Author's Notes:

Special thanks to anyone that read this, you guys are awesome!

Sorry it took me so long to update... job and some other issues take me away from horse words.

In the outskirts of Ponyville laid a vast open area surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of tents. There were several guards, nurses, doctors, and a few soldiers standing at the ready looking to the open field where the Task Force had stood on before leaving to face the monster that had been accidentally created. F.M.A. members, as well as Followers, waited patiently for the outcome of the battle in hopes of victory.

Suddenly, a large purple portal appeared in the middle of the open field, all but the medic staff ready themselves for the worst. A second later Scaled Guards came rushing in carrying wounded or those that were afflicted by the monster's taint. What struck as odd on the whole scene was that the newcomers were cheering and shouting victory to the sky above.

The nurses and doctors rushed forward to help the wounded while the rest joined their returned allies in their cries of joy. It took several minutes for everyone to walk through the portal, with the last ones being the rulers and heads of the Alliance and their respective nations.

"Help the critically wounded first!"

"I need a healing balm over here!"

"Put them there. The shamans will deal with the infection!"

"We'll do everything to save your wing, I promise!"

"SHIT! Relapsing Shock, get me a Mind-Mender over here!"

Orders, promises, requests, and commands were ushered by the medical staff all over the place as they tended those injured in the battle. Others weren't as lucky. Scaled Guards carried motionless bodies with care, placing them in line side by side.

Twilight and her friends sighed in relief, grateful that the nightmare was finally over. A sudden doubt came to Twilight's mind.

"Creslin?" She called turning to face the cow currently aided by two of her sisters. "Now that the Sickness is no more, shouldn't those afflicted by it be able to recover from it?"

"For those that were touched during the battle, I believe it is possible to be tended with ease; I cannot feel but a whisper of the Taint," Creslin answered looking at those unlucky enough to be tainted during the battle.

"What about the cows in Hraljord?" Fluttershy inquired.

Creslin shook her head. "They and the Sickness are one."

"But wouldn't that mean that this horrid nightmare could happen again?" Rarity asked.

"...There is a possibility, I won't deny it, but if the Core of the Sickness was still active, then those afflicted today would be in a much, much worse state already. I believe that while they are completely taken over, the Sickness will never sprout again to threaten this world with its vomitive malice," she said as the portal collapsed. She then smiled. "Rejoice, my friends, for today we have achieved victory!"

Just then a pillar of pure chaotic magic was seen in the far distance for several seconds. They all waited a few moments after the magical outburst stopped, then Discord appeared next to his wife.

"I purged the whole place with a chaos burst, just in case. If there is even a hint of that Dark Taint left there, my leftovers will dissolve into nothing," he then leaned down to kiss his wife's cheek making her giggle. Fluttershy then took a hold of his beard and pulled him into a soft, tender kiss. Their lips parted seconds later as both of them smiled widely. "Love ya, Flutters."

"I love you too, Dissy," Fluttershy replied before pulling him in for another kiss.

The rest of the leaders soon approached the group except for Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry Heart, and Skyla. Twilight smiled seeing the four of them huddled together a little further back. At the head of the group was Celestia, Philomena and Peewee were perched on her shoulders while the rest of the phoenixes hoovered above the Sun Princess, while she talked with Soarin.

"I want a full damage report as quickly as possible, Captain Soarin, but first I want you to treat that wound in your arm, understood?"

"By your will, your majesty," Soarin replied with a short bow.

"Is it truly over?" Shifting Sands asked earning a nod from Creslin. "But what about the cows in Hraljord?"

"Creslin has already assured us that there is no danger of the Sickness ever returning. We cannot do anything about those fully corrupted by it, but it will never spread ever again. It is over," Rainbow Dash ended with a heavy sigh of relief.

"What about Spike?" Cadance interjected holding the new Crystal Heart with her husband and daughters at her side. "I can feel the Crystal Heart and the presence of Spike in it now. If they were not one before, I believe they must be now."

"Is it possible to bring my little brother back to life?" Shining Armor asked looking at Discord.

"Maybe?" Discord shrugged. "We could try again now that the Sickness is no more, but there is one teeny tiny problem."

"Which is?" Zhaka asked holding onto his spear and supported by two zebra mares, his daughters, who had stayed behind.

"We no longer have the vital components to perform another ritual," Chrysalis answered, the group fell silent for a few seconds.

"We can think of that at a later date. For now, we must focus on our victory and on our people," Luna said breaking the silence.

"Princess Luna is right, anything else can wait," Big Macintosh said gaining nods from the group.

Silently, the group split up to do their own things. The Element Bearers and Discord remained together as they watched the frantic activity around them.

Celestia was taking off her armor, revealing a Mithril chainmail below it acting as both a sort of under-armor and cloth, while the phoenixes were all around her chirping. Luna was doing the same as her sister while giving further orders to her Night Guards. Chrysalis was being checked and tended by her changelings. Cadance, Shining Armor, Flurry, and Skyla were talking to Night Light and Twilight Velvet, the latter one hardly containing her tears. Sebastian and Blood Talons were talking to their troops and cheering loudly. Rutherford was bumping horns and heads with Thunderhooves while they drank Moon Spirit.

Lord Ember and her father, Torch, were resting nearby on a tent while the former Dragon Lord hugged his daughter close. Zhaka was being hugged and tended by his daughters, both crying happily to see his return. Creslin and Shifting Sands were talking with several Warladies that had joined them in the battle, such as Gilda and Trixie. Blue Moon was being hugged to death by half a dozen foals plus three mares. Blueblood and Yog were giving orders to Royal Guards and Scaled Guards. And Big Macintosh was hugging Zecora and Cheerilee, his wives, while another group was heading towards them.

Applejack was the first to splinter from the group to run and hug Applebloom with all her might before being tackled by several other members of the Apple Family which included Babs Seed, Braeburn, Apple Strudel, Golden and Red Delicious, and many more, some of which were wearing Royal, Night, or Scaled Guard armor. With them also came her other extended family, the Oranges. Honorary family members, like Diamond 'Apple' Tiara and Silver 'Apple' Spoon. And the other side of the family she never knew until a few months before Granny's Smith passing... the Pears, or what was left of them.

Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Discord moved next to meet Gentle Breeze and Rainbow Blaze; the five of them joining into a tight hug filled with tears and relief. Scootaloo was nowhere to be seen as she had left months ago to hunt down Faithfuls on her own accord.

Rarity was next as she rushed with open arms to meet Sweetie Belle, while Hondo Flanks and Cookie Crumble joined in soon after; the fashionista bellowing her heart out. Even Peewee landed on her free shoulders to provide his support to the mare that had taken him in after his return.

Pinkie Pie vanished when she saw her family approach, hugging Maud tightly while her twin sister, Marble, cried silently and Limestone tried her damn best to not cry, and her parents were openly crying hugging their pink daughter.

Now alone, Twilight sighed; content and free for the first time in years. She suddenly felt two somethings hug her sides. Twilight smiled knowing who they were before turning back to face her own family. The new Crystal Heart shined and pulsed with energy on its own accord. Twilight sighed again as she looked at the Heart.

"We won, Spike. We won."

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*One Year Later --- The Crystal Empire*

Celestia looked at the newly built statue of her son, identical to the one lost a year ago, idly holding her necklace. She was wearing a pristine white sundress with some added royal regalia. She was smiling thinking back to everything that had happened in the last year.

Out of the twenty-five thousand one hundred and seventy-eight souls that had traveled to face the Creature, two thousand six hundred and four had paid the ultimate price; their names added and engraved in gold in Canterlot graveyard's memorial, each held as the heroes they were.

Creslin had tried her absolute best to free the cows out of the corruption, but as she had feared, it couldn't be done. At the very least the taint would never spread again.

King Dolorian and his sister returned to their ravaged country so that they could rebuild and grow once more; swearing to purge any remaining Faithful activity, if any. So far, they had kept their word.

With the death of Orestes, the Arch-Traitor, the Faithfuls lost most of their leadership and whatever had survived after the rampage of the creature had become easy pickings and the entire operation had devolved into a moping up operation. Individuals such as Grim Night, Scootaloo, and Warlady Trixie had excelled in the hunt; each racking up a kill count above a hundred of confirmed Faithfuls or similar degenerates. Scootaloo, in particular, excelled in hunting down female transgressors.

With the crisis over, the refugees were allowed the chance to stay in Equestria and become a citizen or go back to their countries. Most went back with only a handful staying; most of them being Cervids. As the leaders of the Equis Alliance had expected, after the crisis, the afflicted countries had demanded to be compensated for the devastation the creature, created by the Equis Alliance stupidity, had brought to their lands; stating the payment could be done in either bits or land.

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

Celestia chuckled at that. It may look cold and unjust, but they owed nothing to the countries that had left them to suffer at the caribou's hands, and even less when those same countries tried to conquer them believing they were now weak. Maybe in time, they could forgive now that their leaders were dead, but not now. Not yet.

The Dragon Lands joined the Equis Alliance a month after the battle with the leaders extending a formal invitation to Dragon Lord Ember; an invitation she gladly accepted.

On a more personal level, Celestia was beyond overjoyed what the extermination of the Sickness meant to her little ponies and to all who had suffered the caribou regime. Progress and recover of patients had never been better, Creslin and her Liberators, along with zebra and buffalo shamans, had developed a way to finally free the last victims of the caribou: the silver collars. They had remained as living dolls for nearly thirteen years, but now they had been broken free from their imprisonment.

And now here she was: about to attend the first of what she hoped would become a yearly celebration commemorating the final defeat of the Sickness.

"Is something the matter?" She asked a moment before a Scaled Guard pegasus stallion landed next to her.

"Princess Luna asked me to inform you that there has been a development that requires your attention, your Majesty," the stallion replied as he bowed slightly. "She is currently at the gates of the Crystal Palace."

"I see, thank you." She said with a warm smile. The stallion took a step back before leaping to the air. After a few seconds, the alabaster alicorn disappeared in a flash of light.

Celestia reappeared a couple of meters behind her sister. She was confused when her Sister looked back at her and urged her to come to her side. Celestia was about to ask what was going on when she saw the Crystal Heart rotating in its place rapidly and shimmering with a greenish glow. She heard the *pang* of a teleportation spell behind her before seven figures rushed to her side.

"What is going on?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know. The Heart began glowing and spinning like that a minute ago," Chrysalis replied as Flurry and Skyla were smiling widely and Cadance and Shining were standing next to the Changeling Queen. "You two know what's going on, don't you?" Chrysalis asked looking down at the sisters.

"It's Uncle Spike!" Skyla nearly yelled. "H-He's talking again!"

"Precious Scales?" Rarity whispered kneeling next to Flurry Heart. "Dears, can you tell us what he is saying?"

Flurry nodded and opened her mouth to speak alongside her sister, but stopped midway as the Heart's glow intensified.

"He says it's a surprise!" Flurry finally said clapping her hands and jumping up and down while the gathered leaders of the Equis Alliance looked on at the same time more and more arrived to see what was going on.

The now thousands of onlookers were chiming and whispering to what was about to happen. Followers were praying, Scaled Guards were looking expectantly for any outcome, family and friends were holding their breaths.

For an entire minute, nothing else happened until the Crystal Heart came to an abrupt halt and shot a green beam at the ground in front of Celestia and the gathered Element Bearers. An instant later the beam vanished, a purple colored crystal sprouted out from the earth it being taller than Celestia. After a few seconds, the crystal began to crack and shatter; the shards turning to dust as they hit the ground.

The process lasted for several minutes until the crystalline figure of a dragon was left standing in the shape of Spike Solaris.

Almost immediately after the process was completed the eyes of the small statue shone with an intense white light as it began to move its limbs; small shards of crystal fell off to the ground and each movement was accompanied by an awful screeching noise of crystal meeting crystal.

As the movements of the construct became more and more fluid, shards stopped falling and the noise dwindled until it ceased.

The crystal construct was entirely purple, minus the eyes, and had rough details of the fins, crest, and claws of the dragon the present looking at it with mouths agape knew and loved. Then, seemingly satisfied, the Spike statue looked directly at Celestia and the Bearers.

The statue opened its maw. "It's been a while, huh? Sorry I took so long." Came out the voice of Spike.

Nothing more was said as the statue was surrounded and hugged from all fronts by crying, happy friends and family alike.

The End.