Hunter's Downfall

It had been two weeks since she arrived in this world and Leila found herself in jogging clothes for the first time. She was going for a jog through the streets of the town to experience what it was like instead of just running towards or away from her objective. The longer she lived in this world, the more she felt like a normal Reploid rather than a Maverick Hunter. The humans of this world didn't pay her any attention and some of them jogged alongside her from time to time. She was happy, to her, the world around her seemed to just melt away and she was safe within her own bubble. However, her sensors were able to keep her out of danger. Deep in the back of Leila's mind, she wondered if humans ever started to lose sight of the world around them as if nothing mattered but their own little paradise when they were happy.

The Reploid ended up crossing a road and ended up in front of a cafe. Something in her programming told her that someone or something that she hadn't expected was close to her, but her proximity sensor hadn't been tripped.

"Hiya! Welcome to Sweet Snacks Cafe!" said an unusually cheery voice.

If Leila had a biological heart, it would've stopped beating at that exact moment. Unfortunately for her, Reploids could feel fear and get surprised. Her proximity sensor suddenly went of and she whipped around, instinctively reaching on her back for her Buster Shot. Since the Buster Shot was holstered in her armor, she couldn't find it, so she engaged the L-buster on her left hand, causing her left hand to withdraw into her wrist to reveal a green armored cannon on that hand.

The pink human that had scared the everloving daylights out of the Maverick Hunter seemed to recognize the weapon despite Leila having never used it here. Her cheery smile vanished and her hair deflated to become long and flat. "Or... I guess you have better things to do," she said in a dejected tone.

It took the Reploid a couple of seconds to register what had happened, her cognitive neural network caught up to what was going on and after a quick scan, she determined that she wasn't in any danger. The buster reconfigured itself back into her left hand, "Sorry about that. Usually my proximity alarm tells me if something comes within a few feet of me, but you were able to get past that to get almost right behind me. I didn't mean to frighten you, are you alright?" she asked, her voice showing concern.

"Yeah... I'm fine. You have a nice day..." said the saddened pink human.

Leila remembered Twilight telling her about this, she accessed the file in her memory to tell her who this person in front of her was and what was going on. "You're Pinkie Pie, but you're currently in your Pinkamena state. One of Twilight's friends. Hmm, according to her, if you were ever in your Pinkamena state, I should offer to join you for a party of some sorts," she recounted.

The Maverick Hunter had no idea what would happen by uttering these words, but Pinkie's hair poofed up and she smiled brightly, "A party! Well come on and we'll get you started here at the Sweet Snacks Cafe!" she exclaimed.

Before the Reploid could register what was going on, her arm was grabbed and she was dragged into the cafe. The pink waitress placed her in a booth and rolled back behind the counter to start telling a chef the order. It was at this point, Leila was glad that she didn't need to eat, despite the fact that she was capable of doing so. She however wished that she was able to taste. As a machine, she had no taste buds and thus no sense of taste. The humans that tried to describe taste to her likened it to trying to teach a blind man what color is. It was no secret that she wished to know what food and drink tasted like, but she also had the ability to see in the ultraviolet and infrared spectra of light, unlike humans.

Leila's attention was brought to a music player of some sort. It was an archaic device that her databanks told her was a jukebox. She started to try to figure out how it worked and instead leaned in and read some of the songs on it. "Jukebox, play music," she commanded.

A few people looked at her as she did this and the jukebox did nothing. She had no idea what was going on and just frustratingly pressed a button. Much to her surprise, but the surprise of no one else, music started to play. It was a pleasant tune and surprisingly very catchy. Unlike the usual hard rock of her era. The Reploid walked back to her seat and sat down as Pinkie Pie placed down a plate with a soda and a basket that held a hamburger and fries. The pink human leaned in and whispered, "I know you're unable to taste these things, so don't worry about telling me if they're good or not. Twilight told me that you told her that you don't have food like this where you come from."

Leila looked at Pinkie, wondering how she knew that she was unable to taste, but the waitress smiled, "It's just a hunch, silly-billy!" she said cheerfully.

Somehow the Maverick Hunter didn't believe it was a hunch, there was more to this pink human than met the eye. Just to be sure, the Reploid ran a self-diagnostic on herself to ensure that she wasn't being hacked. The results came back negative and she analyzed the drink and food before her. It would be safe for her systems to consume and would be converted like all food and drink into fuel for her microfusion core. This was all she needed to know and she started eating. Like all other food, this was flavorless to her. Even the drink was flavorless, though her internal sensors noted that there was carbon dioxide in the drink as well as abnormally high amounts of sugar. Her systems told her that this drink would be excessively unhealthy for a human, but since sugar was a quick energy source, it'd be perfect for her mechanical systems.

It didn't take her long to finish her meal and her systems told her that it added another few days of microfusion fuel to her fuel tank. This fuel was to be used in situations where her solar core wouldn't be able to function like underground or underwater. The Reploid grabbed a napkin and wiped her face off. Though she couldn't get zits like a human could, grease would cause her synthetic flesh to become grimy and unpleasant if she didn't clean it off.

Pinkie Pie rolled over with a milkshake and took the dirty dishes back to the kitchen. Leila scanned the dessert drink in the glass in front of her and noticed it had four ingredients. Milk, frozen cream, sugar, and strawberries. The whipped cream on top was just heavy cream and the cherry was self-explanatory. The Reploid had heard of cherries back where she came from, but they were extinct by the time she had been brought online. The red of the cherry and the pink of the milkshake fascinated her. She had never seen such things in her life before and the giggling of her waitress could be heard over the music.

She didn't know how to use a straw, so she just lifted the glass. Her touch sensors told her that the drink was cold, even if she couldn't feel it. Despite being cold, her systems were rated for arctic and even sub-arctic conditions, so the milkshake presented no harm to her. She tilted the glass in her mouth and started to just consume the dessert without a straw or a spoon, going as far as to consume the entire cherry. A purple girl with azure hair rushed over to her, "You're not supposed to consume the pit, ma'am!" she said in a rush.

Leila turned her attention to the girl in question, "I'm not?" she asked, confused.

A pout formed on the girl's face and then she started laughing, "We use seedless cherries in our shakes, ma'am. You're not going to get sick, though I'm not sure what the effects of eating the stem of a cherry is, it's probably nothing," she stated.

The Maverick hunter chuckled a bit, getting the idea of humor. "I see that you are definitely a friend of Pinkie. According to Twilight Sparkle, she enjoys good joke," she stated.

The girl wheeled away to go take another order and then the pink waitress rolled over with a pair of cupcakes, "I brought some more food for you!" she exclaimed.

Leila had already filled up her microfusion core's fuel reserves, but her body was capable of just eliminating the rest of the food that she would eat if she was already "full". She picked up a cupcake and ate the entire thing, paper included, much to the confusion of everyone and especially her waitress. Pinkie laughed nervously and picked up the other cupcake, taking the paper off of it, "You're not supposed to eat the paper, silly!" she stated as she handed the second cupcake to the machine.

Said Reploid took the cupcake and ate it as well. She had consumed over a hundred grams of sugar in the last ten minutes alone. This would be an excessive amount for a human, but she wasn't that fazed by it. Unlike the biological processes of humans which would send them through a high energy state called a sugar rush and then right back down to a low energy state known as a sugar crash, her systems would keep her functioning at a proper energy level. "I think I'm done, I can't eat anymore, but thank you for the food and the joke from your co-worker," she said politely.

A huge grin appeared on Pinkie's face, "You're very welcome, Leila!" she exclaimed as she bounced up and down a bit.

This caught the Reploid's attention, but she wrote it off as just Twilight Sparkle having told her friends what the Maverick Hunter's name was. She stood up and walked towards the door when a gruff voice yelled, "Hey! Are you going to pay for all that food!"

All she had was Energy Crystals and she knew that they were useless here. Fortunately for her, the pink waitress spoke up, "I'll pay for the food! I've already been paying from pocket for her dishes. She's a friend of mine!"

Leila couldn't help but grin at this and being called a friend, she walked back over to Pinkie Pie and extended her hand. The pink human grabbed her hand and they locked eyes as they shook hands. "Thank you, Pinkie, I won't forget your kind gesture," the Reploid said.

"Oh, anything to make a friend smile! I want to make as many people as I can happy! That's just who I am!" the waitress said excitedly.

The Maverick Hunter leaned in and lowered the volume of her voice so that only her new friend could hear her. "I wish there were more people like you in my world, maybe the world would've been a better place," she stated sorrowfully.

Pinkie instinctively grabbed the Reploid in a hug and Leila's systems told her that this human was putting far more pressure on her frame than a normal human was capable of doing. Though it wasn't dangerous for her, she noted that at this strength of a hug, it would likely cause bruising if not the breakage of bones. She returned the hug gently and the two broke it not long after. "I'll see you later, I guess," the Maverick Hunter stated.

"I can't wait to see you again! I'll stop by Twilight's place after work!" the excited pink human stated.

A smile crossed Leila's features as she turned away to head out the building, "I look forward to it," she said.

Once she left, the Reploid's chronometer told her that it was a few hours til sunset. So she had a bit more time before she had to return back to her home. Something inside of her was curious as to what different kinds of animals there were on this world, so she quickly referenced her map of the city and made her way to the park once more. Perhaps she would see birds that she didn't see the last time she was there. This very thought made her smile and she grew more hopeful for the future.