Fortunately for everyone involved, the entertainment for the delegates went off without a hitch. There was also a welcome surprise of fireworks as well mixed in, contributed by Trixie who was deeply sorry about what happened. Turns out some of those actions she did like the wheelless carriages weren't her idea, but twisted ideas that were created by the Alicorn Amulet's influence. Due to this, she managed to gain a bit of humility and discipline, though only a bit. Trixie didn't stay around for too long though, as she left soon after. The days afterwards were quite peaceful, as nothing came up. It was especially quite as of right now since Rainbow was out of town for a training camp with the Wonderbolts and Pinkie was fixated on the mailbox waiting for a response. Today was a new day though, as the sun just began to rise above the horizon, and in the kitchen of the human household, Zenix was loafing around while drinking some iced tea. But he wouldn't be alone as his old friend entered.

"*yawn* G'morning, Zen." Xavier yawned.

"Heh, you're awake early." Zenix chuckled.

"I could say the same about you..." Xavier said tired.

"You know me."

"'If there is profit, you'll be there come rain or nightfall.'" Xavier quoted.

"But what about you? Worried like Pinkie is about Rainbow?"

"Nah, Rainbow's fine." Xavier said waving his hand. "I was actually working on a project I had planned."

"Ooh, I'm interested." Zenix smiled. "Mind giving me some details?"

"Sorry, pal. This one's going to be a secret of mine."

"Bah, you're no fun!" Shaking his head, Xavier walked over to the fridge.

"Speaking of, do we still have some iced coffee?"

"We should since it was there last night." Zenix answered, leaning back on his chair. As Xavier looked inside of the fridge however, he was having some trouble.

"What the- where's the thermos?"

"On the middle shelf."

"Yeah, I checked there first. It's not there."

"What? It was there last night."

"Wait- where's the creamer?" Xavier asked, looking at the door.

"Huh? Okay I know there's creamer left. It was half full when I had it last."

"Well it's not there- wait. There's a note here." Xavier said, coming out of the fridge with a piece of paper. As he began to read it out silently, Zenix waited for him to finish. What he didn't expect was to see Xavier put the paper down onto the counter.

"So... who was it from?"

"Please excuse me." Xavier said with a slightly alarming amount of calmness. "I need to find someone."

"Huh? Who?" Before he could be press further, Xavier left the kitchen. "Wha- hey!?" Zenix took a look at the note on the counter, deciding it was the best way to learn. Getting up and picking it up, he began to read. As he read though, he felt his blood run cold as a cold sweat began to follow. "Oh no- Xavier!" Dashing to the front door, Zenix looked around outside for his friend. Unfortunately, he was already long gone. "Nonononononono-" Zenix ran into the basement, grabbing his bag and pulling out an airhorn. "Emergency! Emergency! Wake the hell up!" Zenix screamed, blasting the airhorn he had. It stopped when he was nailed in the face by a pillow.

"Shut up!" Cali shouted, still in her bed clothes. The other humans began to funnel into the living room, all still sleepy. For once though, Zenix didn't cower when Cali got angry.

"Sleep later! We have a massive problem!"

"What, in the wide world of Equestria, could warent such a reaction." Cali growled.

"Because Xavier's going to kill someone!"

"Ah-... What?" Cali was about to rip a new one into Zenix, but stopped when she realized what he said.

"You heard me! We need to find him or his target before the meet!"

"Whoa whoa whoa! How can you be sure Xavier's going to kill someone?" Huston said, trying to calm the situation. His answer was being given the note from before. He began to read it out loud.

I took the coffee and cream
I put a twenty on the back

"Huh?" Everyone was confused at this, looking back at Zenix. His response was taking another piece of paper out of his pocket.

"This was taped to the back of it." Getting a closer look at it, it was green and-

"Wait, that's just twenty bucks!" Alex said confused, seeing as it was money from their world.

"Yeah, and there is only one person that I know that would do this kinda thing! And that person is someone me and Xavier know!"

"Wait... are you saying..."

"Yeah. Another human is here." Zenix said in a dead serious tone. This woke up everyone. "Her name is Valerie, the daughter of my family's head of information."

"Wait." Flint tried to reason. "If you three know each other, why would Xavier try to kill her?"

"Because Val and Ver's got history with each other." Zenix explained, pausing for a moment. "Okay, it's more like Val annoyed the hell out of him, but still." Zenix began to pace around. "The fact that the first thing she does is take our stuff without permission is enough to get him to snap."

"Isn't Xavier trying to-"

"Reel in his aggressiveness? Val's a special case for him! Wait-" Zenix stopped pacing. "Why am I still explaining this to you all! We need to go!"

"Calm down." Jasmine said, trying to dissolve the situation. "I don't think that Xavier's going to try and kill Valerie. I'm sure he's just going to find her to confirm." Zenix looked into her eyes, closing his and sighing.

"Even still, I want to make sure it is Valerie before he goes on some wild goose chase." Zenix said. "So could all of you please help out? I promise on my name, I'll repay you."

"Of course." Jasmine agreed. Seeing as how she agreed to it, no one else could argue.

"Great! Get dressed, I'll explain more as we search." Nodding, everyone got themselves ready.

Later

Once everyone got themselves dressed, the humans all went out to look for either Xavier or the rumored new girl Valerie. One or the other would suffice at this point. As they left the house, Zenix began to talk.

"Okay, to begin with, do any of you remember me saying there was a third person in our group."

"Now that you mention it..." Jasmine thought back. "You did mention a third person often when you talked about the past."

"Yep. That third person is Valerie." Zenix explained. "Like I said, she is the daughter of the head of information at my family's company. I will say that, and this is supposed to be a secret, that was more or less a face name."

"What does that mean?" Cali asked.

"Well, let's say Valerie's father and those under him did some more... unsavory things."

"Ye mean killin'?"

"No! Not that far!" Zenix denied. "Sure, there were scraps with other undercover people, but no one was killed. All they did was uncover investigations for information. They're pretty much the ones who allowed out family to knock down so many other companies."

"So you guys have a whole guild of ninja spies?!" Amity wondered with sparkly eyes.

"Well... I guess." Zenix shrugged. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. Like her father, Valerie is skilled in stealth and all that jazz."

"Wait... this doesn't explain why Xavier would hate Valerie." Cali commented.

"Well, Xavier pretty much hated how she acted and used her skills."

"...Is Valerie... Some dastardly villain who used her skills to cause more harm than good?" Amity wondered, acting like a stereotypical villain.

"Or someone who's so serious about their job she doesn't care about what happens to those around her?" Alex joined.

"No. She's just lazy."

"I'm sorry what?"

"Yeah... If I were to describe Valerie in three words, it would be 'lazy, apathetic, and mysterious'. It's a common story that when she was born she didn't cry or anything. She just had a blank, emotionless face." Everyone stared at Zenix blankly, not expecting that kind of person.

"...How lazy are we talking here?" Huston asked.

"Sleeping dragon."

"Oh."

"The big reason why Xavier hated her was because of how little she cared about everything despite her talents. She barely showed any emotion or empathy about anything, which if you remember his story you can see where that leads." Everyone shuttered at the thought. "He also hated how she would use her talents, more often than not using the stealth techniques she was taught to sneak off and laze about. It was to the point that not even the information branch could find her."

"...I'm starting to see why you called her 'a piece of work'." Jasmine commented.

"Yep. That's the biggest reason why I panicked in the first place and still worry right now."

"...Yeah okay. Anything else we should know?" Cali asked.

"Well, she has a habit of taking things without notice." Zenix said. "She's not a thief though... Mostly. She'll mostly leave some money to pay for what she took as evidenced by the twenty-dollar bill. We could use this to help locate her."

"Why would she do something like that?" Jasmine asked. "Wouldn't it be better to ask first?"

"Well, she someone who doesn't like to interact with others." Zenix said. "She's kinda like Cranky but even more seclusive. So she tends to do this kind of thing because she doesn't want to interact with someone. It was fine at our estate since she would leave more money when taking things, but-"

"It would be a problem if she took too much however." Flint said. "The fact we only just learned about her being here means that we don't know how long she's been here."

"Gah... alright. I get it." Cali groaned. "We need to find Valerie."

"Glad you see things from my perspective."

"So where should we look first?"

"Excellent question. Wish I had the answer- GAH!" Suddenly Zenix was grabbed by the collar, right into Cali's face.

"What the hell do you mean you don't have an answer!?" Cali shouted, shaking the merchant. "I'm not about to go around town for a wild goose chase!"

"Didn't you hear me when I said even her family couldn't find her!?" Zenix shouted in fear. "But don't worry, I have a plan!" Zenix shook himself out of Cali's grip and pulled of his backpack. Rummaging around in it, he finally pulled out his plan like a video game character holding an important item.

"That's a fishing rod, dumbass." Alex deadpanned, staring at the collapsable fishing rod Zenix pulled out and extended.

"Why is there a chocolate bar tied to it?" Amity asked with a question mark. Like the rising star said, there was a basic chocolate bar tied to the rod where a hook would be.

"If there is one guarantee to get Valerie to do anything, it's anything to do with chocolate." Zenix explained. "It's gotten to the point where if anyone needed her help, we'd pull out sticks, string, and chocolate and stick them in trees looking for her. We even nicknamed it 'ninja fishing' due to how consistent it was to pull her out of a tree."

"Ninja- wait what?" Jasmine was about to ask further but she and everyone else had chocolate bars shoved at them.

"Take these. If you see any evidence of her, try holding it out and shouting her name." Zenix explained. "Now we should split up into teams to find Xavier and/or Valerie. I'm going this way. Good luck."

"Wha- hey!" Cali called out. "We don't even know what Valerie looks like!"

"...She's human." Zenix stopped and looked back at Cali like she said she was a dragon. "That was the stupidest thing said today."

"...You know what. I can't even argue with that."

Amity and Cali's Team

Deciding to follow Zenix's plan, the rest of the humans split up into three teams of two. Right now, Cali and Amity were together.

"I can't believe Zenix." Cali grumbled. "How much trouble is that guy going to put us through? I swear, every time something comes up he seems involved."

"I don't think he wanted this to happen." Amity said.

"I know, it's just, gah!" Cali grumbled. "How many times do we have to get wrapped up in things!? Can't we just have some peace for once?!"

"Don't worry. I'm sure that everything will be okay once we find Valerie." Amity said happily. Cali's face softened seeing how happy she was.

"*sigh* You wear your heart on your sleeve..." Cali sighed. "Yeah, your right. Let's go find Valerie." The two walked around a bit. They stopped when they saw Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie outside staring at the mailbox like her life depended on it.

"She's still fixated on the mailbox." Cali sighed.

"I get being worried about friends, but it's not like she's gone for years." Amity said concerned. As the two walked closer, they saw that the Cakes walked outside.

"Pinkie Pie, do you happen to know where the cupcakes we were baking went?" Mr. Cake asked.

"I've been watching the mailbox all day!" Pinkie declared. "I have no need for cupcakes right now."

"Well we don't know where they went." Mrs. Cake explained. "We put them onto the counter for a moment, and the next time we walked by they were gone. Now we have to make a whole new batch of chocolate cupcakes-"

"Did you say chocolate!?" Suddenly, the human duo ran up to the ponies, startling them.

"Um... Why yes." Mrs. Cake answered.

"Did you happen to see a green piece of paper around?" Cali asked.

"Now that you mention it, I did find one on the floor." Mr. Cake thought back, the two humans groaning as the facepalmed.

"I guess that confirms things?" Amity groaned, blue lines under her eyes.

"Confirms what?" Mrs. Cake asked, Pinkie returning to the mailbox.

"You're not going to believe this, but we might know the culprit." Amity said.

"Who is it?"

"Well, it might be a new human in town-"

"What!!!" This time it was Pinkie who ran up into the humans faces, startling them. "A new human!?"

"Yeah." Cali said, gently pushing Pinkie away. "Apparently she's... well I don't really know the relationship between them, but she knows Zenix and Xavier. We're looking for her and she seems to have a habit for taking things and liking chocolate."

"The green paper is currency from our world if you're curious." Amity added. "We're sorry she did this to you."

"Oh it's fine." Mrs. Cake reassured. "But it would be nice to know she won't do this again."

"That's what we're trying to find her for." Cali said. "Speaking of, Pinkie. You're coming to help."

"What!" Oddly, Pinkie wasn't completely on the idea. "B-but who's going to send Rainbow a letter when she writes?!"

"...Seriously." Cali deadpanned. Amity began to think with a thought bubble, popping after a few seconds.

"Mr and Mrs. Cake, do you think you can find us if the mailman comes with a letter from Rainbow Dash?"

"We can do that." Mr. Cake answered.

"Great!" Amity then grabbed Pinkie's tail. "Then we'll be taking Pinkie! Come on!"

"Wait!" Pinkie began to panic, but it was too late as Cali and Amity dragged the pink pony away, the Cakes watching with awkward smiles.

Huston and Jasmine

"So do you know much about Miss Valerie?"

"I'm sorry, I don't. Neither Xavier nor Zenix told me much about her."

"It's okay."

With Jasmine and Huston, the two were more or less just chatting,

"But the chances that the next human who would find their way here to Equestria has a connection with two others is quite alarming."

"Alarming?"

"Well, not like it's going to hurt anyone or thing. It's just..." Huston put his hand to his chin. "Those three were, I assume, in the same area when they were brought over here, everyone else weren't near anyone else. That seems odd."

"How so?"

"Well, wouldn't that mean we wouldn't be here?" Huston answered. "Wouldn't it be those around Xavier and the others whenever they came over. For that matter, why have we been awakening one at a time?" Huston kept thinking to himself, snapping out of it when he felt a touch on his shoulder. "Sorry. I'm just trying to put everything together."

"It's okay. We're all in this together." Jasmine smiled. Huston nodded with a smile and continued to look around. At least until-

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!" A scream pierced the area, startling those nearby. When everyone recovered, they took note of the familiarity.

"Wasn't that...?"

"Yep. That was Rarity." Huston confirmed. "We might as well go and check in with her." With a nod, the two went over to Carousel Boutique, finding Rarity huddled up on the pedestal.

"And of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" Rarity cried.

"I feel like I've heard of this scene somewhere..." Jasmine noted.

"What happened Rarity?"

"I cannot find my special purple-and-gold cotton cloth!" Rarity declared. "I have searched high, and I have searched low. Low and high! High and low! But I can't find it anywhere! Anywhe-e-e-e-ere!"

"Yeah... I've definitely heard of this scene."

"Well... I wish we could help, but we're looking for someone." Rarity continued to cry, the two humans feeling conflicted. At least until Rarity kicked something, sending a green paper to the floor.

"Wait, that's-" The two humans walked over to the paper and sure enough, it was a twenty-dollar bill. "...Rarity. I think we might know where the cloth went."

"You what!?" Rarity ran up to the humans' faces, her crying stopping.

"Yeah... it's hard to explain though..."

"Tell me!" Rarity growled, intimidating Jasmine into hiding behind Huston.

"...A human might have taken it."

"WHO!"

"V-Valerie..." At this point even Huston began to shrink.

"Grr... When I find Valerie they're going to be in big- wait." Rarity began to storm towards the door ready to rip the thief a new one, but stopped when her brain finally caught up. "Who's Valerie?"

"Well... she's an old friend of Xavier and Zenix who managed to find their way here." Huston said nervously.

"...And this friend is a thief?"

"N-not really." Jasmine managed to stutter out, holding the twenty-dollar bill. "She gave this to pay for it."

"...A piece of paper?"

"It the currency of our world." Huston explained. "We're currently trying to find her if you want to join-"

"You bet I'm going to join!" Rarity declared, some anger returning. "New girl or not, she still took cloth that I need! Come on you two!" Rarity then took the two into her magic and dragged them outside. "We're going to find this 'Valerie' and get her to return my cloth!" The two humans nodded, knowing trying to slow down Rarity when she has a goal in mind is a difficult task.

Alex and Flint

Unlike the other group, Alex and Flint took the idea of 'ninja fishing' and rolled with it, grabbing string and branches and making makeshift rods. They mostly did this though to look inside of the trees of Sweet Apple Acres, the place they decided to look in.

"Are you sure Valerie's here?" Flint asked.

"Not sure." Alex shrugged. "But Zenix said this Valerie girl's good at hidin', so I thought that the orchard would be a greata place ta hide with so many places ta hide."

"I can see where your logic is leading. But how are we supposed to look through the entire orchard." Flint asked, motioning to the size of the field, Alex looking blankly.

"...Okay ay didn't think that far ahead..." Alex admitted, Flint shaking his head in response.

"Alex? What are you doin' here?" Turning to the voice, the duo saw Applejack walking up to them. "It's your day off. For that matter, why are you an' Flint walkin' 'round with... chocolate fishin' rods?"

"Erm... that's because we're lookin' fer someone." Alex answered.

"...Are you?"

"It's quite complicated." Flint said, adding onto the conversation. "Long story short however, it seems another human has managed to come to Equestria."

"Yer jokin'!" Applejack said shocked. "How can ya'll be sure?!"

"Well, apparently the new girl's an ol' acquaintance o' Zenix an' Xavier." Alex explained. "Since the two seem riled up, there's a good chance it involves her. And as fer these things," Alex shook his chocolate fishing rod, "The new girl, Valerie, will do anythin' fer chocolate but is hard ta find, so Zenix suggested doin' this."

"...Whatever ya'll say."

"Say, you wouldn't happen to have anything go missing recently or have any green papers, would you?" Flint asked. "Zenix says Valerie has a habit of taking things without anyone noticing and putting green papers behind."

"Green papers?"

"They were the currency of our world."

"Ah. Well... I don't know actually." Applejack answered. "I can go back to the farmhouse and look if you need me to."

"That would be great." Alex nodded. "Ye don' mind if we follow?"

"Go right ahead." Now joined by Applejack, the three went over to the farmhouse to try and find some clues. Once they arrived, they saw Big Mac by the side of the house.

"Hey Big Mac!" Alex waved, the stallion looking over. "Whatcha lookin' at?" To answer, Big Mac pointed to the open windowsill. "...Okay?"

"Wait, didn't we leave a pie there to cool?" Applejack asked.

"Eyup." That answer got the three to think about recent events.

"Big Mac, you didn't happen to see a green paper nearby, did you?" Flint asked. When hearing that, Big Mac went back inside. A few moments later he poked his head out of the window, green paper in his mouth.

"Welp. Looks like she's been here." Flint said. "When did you all put the pie out here?"

"Only a few minutes ago." Applejack answered.

"Then she might be close!" Alex concluded. As his gaze moved however, he noticed something in the dirt. "Huh? What do we have- aha! Look!" Flint and Applejack went to see what he was looking at, and what they saw were footprints of something with shoes. "Doubt anyone here's got any shoes with that shape!"

"Hmm..." Flint took a knee to get a better look at them. "Okay. I think she went this way."

"Alright! Let's go!" Alex announced, leading the charge with Applejack and Flint right behind him.

Zenix

"Can you all leave me alone! This is not for you!"

As for Zenix, he decided to look in a place where ponies wouldn't find themselves around if they could choose, the Everfree Forest. It was the perfect place to hide away. Unfortunately, there weren't any ponies but there were other creatures around. At least the ones following Zenix were small and adorable.

"Come on! I'm looking for someone! I need this!" Zenix shouted, trying to drive away the horde of small animals following him to no avail. As he tried to keep the chocolate bar away and shoo the animals, two ponies were watching confused, walking up to him.

"Uh... what's going on here?" Looking up, Zenix saw that Twilight and Fluttershy were walking over to him.

"Ah, perfect timing! Fluttershy, could you get these things away from me? They're trying to steal my chocolate bar!" Seeing how much Zenix was struggling, Fluttershy complied.

"Now come here everyone." Fluttershy said, the animals looking over. "That is Zenix's chocolate. It isn't right to try and take it." Seeing how much Fluttershy cared about it, they all backed down and ran off somewhere.

"Thanks for that, Fluttershy." Zenix thanked. "Now I can get back to work."

"What are you even doing?" Twilight asked.

"Looking for someone."

"...Who?" When Twilight asked that question, Zenix finally realized what was going on.

"Oh, whoops. You wouldn't know." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "It's a complicated matter."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Well, it involves Xavier." Zenix began. "Me and the other humans are trying to find him and/or someone else."

"Is that why you're carrying a fishing rod?"

"Yeah, since the one I'm trying to find tends to fall for this all the time." Zenix said. "Gah, why am I even beating around the bush with you? I'm looking for a human."

"A human? Wait!" Twilight and Fluttershy took a moment to thing about what he said, eyes widening when they finally figured it out.

"Yep. And coincidentally, it's likely that this human is an old acquaintance of me and Xavier. Her name's Valerie and all you need to know right now is that she likes chocolate and hides unless she wants to be found."

"But why are you looking for Xavier too?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's because Xavier was really irritated at her in the past. Now that she's here he's looking for her and I'm afraid of what he's going to do." Zenix shuttered, and Twilight and Fluttershy took notice.

"Is there any way for us to help?" Twilight asked.

"I wish, but it's hard to find a girl that's basically an enigma. Unless you have any hints on anything suspicious." As Zenix spoke, a nearby squirrel who didn't wander too far off overheard what he was saying. The squirrel ran over to Fluttershy and began to chitter at Fluttershy. "...What's it saying?"

"Uhuh... oh I see!" Fluttershy lit up. "Sounds like this little squirrel saw a shadow here before!"

"Really!?" Zenix shouted. "Where!?" The squirrel chattered some more.

"It sounds like they were walking around this area before walking off into another direction. They followed a bit and saw a dim glow in the distance." She squirrel shook their head after chittering for a bit longer. "They didn't follow much longer after that."

"That's fine. That gives me all the help I need." Zenix leaned down to the squirrel's level. "But which direction was the glowing light?" The squirrel pointed in a direction. "You're too kind little guy." As Zenix stood up, he took note of the fishing rod he had. "Hey Fluttershy, is it okay if a squirrel has some chocolate?"

"It should be. Why?" Zenix put the rod down and untied the chocolate bar from the line. Once he finished, he handed the bar to the nice squirrel.

"Some animals can't in my world." Zenix answered, watching the squirrel take it happily. "Alright, I'm going to find Valeire. Thanks for the help."

"Mind if we follow?" Twilight asked, Fluttershy nodding to agree.

"Sure." The three walked in the direction the squirrel pointed in, the little rodent happily chomping away at the chocolate.

Later

"So what is this Valerie like?" Twilight asked, she and the others walking to find the source of the light.

"Three words." Zenix said putting up three fingers. "Lazy, apathetic, and mysterious." The two ponies stared at him, not sure how to react. "Hey, it might seem shallow to describe her like that, but that's all there is to say."

"It's... pretty harsh." Twilight noted.

"Hey, I'm just stating facts. Just be glad you didn't ask Xavier. He'd talk your ear off on how much she annoyed the living daylights out of him, Nyehehe." Zenix chuckled. The trio kept walking for a while, keeping a lookout. They stopped when they realized they made it to the watering hole. "...Gah! Is there no hope!?"

"Wait, what's that?" Fluttershy asked, pointing over at a pair of trees. When they looked closer, they noticed that there was something tied to the trees, and a few other things nearby. One of those things could lead to the solution, a patch of rocks put together in a pattern not natural.

"There!" Zenix shouted, running over to the trees, the ponies following. Once there, they saw that the thing tied to the trees was a purple and gold cloth, shaped like a hammock with a pillow and uneven blanket inside. Turns out this spot was a campsite of sorts, a decently used fire pit and cooking gear there. "We found her!" Taking a closer look around, they began to take note of the things that were around the place. There was a makeshift table made from a good-sized box nearby, on top of it was a tray of cupcakes, an empty thermos, and a fresh pie. They also noticed that there were a few bags nailed to the trees, though they were nailed onto the trees by strange items not seen by the ponies.

"What are these-"

"Don't touch them." Zenix said, stopping Fluttershy from touching one of the "nails", a star-shaped one. "That's a shuriken. Very sharp throwing weapon. In fact," Zenix looked at another, this time a kunai. "All of these things are weapons."

"These things are weapons?" Twilight asked. "Then why is she using them to hang up bags?"

"Probably because she didn't have any nails and was too lazy to bother." Zenix shrugged. "Honestly happens all the time."

"Ah, looks like ye lot found a lead too." The trio looked over to see that Alex, Flint, and Applejack walking over. "An' would ya look at that, the pie she took."

"So she took this stuff too, huh." Flint said, looking around.

"She probably didn't take everything." Zenix said. "She's got enough common sense to take things that aren't being used much."

"THERE IT IS!" Everyone nearby jumped up in shock when someone shouted. Before they could react, they saw that Rarity storm over to the camp angrily, Huston and Jasmine trying to keep up. Once Rarity reached the hammock, she fell to her knees. "I cannot believe this! My valuable cotton cloth, tailored to be created into a beautiful dress! Made into a simple hammock!"

"Yeah... sounds like something Valerie would do." Zenix shrugged, Huston and Jasmine catching their breaths.

"Looks like we all ended up here." Everyone heard Cali say, she and Amity arriving with Pinkie. "And by the looks of it, there are the chocolate cupcakes."

"Ah, welcome to the party." Alex said. "Now where is the ninja, ey?"

"Ninja?" Applejack asked.

"Well Zenix called her a ninja."

"Well this is her camp." Zenix confirmed. "But it doesn't look like she's around. We might need someone to wait here."

"Seriously, more searching?!" Cali groaned. "Can't we have her walk up to us and-"

"Hey Zen." A dull female voice said, causing most of the group to jump in shock. All but one.

"*sigh* Y'know Valerie, it would be great if you said 'hello' to your old pals before getting comfy, right?" Zenix said. Everyone turned to who he was calling out, and sure enough, a female human was walking over. Her hair was medium length and blond, a little bit below the shoulders and was about in the middle of the rest of the humans' heights. Similar to Xavier, she also had a hoodie on, a yellow one. She also had some simple sweatpants on and sneakers. Overall, she wasn't exactly all that flashy. Even her face seemed to acknowledge this, keeping a perpetually bored face to the point even her eyes were half-open, her green eyes lacking a glint.

"Meh." Valerie shrugged, walking over to her camp, carrying yet another bag.

"You might want to take a step away from that tree, Alex." Zenix suggested.

"Huh?" Alex did follow the merchant's advice, but was still confused. "Why do ay-" Suddenly, a kunai flew right past his face and into the tree, shocking everyone. "GIAH!" As Alex fell to the ground, everyone watched Valerie walk over to the tree and hung the bag she was holding onto it. "What the hell was that fer!?" All Valerie did was turn her head down to Alex.

"Who are you?" She asked, many members falling over exasperated.

"That's Alex. He's one of my new friends." Zenix answered. "In fact, most of my new friends are right here." Valerie looked around, seeing all the new faces with various expressions looking at her.

"Cool." She simply said, walking over and hopping into the hammock. As she rummaged around in a bag, everyone else huddled up.

"This is Valerie?" Cali asked.

"Yep."

"And this is all she does."

"Pretty much."

"Does she have any other aspects to her?"

"What do you think?" Everyone looked over at Valerie, seeing her pull out a literal gaming console. "Wait, where did she get that? I didn't have that on me."

"...I can see why she annoys Xavier." Cali admitted.

"Well, we finally found Valerie, now what?" Amity asked.

"Well, we now need to find-"

"There you are." Everyone's blood ran cold. Their heads turned over to see that Xavier was walking over to everyone.

"W-when did he-" Zenix began to panic, but as he did he noticed something on Alex. "ALEX! YOU'VE BEEN BUGGED!"

"Huh?" Alex looked confused, but one look at his shoulder revealed everything. Sp1Dro was on it. "Hey!"

"Valerie!" Xavier shouted, the new girl looking over, barely caring that he was walking over.

"Now now, Xavier! We can talk about this!" Zenix tried to reason. "Come on, she's new here! She doesn't-" Xavier glared at Zenix, the merchant flinching.

"This is between me and her. Stay out of this." Xavier said, his gaze passing over everyone else. Before anyone could stop him though, he walked over to Valerie, the girl putting her game down. That's when they noticed that he had a bag on him, reaching inside. Once he reached Valerie, he pulled out something aiming right for Valerie. Putting... a box of chocolates into her hammock.

"You can have five more if you, for once, listen to me." Xavier said.

"...Mhm." Valerie nodded, taking the box and opening it to start snacking.

"Thank you. Now I know it's probably obvious from looking at them," Xavier pointed at the group, mostly the ponies, "But this isn't our world we are in. It's called Equestria."

"Alright." Valerie acknowledged, popping a chocolate into her mouth.

"Since we're in another world, our own currency isn't worth anything. We use bits in this world." Xavier then pulled out one of the golden coins and tossing it onto her. "I'll give you that for now, but you're going to have to return everything you've taken. You don't even know who you took things from." Valerie looked over at his friends.

"That pit, it's a bit soggy." Those who only met Valerie looked surprised.

"Wha-"

"The cupcakes are a little burnt." Valerie continued. "It's not inedible, but it's not the same quality as others. And this cloth," Valerie took a piece of the golden weavings off of the cloth, taking a bit of time to twirl it. "This isn't gold. It's more of a shiny yellow." Rarity came up to look at cloth in detail, squinting. After a bit she had her conclusion.

"Mmmmm... You might be right..."

"Seriously?" Amity wondered.

"These aren't fit to sell, I just took them off your hands before it went bad." Valerie said, taking another chocolate.

"That... does sound like you..." Zenix sighed.

"Who's side are you on!?" Cali growled.

"Enough." Xavier called out, everyone calming down. "If everyone here is fine with it, I'll let you off the hook. But before you take anything else Valerie, get some money that has actual value here, alright."

"...Alright." Valerie agreed, popping another chocolate.

"...*sigh* I guess come find me or Zenix if you need anything." Xavier said, putting the bag he was holding down and walking away, leaving Valerie to her own devices (literally as she pulled out the gaming console again) Going over to the others, everyone had different expressions on them. "...What?"

"Valerie's..."

"A lazy good-for-nothing? Yes, she is." Xavier grumbled. "I can't believe that out of everyone, fate decided that she was the one to have follow me. I guess it could be worse."

"You sure you're okay?" Flint asked.

"Yeah... why?"

"Because Zenix said you were goin' ta kill her." Alex said, getting a look of shocked confusion from the blamed and a look of betrayal from the blamee.

"Kill her- What?" Xavier looked at Zenix, who averted his gaze. "Just because she annoys me to no end doesn't mean I want to kill her. I wanted to make sure she didn't do anything stupid before or after I found her."

"I told you!" Jasmine shouted, also annoyed.

"Right, right! I'm sorry!" Zenix apologized. "I jumped the gun, alright! Can you forgive me?"

"...*sigh* You had my best interests in mind." Xavier said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'll forgive you, but don't think I'm going to go on a murder rampage over one person, alright?"

"Yeah. Sorry..."

"This would make for a great letter to the princess." Twilight said, changing the topic. "Besides, telling the princess about Valerie."

"Sounds like a good idea. Xavier. You're going to write it."

"Huh!? Why me!?" Xavier questioned, looking at Zenix. "If anything, you're the one who needed to learn this lesson!" As everyone began to converse amongst themselves, Valerie paid some attention to them all, making notes of everyone. Most notable, how different Xavier was compared to when she knew him. Whatever happens next, a new pair of eyes would be there to experience it all.

Author's Note

I am speed (and high on caffeine)
I was speedrunning to get here if you couldn't tell. I wanted to get to this point because I was putting this one together for a while. All that hype for someone who gives Snorlax and Sans the Skeleton a run for their money in what they do best. Speaking of...
Valerie:
To be blunt, Valerie can be described easily as apathetic and lazy with a secretive side. If given the opportunity, she'll be more often than not found lazing about with no goal in mind, if you can even find her. It's hard to get a read on her, most have given up on finding anything redeeming about her. But here in Equestria, maybe someone, or maybe somepony, can find a light within her heart one day. Till that day comes though, she'll be lazing about.
And now it's just a matter of time for ascension. For now though, Koops out!