The group led Odium around the outside of the Royal Castle. His eyes were completely covered by Rainbow Dash as she directed him to where the group was walking to while flying. A large frown was plastered on Odium's face, but he followed along anyway.

"We're here," Celestia said as everyone halted.

"You can uncover his eyes now, Rainbow," Twilight said.

After letting go of Odium's face, Rainbow Dash backed away from him. He eased open his eyes and lifted his head up until he blinked at what he had to see. A giant hole of bricks towered over the group with some police tape wrapped in front of the bottom of the area. A small group of construction ponies banded together as they used their tools to fix up the hole.

"Huh?" Odium stepped towards the side of the construction site. "What is this?"

"Your punishment, silly," Pinkie Pie replied.

"She's right," Applejack chimed. "You have to help all these worker ponies rebuild the rest of the entire castle with those tools right there." She pointed at the large bucket of cement and trowel.

"But, what about my actions? How is this better than Tartarus or even death? Aren't you letting me off too--"

Luna sighed. "Look, Odium. We know that you feel like you don't deserve forgiveness after everything you've said and done to us. Believe me, I know what it's like."

"But that doesn't mean you can't work hard enough to fix what you've started," Celestia added. "At least, if you're willing to, that is."

"They're right," Twilight chimed. "And like we've said, we're not heartless or evil like you think we are."

"Just don't go all soft on us either, you know!" Rainbow Dash added.

Contemplating about it for a moment, Odium simply nodded. "...Okay."

"Great!" Fluttershy cheered. "And to keep a close eye on you while you work, we've got a whole group of guards here to make sure there's no trouble from you, okay?"

"Yes," Odium walked past the police tape and grabbed both the trowel and the bucket.

"Oh, and one more thing..." Twilight said. "You're always welcome to join us at the coronation once you're done, okay?"

Odium beamed a soft smile. "Thanks, but... no thanks. I've still got more work to do outside of Equestria. Plus, I still don't think I deserve it after everything I've done and said, if it's okay with you guys."

"It's okay. We understand," said Fluttershy, who folded her ears and plastered a frown similar to what Odium had.

The group strolled away from the construction site, leaving Odium to his work. Is this really the best punishment for him or are they really letting him off too easily like most of the other villains they've fought? Who could say, for sure?

Author's Note

Now, I'm finally done with the story. It took me a lot of time, help, and unintentional pestering to get this done, but it finally happened.

Let me know what you think of the story as a whole in the comments section below. Thank you to those who've helped me, those who actually liked this fanfiction, and those who gave me advice on the things I've done wrong outside of the fanfiction.

Originally, I was going to name the title, "A Bittersweet Ending", due to the fact that Odium was originally going to actually be put in Tartarus for eternity or even death instead of working hard to fix up the rest of the entire castle under close scrutiny and leaving Equestria by himself in order to fix the rest of his mistakes, but for optimization purposes and due to the complaints regarding the Tartarus idea, I had to rewrite it. Sorry.

Also, this isn't the end of Odium's character arc nor is he fully redeemed. After the story is finished, I have planned some ideas for him that could help further develop his character. Though I can't give any more spoilers until then.

Also, also, I was originally going to expand this chapter into having the citizens of Equestria hate and distrust Odium for his actions towards the group in a similar way to how Sunset Shimmer was scrutinized by the students in Canterlot High. It's not expanded yet because of a few reasons:

1. Because I didn't want to spoil more of Odium's arc yet.
2. I'm still conflicted on whether or not to actually do it yet.
3. I'm worried about what the readers will think when I do add it, maybe in a similar way to how they complained about my Tartarus for eternity idea.

If you want to know more about Odium, here's his wiki page down below:

Odium

Anyway, have a great day, everyone. 👍😉