Two hours had passed since the Velvet family had sat down to watch television to wait for the others to arrive. The Reploid in the center of the couch started to seem a bit more restless as the time went on, something that didn't go unnoticed by Twilight Velvet, who held her mechanical daughter close. "Say, to pass the time, why don't you tell me a tale of what your world was like, before you came here?" she asked.

Leila's mind flashed back to the Elf Wars, the constant fighting, the constant running. The screams, the bloodshed, her stare went blank and it was as if she wasn't looking at the TV, but rather staring through it. The gray skinned woman realized that she had made a mistake by asking the Reploid about this. "Um, before that time dear. Twilight told me that there was a time of peace in your world," she stated.

The Maverick Hunter nodded, "I was there when the world governments tasked Commander X with using a newly created Mother Elf to cure the world's Reploids of the Maverick Virus. I was also there when one Doctor Weil proposed something known as Project Elpizo. Project Elpizo was a plan to control all Reploids by combining the Mother Elf's abilities to alter reality and rewriting the code of a Reploid with a singular Reploid leader. His intentions were to rob us of our own free will. Humanity supported this, yet Commander X tried to keep the peace, tried to enact a philosophy of coexistence. Humanity on the other hand had different ideas. They didn't care if we lost our free will. They didn't care if we were nothing more than slaves. My commander who had fought for them for almost a hundred years was being treated as if he wasn't even there. Just because one of their own had chosen to come up with a plan to make sure that we Reploids would've never been a threat again. But yet, even though I was angry at them, the Commander told me something that I never forgotten. He told me to not give into my anger, to not give up on the humans. That we can show them that it is possible for humans and Reploids to live in peace and harmony together. For a full year, we tried, but then... the conflict started. It probably ended by now, hopefully by peaceful means. If it didn't... well, everything on the planet would be gone," she stated, her tone becoming sorrowful near the end.

The two humans hugged the machine between them with a smile. "Mom, Dad, I'm home," called out Twilight Sparkle's voice from the front door.

Leila gently broke from the hug and stood up, removing her helmet and placing it under her arm as she walked towards the hallway. The two of them locked eyes and the purple human's mouth opened in disbelief as she just stared at the Reploid, "You're here, but how are you here when you're in my lab. I just saw you this morning and why do you look different?" she asked, confused.

"Hey Twi, ya sound like ya seen a ghost, what's wro— Leila!" Applejack said as she rounded the corner.

The farmgirl remembered what had happened two years prior on the farm and placed herself between the two of them, "Ah don't know who ya are or what ya are, but Leila is still in Twilight's lab!" she yelled.

The other five walked into the room without much fanfare or words, Applejack's yelling gave them all the forewarning that they would need. Aside from Twilight and Fluttershy, they were all glaring at her to some degree. The Reploid chuckled a bit at this and formed her left hand into a buster, causing them to gasp. She grasped the left elbow and twisted until she heard a click and then detached the weapon from her body, letting it fall to the ground with a clang. She then reached for her Buster Shot and Beam Saber, placing them both on the ground. "Now that I'm disarmed, literally in the case of my left arm," she said, raising her left arm to show the joint at the midsection of her lower arm, "You can all relax. I'm not here to cause any trouble, I'm not some Second Generation Reploid using my DNA Soul to copy myself. I'm the genuine article," The Maverick Hunter stated while really wanting to reattach her left arm.

"Oh yeah, well if you're the real Leila, tell me something only she would know!" Rainbow Dash chimed in.

"Second Generation Reploids are able to copy the exact mannerisms and memories of the Reploid that they copied. So that wouldn't be able to work, they can also copy the systems of other Second Generation and First Generation Reploids. We Third Generation Reploids are too advanced for them to copy. We don't have a constantly shifting DNA Soul, but we have something more advanced than that. Unlike previous generations, we retain our consciousness after we die. We go to a place known as Cyberspace. I know this because some of the Cyber Elves I worked with talked to me about that place before... they died too," Leila replied.

Fluttershy gasped at this and the Maverick Hunter picked up her buster, reattaching it to her arm and changing it back to her hand. She walked over to a window and then turned to look at the others, "When Cyber Elves use their ability, they cease to exist. I primarily worked with Hacker and Animal Elves. Specifically the Bee, Stoc, and Stick families. It never felt good watching them use their abilities, but I never had to ask. They would use their abilities, knowing that they were fighting not just for the survival of their kind, but the survival of all of our kinds. Like us Reploids, they were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that the world would continue on. It was truly admirable, and I wished that they would have survived. They made excellent conversation partners when there weren't any Reploids or humans to talk to," Leila told them with a sigh.

"I saw all of that when I touched you two years ago, Leila. Some of the Cyber Elves that gave their life for you were your friends," Sunset pointed out.

This caused the rest of the group to turn towards the Reploid in the room, realizing that she was the real deal. "No wait, let me guess. You're really from really far in the future and you went to Pony Twilight's world to ask if they could send you back in time and you used the mirror to come here to meet us!" Pinkie exclaimed, causing everyone to look at her like she was crazy, but the Maverick Hunter was stunned at this.

"What? It was just a guess!" the pink human cheerfully stated.

Leila had to test a hypothesis that floated to the surface of her mind, "Pinkie, who started the Elf Wars in my world?" she asked.

The cheerful waitress shrugged, "I don't know that, silly!" she said with a smile.

The Reploid sighed, "Damn." If she had known who had did it, then perhaps she could've told her Commander about it. Perhaps they had already known, Midnight Sparkle had told her that they were in contact with X, so she made a mental note to talk to him about it.

Rainbow Dash looked at her, "So if you're from our future, what's the world like where you come from?" she asked.

The Maverick Hunter folded her arms and smirked, "It's a war torn world, everyone's scrounging for food in shelters. Mechaniloids have all gone crazy and turned on their human masters. It's a terrible place," she lied.

Applejack picked up on this immediately, "Yer lyin, and don't be surprised. Ah can tell if a machine is lyin too," she stated sternly.

Leila smirked and then started laughing, "I was hoping you'd be able to pick up on my lie, AJ. The future is a wonderful place, a peaceful place that my Commander and I fought for the likes of in my world, but without any of you... it just feels empty and soulless," her voice took a somber tone at the end.

The humans all moved closer and hugged their friend tightly, they were glad to see her again and she was glad to see them again, but she had a limited amount of time to be with them, "Hey, instead of moping and just catching up since I only have about eight hours and forty-three minutes left with you guys, how about we all hang out somewhere. I'd like to go back to Equestria Land if that's okay with you all. That was the site of the picture we all took. Also I'd like to go out and eat, generally, I just want to spend time with you all," the Reploid stated.

"Darling, that's not a lot of time to go to Equestria Land and do all that you want to do," Rarity pointed out.

The Maverick Hunter pushed away from them and sighed a bit, tears forming in her eyes and rolling down her face, "I just want to spend one last day with you guys and finally get to say a goodbye that remains in my databanks. I know that it's not a lot of time, but I don't care what we do, I just want to spend that time with all of you," she stated.

Sunset Shimmer grabbed her hand with a smirk, "Then let's go to the arcade, we can spend some time together and we can all play some video games, even though you'd have the advantage, being a machine and all," she said in a calming tone.

Leila nodded and the rest of them smiled and nodded. She returned their smile, video games wasn't something she had the luxury of playing much in her life, but it would be fun and hanging out with her friends would make it extra special. "Let's do it," she said.

The eight friends left the house to climb into their various vehicles with the Reploid climbing into the same car as Twilight Sparkle. The two of them looked at each other with a smile, "It's good to see you once more like this, sis," the purple human said.

"Likewise, sis," the Maverick Hunter replied.

The human stepped on the gas pedal and pulled out of the driveway, they were going to head for the nearest arcade and Leila made a note to herself to ask them if they could all spend the last half hour to an hour of her time in this time period here at home so that she could say goodbye to all of them and give them all a goodbye hug.

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, I got the Zero/ZX Legacy Collection and have been more or less marathoning it. So far I've beaten Megaman Zero 1, 2, 3, ZX, and ZX Advent and I'm halfway through 4.