It was true, Celestia currently did not know where to start but she and Luna could now use the time they had to determine the proper course of action to take from this point. The very first step to doing this was to assess the over all situation and then start with going over what options they may have at their disposal. As emotional as Celestia has been however, it was of utmost importance that she remain calm throughout the thinking process as to avoid making rash decisions. Being that she and her sister were as old as Equestria itself though, the two of them had little trouble with maintaining their composure.

"Alright then..." Celestia began. "Let's just take a moment to review what we're dealing with here."

"Well, the way I see it..." Luna began. "We have an Equestrian citizen lost in an abandoned city plagued by radiocative partacles in another dimension."

"That is for the most part correct aside from the minor details."

"Such as?"

"There are a few particular things about the exclusion zone around Pripyat that we need to keep in mind. One, the radiation is higher in some parts of the area than others."

"Alright. What else?"

"There is a reason why the Ukrainian authorities normally refuse to allow anyone within the zone at night. That's when the mutated wildlife comes out. Due to the lack of human presence, there are supposedly several hundred wolves in the area and they are anything but normal too."

"Wow. How do you suppose Radius has survived all this time with such obstacles?"

"I don't know, Luna. Really I don't but Radius was a genius. He was a resourceful one and he had the highest IQ of anypony in modern Equestrian history. That's...kind of what drew me to him."

"Focus, Tia. We need to figure out what we need to do to find him."

"We can't do this on our own. We need to get some help with it."

"Most certainly."

"We'll need to gather up some ponies for the job. The only course of action I see fit is to hire some qualified ponies to go into the zone and try to locate Radius."

"You mean like some of our guards?"

"Well, not exactly. The more I think about it, the more names of those I'd trust to help come to mind."

"Who?"

"Hold that thought, Lulu. I need you to go call Mr. Groysman back and tell him I'll be getting some help rounded up. I'll be making some calls and writing some letters of my own."

While Princess Luna went to call the Prime Minister back, Princess Celestia grabbed a quill and a stack of parchment with her aura and went to work writing out the letters to summon some of Equestria's finest. After approximately fifteen minutes, Celestia had finished her fifth letter and took a few more to review her work. Once she was satisfied with what she had on the parchment, one by one she placed each of them into their own addressed envelopes, sealed them shut and placed stamp her own signature seal on the wax. Normally, Celestia would prefer to contact somepony by telephone but she knew that the particular ones she had in mind had not yet acquired such technology so the standard mail would have to suffice.

With the envelopes sealed and stamped, Celestia then cast a spell, sending each one of them to the ponies they were addressed to. Doing so rather than sending it out via Equestria's postal service would ensure that the letters reached their destinations more quickly. With that task finished and the letters on their way, Princess Celestia then levitated a corded phone that sat upon her desk and dialed the number of somepony she knew who had gotten one of his own. After a moment of ringing, somepony picked up on the other line.

"You've reached the Palace of the Crystal Empire, how may I help you?" A mare on the other line asked.

"Good evening, miss." Princess Celestia greeted. "This is Princess Celestia calling from the South."

"Oh! How can I help you, your majesty?"

"Could you transfer me to Prince Shining Armor, please? It's a matter of utmost urgency."

"Ah, right away, Your Majesty. One moment, please."

"Thank you, miss."

After the pleasant exchange between Celestia and the secretary she just spoke to, a nice, soothing piano solo began playing as the Princess patiently waited on hold. She had informed the secretary that her reason for calling was extremely important so she anticipated that she would not have to wait very long on hold. As soothing as the music on the other line was, Celestia could only take so much for so long and after ten minutes, she began to get slightly impatient.

"What the hell is taking him so long?" Celestia swore under her breath.

Still another five minutes later, nopony answered her. Being several thousands of years old, one developed the patience of a saint but even Celestia became bored while she kept waiting until eventually her mind just trailed off onto whatever subject happened to pop into it. Finally, after yet another five minutes, the music stopped and the Princess could hear some slight background noise."

"Uh, he-*pant* hello?" A winded stallion answered.

"Wow, Shining Armor, what kept you?" Celestia asked jokingly. "I didn't think your hallways were that long."

"Oh! Auntie *gasp* Celestia! It's been *pant* a while? How are *phew* you?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. What were you doing when I was on hold for twenty minutes?"

"Oh, uh I was just doing some excercises. Ever since I stepped down as guard Captain, I kinda put on a few so uh...you know."

"Don't let him fool you, Auntie!" A young mare yelled from the background. He's been smoking again! He never got winded this easily before!"

"I have not!" Celestia could tell by Shining Armor's tone that he was not being entirely truthful and decided she would bring that up near the end of the conversation.

"Oh is that Cadence?" Celestia asked, glad to hear from both of the young couple. "Tell her I said hi!"

"Uh, sure, I'll put you on speaker."

"Okay then. So, I think we've gotten a little of track here. I suppose you two are wondering why I'm calling at this hour."

"Yeah, what's going on? Cadence asked.

"I need your help with something, Shining Armor. I'll explain the best I can so bear with me."

"Okay, no worries." Shining Armor said, willing to help any way he could as always.

"Okay then. See, thirty years ago, I had a very serious relationship with a physicist named Radius Hoofenschtov. He was supposedly killed in the Chernobyl meltdown in Ukraine back in 1986. Are you with me so far?"

"Yeah, I remember you telling me about that before. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you, dear. So recently, a strange signal interfered with a local radio broadcast. It was a bit weak but the voice was familiar and I was able to put a few things together and I even got a call from the leader of Ukraine. He sent over some new found evidence that suggests...that he might still be alive there somewhere after all these years."

"Wow, that's rough. Isn't that place a dead zone or something?"

"And that's why I need to search that area and get him out as soon as possible if we find him. I need your help, Shining. I confess, it will be a very dangerous mission but I can't think of anypony I trust more to lead some more recruits and find our missing citizen."

"You Know you can always count on me."

"Not only are there dangerous creatures under every rock there, the area is also plagued by radiation."

"Okay, but I'm always willing to help you with anything you need."

"I'll also pay you for your troubles, dear. Please, I can't do this witho-"

"Auntie, I said I'll help."

"Oh...right. Thank you so much, Shining."

Even though Shining Armor was always willing to help with anything regardless of the dangers of the job, Celestia truly did not expect him to welcome such a challenge as quickly and with no hesitation the way he did. Shining Armor was until the previous year the Captain of the Cnterlot Royal Guard but since then, many things changed. He was married to his true love, held the title and position of Prince of the Crystal Empire and was now even a father. The mission he had just agreed to assist in was full of dangers he had never faced before and now, he had a lot more to lose should something go wrong.

"Really, it's no problem, Auntie Celestia." Shining Armor assured the Princess on the other line.

"I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate this, dear." Celestia replied. "So, here is what I'd like you to do. I've sent out letters to five others who I thought would be qualified and willing to help so if you could gather up some of your Royal Guard survival gear and such, that would be immensely helpful."

"Of course."

"On Friday, at three in the afternoon, I'll be having everypony willing to go meet with me at the palace here in Canterlot. Just talk things over with Cadence and show up then. Sound fair?"

"You bet!"

"Again, thank you so much...Oh and Shining?"

"Yeah?"

"You know I care so much about you. I understand you're very stressed out but please stop smoking. There are so many better ways to deal with stress and we all like having you around."

"I...I'm sorry, Aunt Tia. Okay, I'll give it up. It's just that...well, ruling this place with Cadence is stressful enough but then we become parents. I didn't know it was going to be so rough."

"You want rough?" Cadence asked in a sultry tone. "Get on your back and I'll show you what rough is!"

"Gotta go! See you on Friday!"

Click!

"O-okay then...wow."

As strange of a turn the conversation took, Celestia knew that she had gotten the job done and summoned her former guard Captain to assist her in the mission to retrieve her long lost flame. The day was Wednesday so having the meeting on Friday would give anypony willing to help a full day to gather their things and make other necessary preparations. The only things left to do at this point were to have Ukraine's Prime Minister grant permission to enter and await the responses of the ponies who Celestia chose for the job.

Just like any other, the beautiful Spring night that Princess Luna had brought to all of Equestria was pleasantly cool and as calm and peaceful as ever. Now that it was nearing ten o'clock, most ponies were just getting ready for bed if they were not already sound asleep. Ponyville, being a fairly small town, was no exception as the number of ponies still walking the streets could be counted on one hoof. The only sign of life at this point was that of a light blue pegasus mare with a magnificently multi colored mane and tail flying up to her home made of cloud.

Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty and newly recruited member of the Wonderbolts was just returning to her floating house after a night out with friends just as she did any other night prior. Tired but satisfied after a day off from her usual duties spent with her closest friends, Rainbow Dash landed on her front porch and began to push her door open until she observed something that was slightly out of order for this time of night.

"Huh, weird." Rainbow Dash shrugged as she pulled an envelope out of her mailbox. "I already picked up today's mail. Since when do they deliver twice a day let alone at this hour?"

Rainbow dash then proceeded to read the sending address on the envelope as she pushed her door open and flipped the light switch next to her front door. Normally, the mail arrived around noon and could be read outside in the daylight. Not only that but after her night out, Rainbow Dash had relaxing in her living room chair with a mug of cider as the first thing on her mind. After grabbing her drink from her fridge, the tired pegasus made her way to her easy chair where she broke the wax seal on the envelope sent to her by Princess Celestia.

"Hmm...What do we have here?" Rainbow Dash said to herself as she began reading the letter.

Dear Rainbow Dash:

I am writing to you and four others at this time about a matter requiring swift action. As you may know, a nation on Earth known as Ukraine had a nuclear accident thirty years ago that allegedly took the life of an Equestrian citizen. Recently, my sister and I have acquired some evidence that suggests that he may still be alive. He is lost in the so called "exclusion zone" in an abandoned city near the wrecked Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. I am calling on you because you are one of the few that I can trust to help me with. This will be a search and rescue mission and your areal skills will come in quite handy. After helping defeat and reform discord, fighting an invading changeling army, and stopping Tirek I am very confident that you will be an asset to the team I am assembling. I will be hosting a meeting with those who are willing to help on Friday at three o'clock in the afternoon to go over the details. I would be forever indebted to you if you would be willing to help me with this, Rainbow Dash. I hope to see you here on Friday. Thank you in advance.

Sincerely, Princess Celestia.

P.S.- Please refrain from telling Twilight Sparkle about this. Knowing her and how crazy she is about science, she'll want to go and study the affects of radioactivity on wildlife or something of the like. I'd just rather she stayed in Ponyville this time. Thanks.

"Sweet." Rainbow Dash said before taking a sip of her cider with her loyal pet tortoise on her lap. "It's been a while since I've seen some real action eh, Tank?"

The Following day which was a Thursday came and went and Rainbow Dash had used it to make preparations of her own. She needed somepony to look after Tank her pet tortoise while she was gone so she asked her Friend Fluttershy to help with that. After that, she used a payphone that was recently installed in the village park to leave a message informing her wonderbolt Captain Spitfire that she would be absent for an currently unknown amount of time. Spitfire was at her office to answer the call but Rainbow Dash was able to leave a message there as she did not own a phone at her home. The Captain was normally not one to tolerate a member missing too many training sessions but surely since Rainbow Dash was summoned by Princess Celestia, she would understand.

On Friday morning around eleven o'clock, Rainbow Dash made here way to the train station where she would be boarding the train to Canterlot. She decided to bring her letter from the Princess with her and proceeded to read it over again while she flew over to the depot. This may have proven to be a minor mistake as holding a letter donning the Princess's seal out in plain sight seemed to have caught the attention of somepony who was not intended to be involved.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" A familiar voice called as its source swooped down to join the cyan Pegasus.

"Oh! Hey, Twilight." Rainbow Dash greeted as she tried to tuck the letter back into her saddlebag. "What, um...what's up?"

"I was about to ask you the same. I see you got a letter from Princess Celestia. What's that all about?"

"Uh, it's an invitation to our...monthly quesadilla party."

"Quesadilla party?"

"Yeah. She never told you about these because she knew you wouldn't like it. All cheesy and stuff, we wear sombreros, and drink tequila and...stuff."

"Well, she'd be right, I really don't like quesadillas."

"Right. So hey, catch you later alright? Gotta get there by three so I can help grate those giant bricks of cheese."

"That's funny. Big Macintosh told me the same thing when I asked him about his letter."

"Big Macintosh got one too?"

"Yeah. Why, you didn't know?" Twilight was clearly starting to become suspicious as she raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't he usually come to those parties or is he...new to it?"

"Uh, yeah, totally, catch ya later, bye!"

With somepony like Twilight Sparkle asking questions, it would only be a matter of time before she could figure out what Rainbow Dash was really up to. Instead of trying to make up more bogus excuses, Rainbow instead decided to pretend to be in a hurry and simply bolt away until she was out of the nosy princess's sight. As she finished closing the distance between herself and the train station and approached the platform, she wondered if it what Twilight said about Big Macintosh getting a letter was true. After glancing about, sure enough, she spotted the big red Stallion trotting up to the platform with his sister Applejack in tow.

"Are ya sure ya wanna do this, Big Mac?" Applejack asked her brother.

"Eeyup." Big Macintosh replied.

"'Cause ya know, the letter did say you had a choice. Ya don't have ta go ya know."

"AJ, ah know the princess said I didn't have ta go if'n ah didn't wanna but ah lost a game of hoof wrestlin' with her so ah owe her one. 'Sides, it'd be rude ta say no ta her after all she does fer Equestria."

"Hey, you guys." Rainbow Dash greeted.

"Hey Rainbow." Applejack replied. "Can ya help me out? I need ya to swing your flank around and talk some sense into mah brother."

"What? Why?"

"He'll listen to you, he ain't gonna take mah word for it!"

"What, because he's going to Chernobyl too? I think Big Mac can hold his own, AJ."

"But he's goin' so far away from home! He's going ta Earth! As in not on the farm!"

"It's about damn time ah took a break from the farm!" Big Mac shouted.

Applejack just stared at her brother in horror at what he had just said. It was all true though. It had been a long time since Big Macintosh had set hoof off of Sweet Apple Acres and even longer since he had left Ponyville. He was tired of the same old routine every single day and wanted so badly to just go somewhere else for a change. Applejack was never one who liked to go far from home but would travel when she needed to. That was just the Apple family way, to stay put in their hometown unless absolutely necessary.

"Big Mac!" Applejack scolded. "H-how could you say that?"

"Ah'm comin' back ain't I? Jeez, can't ah leave this little town for once in mah life and see somethin' new?!"

"B-but..."

"Eenope! Ah'm goin' ta see some new places and if'n ya got a problem with that, ya can piss off!"

Just as Big Macintosh finished his sentence, the train approached and stopped at the platform. Without another word, he stepped into the train leaving his sister with the same shocked look on her face. Rainbow Dash then trotted in behind him and after turning around to give Applejack an apologetic look before the door closed and the train began to roll off.

"Dude, you alright?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I've never seen you so pissed before."

"It needed ta be said." Big mac replied. "She's all about me stayin' put and she's so damn scared of anything new or unfamiliar. Sure, we're a bunch of hicks but we don't have ta stay 'round home and cower from the unknown."

"I see what you mean, Mac but you did kinda lose it back there."

"Yeah, ah guess ah did...*sigh*...Ah'll apologize ta her when ah git back. Ah just need some time away from home fer a bit."

"Hey, it's all good. So, you lost at hoof wrestling to the Princess?"

"Sure did."

"And you're not embarrassed that you lost to a girl?"

"Nope."

"Huh. You're alright, you know that?"