The Chronicles of Summer Rain

by shysage

Chapter 33, Cleaning Up

Even though it was only about two full days between Sunset Shimmer taking over, and her amazing defeat facing twelve brave mares, in just that short time, Equestria really was a mess.

It became very clear that both Discord and Sunset Shimmer hated Friendship, and so made it practically impossible to undo what their magic had done.

As Discord murdered Princess Twilight and her friends across three story tombstones, the options for rescuing them were astronomically slim.

Sunset Shimmer was no better. She cast a spell on all ponies on the ground in Equestria that turned them into Green-eyed zombie ponies.

The spell thankfully didn't reach to Cloudsdale, but the permanent Dusk Cloud was magical, and turned anypony flying through it into a zombie. Cloudsdale leadership actually sent a few Pegasi down through it, and they did not come back until many days later, after Equestria was liberated.

If Sunset Shimer had not fallen, the entire population of Cloudsdale would have died in a week or two from lack of food.

Sunset Shimmer made it so that the touch of a friend was the only way to reverse the zombie spell, and then promptly made sure that there were no more friends in Equestria.

Of course neither Discord nor Sunset Shimmer could have foreseen that Summer Rain and her five true friends, would alone have the means to quickly rescue the realm.

And they certainly did.

It was a miracle.

And Summer was right to be puzzled by the fact that, were these two monsters not toppled, their kingdom would be permanently empty in just one generation. Only short-sighted, self-consumed evil would want such a thing.

---

Given the completeness of the coup, military casualties were limited. Fifteen of the Canterlot Guards nearby when Sunset Shimmer blasted from her cell under her own magical power, were immediately killed.

Sunset Shimmer quickly embedded the 'Elements of Harmony' and Alicorn Amulet into her body, and became a true monster.

As a last stand, both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia tried first to reason with the Monster, and then tried to oppose her with their own magic, to no avail. By this time, Sunset Shimmer had way too much magical power, concluding she was invincible.

Sunset Shimmer decided that death was too good for her teacher and her sister, and so turned them both into ugly statues facing away from each other. This was good, it opened the door for their rescue.

The only other military casualty was the brave Pegasus Shemblin. He led his squad quickly to Canterlot, then flew directly over Sunset Shimmer, and was soon vaporized. But this allowed his men to get visual, and report back to Shining Armor.

He was a good soldier, and was accorded full military honors for his sacrifice.

And speaking of honor, the Train pulling stallions who were crucial to assisting needy ponies that dark night, and also taking part in the transport needs of Shining Armor and Princess Twilight's party, were honored for their heroism as well. They deserved it.

---

Civilian casualties were limited, but heart-breaking. In each major city except Cloudsdale, between ten and thirty of the youngest Foals died, as their zombie mothers simply stopped nursing them.

Even so, had Summer not surfaced this problem almost immediately after Sunset Shimmer's defeat, Equestria would have lost a lot more of their future.

Shining Armor sent Pegasi all over the realm, and the 'touch of friendship' quickly unraveled most of the zombie ponies.

Ponyville was by far the first city to come back alive.

The Rainbow Twins started the magical Rainboom that quickly dispersed the Dusk cloud. As it went roaring past Ponyville, both Dawn and Sunny Rays ran joyfully outside crying, and touched everypony they saw.

Between Sunny Rays, Dawn, and the Cakes, at least one third of the town was rescued quickly from zombie-ness, and by the end of the day, only a handful of zombies were left in Ponyville, Snails included.

The process was much slower for most of the other cities, especially those furthest away from Canterlot. Still, Shining Armor and his guards worked non-stop for almost two full days to rescue city after city.

---

The aftermath of this brief but harrowing nightmare held some interesting lessons.

Both Princess Celestia and Summer Rain were rightly careful that their views not be pushed on anypony.

However, after the process of rescuing by the 'touch of friendship' began, it became abundently clear that ponies who had rejected friendship in any form or fashion, were still zombies. If they had no friends, they could not be rescued.

Neighbors took over the care of any of their foals, and they were just left alone as zombies. Nopony really knew how long it would last.

What Summer Rain had screamed out on the very next day, inadvertanly allowed Ponyville to mourn together the terrible tragedy that almost befell Equestria. It would be weeks or months before other towns learned the horrible truth.

---

All in all, the day after Sunset Shimmer's defeat, especially Ponyville was rapidly on the road to recovery.

Equestria leadership knew the importance of transportation, and the train system was back in operation all over Equestria by noon this next day.

For Princess Twilight and her friends, it was a different story...

The Twins had cushioned a lot of the blow, but it was still tough.

And for Princess Twilight, devoted as Summer and the five sets of Twins were to her, she still carried a lot with her...