Hunter's Downfall

Leila chased after a white ball with black spots on a green field, it had been two days since she had met Rarity for the first time and she was learning from another one of Twilight's friends. Despite her mid-heels she was still faster normally than any other human. One of the players from the opposite team tried to steal the ball from the Reploid, but her neural network told her the exact course of action that she needed to take to have the ball. Digging her foot under the ball, she launched it into the air and leapt up in a flip to kick the ball towards the goal. This stunned everyone as they had never seen someone jump six feet into the air before, much less doing a flip while doing it. The ball flew towards the goal as the Maverick Hunter's internal gyro systems righted her to let her land on her feet.

The goalie on the opposing team was just as dumbfounded as everyone else. The ball flew into the goal with enough force to move the goal itself. Everyone looked at the Reploid, a mix of confusion and amazement on their faces. She placed her hand on the back of her head and laughed a bit nervously, "I forgot that I'm not supposed to do something like that," she stated.

"That... was... awesome!" yelled a raspy voice behind her.

Lelia turned to see a cyan human with rainbow hair running towards her, she had been informed that this friend of Twilight's was known as Rainbow Dash. Though she understood where the Rainbow part of her name came from, but not the Dash. She didn't seem to be particularly fast or anything compared to any other humans. Said athlete grabbed the hand of the Reploid and before her neural network could process what had happened, they were running at a velocity that her internal speedometer told her was far beyond the realm of possibility for a human and was faster than her own internal dash mechanisms could propel her at.

They suddenly stopped in a room where no one else was located and despite her frame being capable of withstanding attacks, the sudden deceleration to a complete stop caused some damage both externally and internally. The Maverick Hunter's auto-repair functions kicked in to repair her systems. "Twilight told me that you were more capable of athletic ability than any human, but I guess you're not as fast as I am," Rainbow Dash boasted.

"My Emergency Acceleration System or internal dash mechanism if you prefer can accelerate me to roughly sixty to seventy miles per hour according to my internal speedometer. However you just ran closer to two hundred and seventy-six, then stopped suddenly without sustaining any injuries. My frame isn't designed for an impact like that and I know humans aren't designed for something like that!" Leila stated, confused.

"I don't understand it either, but I guess it has to do with the Equestrian Magic that Sunset Shimmer told me about," the athlete replied with a shrug.

The cyan human's face lit up as something crossed her mind that Leila couldn't understand. "So you're a robot that has done a lot of hero stuff, right!?" she asked excitedly.

Leila walked towards the door, she didn't want talk about where she had come from. Her hand reached for the doorknob when Rainbow Dash suddenly appeared in front of her. "I'm sorry if I touched a nerve, Leila. Just Twilight told me about how you would save people and robots like you from bad robots," she apologized.

The Reploid didn't care, she grabbed the human with her left hand and shoved her out of the way. She used her free hand to open the door and left the room and walked down an unfamiliar hallway of a building she didn't know the layout of. She turned the corner and ran into a human with grayish blue skin and two-tone blue hair. While the Maverick Hunter wasn't jolted by the impact, the human fell towards the ground, prompting the Reploid to catch her, "Sorry about that, I got you," she said apologetically.

As the human got on her feet, she looked the Maverick Hunter over, "You're not one of the students here. What are you doing on campus?" she asked in an authoritative tone, arms folded in front of her chest.

Rainbow Dash suddenly rushed next to them both, "I'm so sorry, Vice-Principal Luna, this is my cousin Leila. She was here to deliver something to me and wasn't familiar with the layout of the building. Cousin, you know you're supposed to sign in as a guest at the front office, right?" she lied.

This was something new to the Reploid. No one had ever lied about her being part of their family before, nor did they ever lie in what she thought was an incredibly unconvincing way. The human that Rainbow Dash had called Vice-Principal Luna looked at her as if to seek an answer, but all the Maverick Hunter could do was try to process what she should do next. "Your cousin, huh?" the grayish blue woman said with an arched brow.

The cyan human elbowed Leila, "Come on, Cousin. There's no reason to pretend that you don't know or like me," she stated.

The Maverick Hunter came to the conclusion that the path of least resistance was to go along with this obviously terrible lie. "Yeah, she's my cousin alright!" she stated as she pulled Rainbow Dash into her side with a faked smile.

A tense moment passed and it seemed that their lie wouldn't be bought, but the Vice-Principal shrugged, "Well then, Miss Leila. Next time you should sign in at the front office and get a guest badge. Then we won't think you're just some random person breaking into the school," she said before walking away.

When the woman was out of earshot, Leila looked at Rainbow Dash with an incredulous look, "Really, cousins. That was the best thing you could come up with? You and I barely look alike. Not to mention, I calculate an eighty-five point six seven two three chance of her not buying your lie," she stated in a hushed and annoyed tone.

"When you talk about numbers, you sound just like Twilight. Don't worry, she totally bought the lie," Rainbow Dash said.

As if she had tempted fate, Luna walked back and handed the Cyan athlete a sheet of paper, "I know you're not cousins. Friends, maybe. But not cousins, you two don't even look alike. I'll see you in detention," she stated.

The Reploid didn't even wait this time, "I told you, RD," she stated smugly.

The Vice-Principal turned to the Maverick Hunter, "As for you, I will escort you out of the building. If you return, sign in at the front office or I will have the police escort you out of here next time," she warned.

Lelia shrugged, "Will do," she stated, making a mental note to not return to the school at all costs.

Luna escorted the Reploid off of the campus of the school. Leila was sure to thank her for showing her how to leave and asked for directions to a nearby park. The two of them parted on surprisingly good terms despite what had happened and the Maverick Hunter walked to the park where she sat watching the birds and other creatures go about their business. Where she came from, animals like this were rare. The constant fighting over the Maverick Wars and the now nearly non-stop fighting of the Elf Wars cause devastation to the planet's surface. Though no one event was as destructive to the ecosystem of her world as the Eurasia Incident. She wasn't active during that time, but according to her creator, his father had told him about the incident. The Sigma Virus had leaked all over the planet, both humans and Reploids were affected by this. The Maverick Hunters had used an old cannon to attack the space colony. Only 62% of the entire thing had been destroyed. After that, a brave Reploid known as Zero rammed a space shuttle into it, ejecting at the last moment. 82% of the colony was destroyed, the remaining 18% rained down upon the Earth and caused mass destruction, forcing humanity underground. This was why animals in the wild were much rarer than they were in this world even by the time of her being brought online.

"Commander... I think I understand why you fight now. I used to think it was just for the sake of humans and Reploids. But seeing these animals that I've only ever seen in pictures, it gives me a better appreciation for life," she said quietly to herself.

The Maverick Hunter's proximity sensors were tripped not long after and the raspy voice from before said, "Well, detention is over. Hey, you look mesmerized by these creatures. Don't tell me that you haven't seen birds or squirrels before," Rainbow Dash said smugly.

"Only in pictures that were uploaded to my memory unit, I was told by Commander X that he saw birds during the Second Generation Reploid Rebellion, also better known as the Jakob Incident. I was brought online long after the events of this conflict. By that time, Commander X had fought at least 8 different conflicts against Sigma, all of which caused damage to the ecosystem of the planet. Where I come from isn't a pleasant place, but sitting here, watching nature. It's calming, soothing, and it reminds me why I fight," Leila stated without turning.

"So you are some kind of superhero!" the athlete chimed as she walked around the bench and grinned in the Reploid's face.

Said Reploid wasn't amused with the constant talk about her being a hero. She didn't see herself as a hero. "I never considered myself a hero and I never will. I was originally designed to help the Maverick Hunters out with rescue operations, but was upgraded shortly after joining to be a fully fledged hunter. I save people because it's the right thing to do, I protect people because it's the right thing to do. Their praise and adulation is irrelevant to me, ultimately at the end of the day, what's important is that I do what my... as you humans put it, heart tells me is the right thing to do," she stated harshly.

Rainbow Dash sat down next to her and gently placed a hand on the Maverick Hunter's face to turn it so that they could make eye contact, "A hero is the kind of person that does the right thing because it's the right thing to do. They don't seek praise and adulation, they just receive it for the deeds they commit. Heroes help other people because they have the power to help other people. You have the power to do that in your world and you have the power to do that here, why don't you go out and help others. I mean the Canterlot Police could always use another member on their force, even if that member happens to be an incredibly advanced machine," she encouraged.

This got Leila to start thinking, she could do some good around here and her frame was resistant to bullets. But it wouldn't take long for the fact that she was a Reploid to be revealed if she were to randomly go around helping the Police. She then thought about helping the Fire Department, but decided against that for the same reason. The Reploid shook her head and sighed, "I want to keep a low-profile. The amount of good I would do by helping people like that would be overshadowed by the potential panic that them figuring out I was a non-human would cause, thank you for the offer. I think I'm going to head back to Twilight's place, her parents have offered me a guest room since their eldest son had moved out," she said.

The Maverick Hunter stood up and started to walk away, but she suddenly stopped. "By the way, Rainbow Dash?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

A smile crossed Lelia's face, "If you can introduce me to more sports, I would love to get to learn how to play them. They're fun and I can see why you enjoy them," she offered.

A large grin crossed the athlete's face, "You bet I'll introduce you to sports, perhaps next time we meet I can show you how to play basketball!" she exclaimed.

The Reploid couldn't help but laugh at Rainbow Dash's enthusiasm, "Same time tomorrow then?" she asked.

The cyan human gave a thumbs up, "You bet!" she stated. The two of them faced each other with a grin on their face and gave each other a light punch in the shoulder as a sign of friendship between the two of them.