@Beau Skunky  
I do like him, don’t get me wrong. What I’m saying is if those three wanted to convince me they deserved to be in stone, they’d have done what I described.

@Smart Heart  
I take it you don’t like Spike? lol
 
C’mon, he bakes good cupcakes.
 

@Beau Skunky  
Then blast him into a smoldering pile of ash. No blood or gore.

@Smart Heart  
Those weren’t that graphic, and I’ve seen Disney villains suffer worse.  
Even the show’s edgiest moments aren’t anywhere near as bad as, actually ripping off a dragon child’s body parts.

@Beau Skunky  
Same kids show that showed the horrific deaths of King Sombra, twice, six evil clones, and the Storm King. And one that features a disease that can turn you to a tree. Not to mention depictions of a village with totalitarian rules akin to North Korea.

@Smart Heart  
No offense, but it kinda disturbs me it seems you actually want that to happen, and in a family/kid’s show.

I’m surprised they didn’t just rip off Spike’s wings regardless if Twilight surrendered or not. They passed up an excellent opportunity—no, a GLORIOUS opportunity to not only achieve their goals, but to laugh at Twilight’s sobbing face as all her hope is lost.

@Beau Skunky  
Weird, because some of those fans didn’t seem to care about any other character “having it worse than Spike.” It’s like they “deserved” it since it was THEM who put Spike through all the abuse and mistreatment, so I can tell that they wanted those characters to go “through worse” to punish them. This one shows that they even wanted Spike shipped so badly with certain someone like Starlight.
 

 
Who figured out where the heart was: Twilight. Who found the hidden passage to the heart: Twilight. Who successfully reached the top of the stairs to the heart with up-side-down magic: Twilight. Who risked failing a test which was given by one of Equestria’s rulers: Twilight. Spike did nothing but running over to a ledge and then fell. Who saved Spike AND the heart when they fell: Shining Armor. And, Spike got all credit despite all that and everything the other characters had done because he just “deserved” some love. Otherwise, it’d been just so “unfair.” Even if Spike didn’t get the love he “deserved,” it’s still nothing to feel bad about because Spike’s nothing but a cartoon character, after all.
 
Wasn’t there anything Twilight or the others could do against some fire-burping teenage dragons? Use the Elements of Harmony, or combine all the princesses’ magic like they did to defeat Tirek? Or, how about combining the princesses’ magic AND the Elements of Harmony? Twilight and the rest of Mane Six did many hard steps to unlock something most powerful like the Elements of harmony, like finding all the six keys, for example. And, you’d expect it’ll NOT work on Garble or anything because Spike doesn’t get to do something useful, just for once?

@Background Pony #F11E  
Maybe they prefer Spike wingless? j/k
 
But yeah, this seems to of been meant as a “moral event horizon/slippery slope” moment.

This is the characters so many wanted reformed?!

@Background Pony #12F4  
Debatable as practically every character gets “used as a punching bag,” sometimes others had it worse then him. (Remember Twilight in “Feeling Pinkie-Keen,” Applejack working herself to near insanity, the CMC’s antics, or Rainbow Dash crashing into everything?)
 
In fairness Spike did help, and if it wasn’t for him, Twilight & Co. would’ve failed. So he does deserve some love.
 
I dunno dragons are still pretty fierce, (and some pretty huge) and despite all the magic ponies have, that doesn’t stop the occasional kaiju/villain attack. In fact, most unicorns seem to barely be able to do any magic besides telekinesis.

@Beau Skunky  
After Spike being tortured and used as a punching bag, the fans wanted to give him a “new” character development by begging the writers to do so because they couldn’t stand any of that.
 
Spike got all credit for no reason in “The Crystal Empire” despite all the hard work and roles the other characters had played. Like Twilight, she did most of it.
 
In “Gauntlet of Fire,” I was wondering where Garble’s hatred of ponies came from and why anyone would invade an entire land to get something more comfortable to sleep on instead of rocks. And dragons aren’t able to use magic, so they are without a doubt weak and harmless enough.

@Manerg  
i agree, but don’t forget this is a kids show

@Flufux  
Yes, that was. That was actually from a description from my pic of the Legion of Doom all powered up. A little G1 nostalgia. And besides, didn’t that scene seem familiar considering that G4 Tirek is right there?

@AndoAnimalia  
That sounds a lot like a G1 Tirek line. Was that the intent?

“Now Twilight, if you and your friends do not surrender, wings will snap… HIS!”

Y’know, as much as I like Spike, I wonder why the overly-zealous Spike Justice Warriors never once complained about this moment, yet got mad at say Applejack just for lightly rapping him on the head (for him being rude) in just one episode, and such…
 
The one time he’s in actual danger at the hands of another character, and they didn’t care, nor get mad at a character that they were supposed to be.

@Background Pony #96BD
 
thanks for this. this statement is on point.

I just figured that when Discord said that line, he was just talking crap as he usually does. But I guess it’s up to the individual to decide.

I’m continually dismayed by the number of fans who not only think petrifying the villains forever is justified, but that the ponies should have killed them. I question if these “fans” actually understand the morals this show tried to teach, and why so many others find that so appalling.
 
I think a major reason this rubs people the wrong way is because it feels like a G-rated capital punishment. In today’s society, there is a heavy push towards eliminating the death penalty altogether. Many see it as cruel, hypocritical, and ultimately ineffective. Yet there are others who insist on continuing the practice, in the belief that it discourages crime. So this finale kicked upon a very controversial topic, and seems to be taking a stance that capital punishment is necessary sometimes. That does not sit well with a lot of people, especially since a lot of fans actually took a liking to these three. They also show Cozy getting petrified, which also reflects on the modern problem of children in the criminal justice system. It’s similar to the Equestria Girls Christmas comic, which became controversial for its depiction of cyber bullying. Their resolution left a lot to be desired, according to many fans. The finale is proving to run the same way.

@Flufux  

 
Then what was point of that line?

@Flufux  

 
Discord said “Together forever” implying that he meant to turn them to stone permanently.
 
 
@Harshie83  

 
That’s because they are beyond redemption. Whatever good they had in them disappeared right when Chrysalis snapped out of almost being reformed and called friendship a disease. After that point, there was no way all of them could have been reformed. Besides, none of them were given any kind of backstory, so we can assume that they are all just evil for the sake of it (especially Cozy Glow who admits to being a villain and enjoys it) and are irredeemable.
 
I think turning them to stone was too weak of a punishment. They should have killed them directly, or send them to a place far worse than tartarus or limbo, with no chance of ever coming back.

@Background Pony #A622  
Aside from Discord’s one line (it’s not ultimately up to him, and if Twilight thinks freeing them is in any way a good idea later on, she can), nothing has said specifically that they will be stone forever.
 
Heck, the creators even said that their ending was supposed to be ambiguous, hence why we didn’t see them either alive or as statues after the time skip.

It’s official, Cozy Glow is now my new favorite villain.