Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind
Array sighed and blew a few loose strands of her mane out of her face. Grumpily, she turned towards her two friends who were readily making fun of her. She flapped her wings slowly in frustration, grunting and pouting at her friend's attempts to tease her. They always knew just how to push her buttons, though she knew that they only did it in jest. She, Clear Sky, and Sunny Day had been friends for several years. They'd manage to bond quite easily at their job at the local mail center.
She usually held a series of odd jobs around town, and this was just the latest that she had managed to stumble upon. For some strange reason, she had managed to keep the job for quite a while longer than any of her other jobs. Each on was just as boring and stale as the last, but it was still a decent way to make money. Having a government job also meant that she got a slightly higher pay and better benefits than the usual fast food romp.
It was one of the ways to make their normally boring job pretty interesting. They didn't have any of the interesting jobs like actually delivering the mail. They were just normal mail sorting and janitorial staff. To pass the time, they would often play pranks on each other, and tease each other to no end. Today, Array was the unfortunate victim of her friends' antics, as she usually was; her ditzy personality and weird fixations lent easily to that. At this moment, her two friends were currently playing keep away with her favorite 'hat'.
"Come on Clear... Cut it out!" Array pouted indignantly. Her feeble attempts to catch her hat were outmatched by her friends' higher speed and maneuverability. Array wasn't exactly slow, but she wasn't exactly the fastest flier in the world either.
"What's wrong? If you want it, then just come get it real quick," Clear Sky laughed, waving Array's hat at her before tossing it to Sunny.
"Sunny, come on! Give it back!" Array pouted, crossing her forelegs.
"Okay... Okay. I think we've been teasing you for long enough now anyway. We should probably give her a break, Clear. Taking her hat was kind of mean after all... Why do you bring that tin-foil hat to work anyway Array? The sun always shines off of it and gets in my eyes. I mean, I like the sun and all, but seriously. The glare on that thing can be considered a weapon," Sunny giggled, using tossing her friend back the hat.
"Oh my gosh. I told you already Sunny. It keeps the aliens away and protects me from their mind control beams! When they invade, you're gonna wish you had one of these! And you'll be sorry for messing with me," Array said, blowing a raspberry.
"Yeah. Sure. If I ever need to wear a tin-foil hat, I'll just reach into my kitchen cabinet and wrap my head up nice and tight. I mean, seriously, Array. Do you really believe that aliens exist? And even if you do, what makes you think that tin-foil will protect you from their 'hypno beams' or whatever?" Clear Sky asked, falling over, laughing.
"Come on Clear. She has the right to think what she wants," Sunny huffed.
"Yeah! First off, that stuff in your cabinet? That aluminum foil. Aluminum. Aluminum doesn't do anything against their hypnotizers! It might even amplify their power! Second, yes I believe they exist! Who do you think made the stars, or turned the moon into cheese? Aliens of course! I mean, it's so obvious. Third, I saw it in a documentary, and in a bunch of movies, so it must be true. You're gonna be sorry when the aliens come to get you! They're gonna take you up in their spaceship with the cows and probe you! I swear, you are gonna-"
Array's speech was interrupted as she walked face first into the glass front door, causing it to shudder a bit. Her two friends fell over, rolling and laughing on the floor before turning to see if she was okay. Array stood up woozily, shaking her head before giving a death glare to the door and shaking her hoof. "Who put that thing there? It's in my way!"
"Array. They put that in when built this place. Seriously. I know that our shifts are done and it's time to lock up for the night, but seriously. Are you really that excited to get home? Got a date or something you need to head off to real quick?" Sunny teased, giggling again.
"Oh, shut up Sunny. I totally meant to do that to show how badass and protective this hat is," Array said, tapping her now folded hat. "Aw man... It's bent now... Look what you guys made me do! And besides; aren't you the one that's always going on dates with stallions and flirting?" Array said, smirking.
Huffing indignantly, Sunny responded, "Hey! That was only like... One... Two... Three... Uh... Twenty times. I mean, sheesh; it's not like I'm some sort of easy tramp or something! I just like to have a little fun once in a while, you know? Go for a night on the town?"
"Defensive much, Sunny? My my how the tables have flipped themselves," Clear Sky chuckled.
Sunny merely blushed. "Alright, alright. How about we just pack up for the night and all head home? Today was a fun day, guys."
The other two merely nodded as they proceeded to perform their general closing time procedures. Mopping all the floors, making sure that all of the letters were sorted, and making sure that the front door had been locked, all three of them went their separate ways. As Array made her way to her own home, she grumbled under her breath, feeling the bent tip of her hat. She would have to make herself a new one when she got home, assuming that she even remembered, and had the energy left to do anything else that day.
Why did everyone always have to tease her about the existence of aliens? They were real! They just had to be! Everypony else thought that she was crazy, but she knew that she was the intelligent one. She reached her humble little home on the outskirts of Ponyville, pulling her front door keys out from under her wing. She sighed, the weariness of the day catching up to her. Immediately, she flew up the stairs and to her bedroom, yawning quite loudly.
"Ugh... I think it's sleepy time... Wake me up at seven Mr. alarm clock..." With that, she reached over, whacking the top of her bedside alarm clock with her hoof in an attempt to arm it. She was out like a light before her hoof even left the top of her clock.
Somewhere, high above in the sky, a star appeared to be moving downwards towards the Earth. To ponies further away, it looked as if another star was falling from the sky. Wish upon wish was poured into the object and ponies watched it descend. But this was no shooting star, nor was is some sort of aircraft from the Griffons. This was something different. The object stopped fell out of view from the ponies, and they all returned to their business, forgetting that it had ever happened.
