Sunset Chickens Out While Playing Chicken with a Chicken girl who think's she's Chicken Little
“The prosecution calls the suspect to the stand.”
A bedraggled Sunset Shimmer shuffled toward the witness stand as if she were walking to the gallows. Mascara ran down her face; twin roads leading to deeply sunken eyes. It was to be expected; Sunset had been inconsolable since her arrest--ever since the...incident.
After Sunset sat down at the witness podium, a slim, manicured hand was rested against the sill. Purple fingers drummed impatiently as their owner looked into Sunset’s eyes with barely contained contempt.
“Look, Twilight, it was an accident, I swear. I never meant to--”
The fingers stopped drumming.
“The suspect will refer to the prosecutor by her proper title. The suspect will also refrain from interrupting, and will speak only when spoken to. Do I make myself clear, Miss Shimmer?”
Wincing, Sunset shrank back into her seat. “Crystal, Miss Sparkle.” She choked out.
Stepping away from the podium, Prosecutor Twilight Sparkle turned her back on Sunset Shimmer, seeming to address the crowd while still speaking to Sunset.
“Where were you last Thursday, around the time of seven p.m.?”
“Twil-Miss Sparkle, is this really relevant? I mean, we all know the circumstances surrounding that night. I told you what happened--”
Chief Justice Luna pounded her gavel.
“The suspect shall answer the question.”
Another wince.
“I guess if you want to get technical, I was between Canterlot High and my house.” Sunset rubbed her hands together as if they were cold, before continuing. “It was after band practice with the Rainbooms, and I had offered to give Twilight a ride home in my car. Practice went a lot longer than expected, so Twilight missed the last bus from the station. Pinkie couldn’t take her home, since her car was full with everyone else, so that left me. For some reason though, call it fate, Twilight decided to walk home to her house--she doesn’t live far.”
Luna looked at the papers in front of her, brow creasing.
“It says here that you only live a mere twenty minutes drive from the school, yet you checked in to your neighborhood’s gate nearly an hour later. Surely given your propensity for quick driving, nothing short of the sky falling would have slowed your progress to such a degree.”
Luna looked over the rim of her glasses at Sunset, regarding her with skepticism. Sunset stuttered as she considered her reply.
“It’s funny you should say that,” Sunset began. “Have you ever heard the story of Chicken Little?”
“Objection!” Started Twilight. “I fail to see how this is relevant to the case.”
Resting her head on her hands, Luna looked down at the witness stand. “Overruled. I’m interested to see where Miss Shimmer is going with this. You may continue.”
“Well, you know how the story has him freaking out because the sky is falling, right?” Sunset asked, not waiting for a response before continuing, “He thinks the world is ending, and no one pays him mind, since this isn’t the first time he had done this. They let him have his neurotic episode, and go about their days as usual.”
Sunset wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, leaving a black smear across the right side of her face.
“Well, it’s only so effective; leaving people alone in their craziness. In regards to… Uh… the deceased, she had been left to her own devices for so long that she had lost herself in her delusion. We’ve seen her around, she’s always been crazy, but this was a new level of madness. I’ve seen her around at school and I’ve heard the jokes, but I didn’t think they were actually that close to the truth.” Sunset put a hand to her temple.
“It’s true, I usually only do take about twenty minutes to drive home from school--fifteen if I’m lucky and don’t hit any traffic. I do drive aggressively, I’ll give you that, but for the most part, I don’t get any sort of road rage from it. I’ll race light to light, but I’ve never went out of my way to hunt someone down after they’ve cut me off or anything, you know?”
“I had barely made it out from the school’s campus, and I saw her on the soccer field. . She looked worse than I had ever seen her. Dirty hair, ripped clothes, and arms akimbo. She had feathers stuck to her head for some reason, and honestly it kinda freaked me out, so I drove a bit faster.”
Sunset’s words came quicker now, a mad tinge in their inflection.
“Something about her eyes, something about the way she looked at me with those eyes--I knew I had to get out of there. She ran at the car, and something clicked inside of me. I sped up, going as fast as I could, and yet she still managed to keep pace with me. We were on a collision course, and all I had to do was beat her, to pass her before she got to me--then it would be all over.
“Miss Shimmer, are you alright--” Luna attempted to intervene, but the girl was long gone, lost in the throes of recollection.
“My foot was to the floor, my hands white against the steering wheel. I had to beat her. She wanted me to, I could see it in her eyes...But I wasn’t quick enough. Next thing I knew, I hit her... I failed her.”
Luna’s gavel rang throughout the courtroom. “Admission of guilt has been recorded. In light of these...enlightening circumstances, you are to be sentenced to one lifetime of treatment at the Canterlot City psychiatric hospital. You are all dismissed.
Guards lifted Sunset by the arms, and led her toward the exit. Her head hung limp as she was dragged out of the room.
Twilight, having been snapped out of her incredulous stupor by the sound of the gavel, followed the guards before coming beside them and Sunset.
“Sunset, please just tell me why you did it.”
Sunset regarded her friend with a broken smile, lifeless eyes looking back toward the prosecutor.
“I had to know Twilight. I had to know, and I never got my answer.”
Sunset grinned a Cheshire grin.
“I had to know why the chicken crossed the road.”
In the distance, the faint noise of a child’s drumkit could be heard rolling down a hill.
Author's Note
I don't know either.
