Damn. What a way to end it, huh? What started with the trial, retelling of events, and sentencing of a badass purple Dragon, comes to a close with an emotional surprise reunion.

Bravo.

WELL DONE!!!!!!!!! VERY WELL DONE!!!!!!
YOu get TEN moustache!

A great ending for a great story...

What a great ending. I do have a question though; the crystal heart was purifying Spike of the taint. Does that mean all they had to do was wait?

Great end to this chapter of the story. I really REALLY REALLLYYY hope to see another part of this to see what will happen next in this story.

8688333
No. The Heart, originally, saved a fragment of Spike's soul and was slowly gathering the rest. The taint was present and would've required a direct removal of it before Spike could even dare to speak out other than Flurry and Skyla. The ritual was a success, though it backfired horribly due to ignorance of Spike's unique condition. After the destruction of the Sickness was a very blunt and direct approach to dealing with it from the very root, purging it in its entirety.

Now that the Heart and Spike truly merged, Spike's complete soul is inside the Heart and was able to do what it did, in just under a year. If they had just waited and not done the ritual, even with Spike's complete soul inside it wouldn't have done anything for millennia.

8688399
What exactly IS Spike that he reacts to magic like he does?

8689238
Spike is part magic, in the sense he was technically birthed by Twilight when she used her magic to hatch him. The dragon fire messages is one account of proof, spike isn't actually immune to magic, he has had magic used on him time and again. At most he actually has a tolerance to magic.

I'm glad Spike got out in the end, but man!!!

I was hoping for a bit of Ember and Spike Romance. ANyway, great job. I"m very happy with this story. Thank you.

What an ideal ending Ekhi. 10/10.

Simply perfect to wrap everything up worthily

Yay ~

I am confused on one point.

when the crystal is first formed, you state its as tall as spike was.

but when the crystal is finally finished, you say a small dragon.

so is Spike as tall as he was at the end of the last story, or is he back to his baby dragon body?

8727261
You are indeed confused. The new Crystal Heart the same size it has always been, just with different colors. And about the size of the crystal Spike, he is the size he had on the last story. I merely said "small" because his body is basically a small statue now compared to his other massive statues.

8727731

Still a little confused here.

is spike's new body the size of his fighting body in the first story? or is his body the size of his original baby dragon for, or somewhere in between?

8727735
The size of his fighting body. The same size during Judgment, the Trial, as General and Marshal and when he and the Crystal Heart merged.

8727757

Thanks! That clears things up.

8727760
NP.

After a two year absence from this fandom, I've come back to finish reading one if the most emotional tales on this site.

My curiosity for how this story would end has eaten at the back of my head for months. Filling me with excitement and great expectations, and I was not let down in the slightest.

You've done a beautiful job bringing this story to a close. The action scenes were great, easy to follow and very entertaining. The story and pacing were exciting and interesting, filled with surprises and neatly placed foreshadowing. The emotion in many of the scenes were deep and nearly tangible. Such remorse, regret, love and pain. Elegantly intertwined between plot and action. The final battle left me satisfied and ready for the inevitable emotion filled epilogue.

I am a bit confused though. In the end they are left with everything? No regrets? Even though their misguided effort to bring back the whipping boy of all their vengeance, they still get Spike back? After all his atrocities he's left apparently immortal now? Is that really him or is it a projection? Is it there to stay or is it a temporary/ one time deal? I'm not sure how I feel about this. I almost feel as though there was no lesson learned. It is a perfectly happy ending with few loose ends(that I've mentioned above) but I guess I was expecting more dramatic loss and acceptance of the lesson that you can't bring back the dead.

I enjoyed this story so much. I'm glad I'm at least partially back into My Little Pony to the point that I can admire these wonderful stories written by amazingly creative people who love this show and it's fandom.

Great Job Ekhidna.

8913979
Cheers dude.

I left the ending as open-ended because I wanted for my readers to experience and think about it like you have.

SPOILER

Now, if you want my take on it to put your mind at ease. Then you are correct. The Spike, in the end, is a mere projection. Spike died in that final battle. His last sacrifice was was to hold the Taint for just long enough and beg his loved ones to finally end it all. His memories, soul, and spirit are now fused with the Crystal Heart and have become a new entity that is neither of them. It is the shadow of a consolation prize.

8914112
I see. That is a very fitting ending. And the ambiguity you mentioned is perfect when you give me that perspective, your response makes me enjoy it even more.

They received nothing but dust and a promise to 'even out the owed death toll' if they continued to press their demands further.

... Please tell me they were only planning to hit military targets in this eventuality?

9457070
Yes.

Damn. Amazing and badass way to end the story. So fucking glad I finished this I love this story. You did a great job my friend.