“Delivery for Yang Xiao Long” Derpy announced from outside my window while I was waking up.

“Huh?” I put my robe on over my pyjamas and opened the window. “What is this?”

“It’s for you.”

I sighed. “Let me sign for it.” After Derpy pushed the box through, I signed for the package, gave her a few bits and a thank you, and closed the window. Moments after I closed it, I saw a few snowflakes falling outside. Probably a test run from the weather pegasi.

I opened the package and saw a lot of the same colorful box, along with a letter on top.

Dear Yang Xiao Long

Thank you for ordering these 30 gamer drivers. Since your idea of the Daily Planner Gashat turned out to be a big hit, we’ve included one for every Gamer Driver you’ve ordered. There are some who have bought the Gamer Driver just to use the Daily Planner Gashat. One of these boxes has your name on it. In it, you will find a special Gashat you can use to communicate with us and leave messages for us, no matter where you are.

We’re currently working on some new ideas, which you’ll be able to find when you load the Dev Comms Gashat and go to level 2. We would love to hear your thoughts on them.

As per your odd request, we’ve included a copy of the order you sent us, along with the date and time we received it. We’re not really sure how we got it a week before sending out the magazines though.

Sincerely, the Gamer Driver Team.

Under the letter was a magazine. In it was a bunch of games for pre-order, a few other games already available, and two different Driver packages. One came with the games Rhythm Blades and Full Speed Racing, while the other package came with those and War Time Commander. Under the magazine was an order form filled in with my handwriting, except for the date in the corner, two weeks prior to the day.

In the back of the magazine was an addressed envelope and a blank order form with a unique number on it that matched the one on the filled in form. After a moment, I took the two forms over to my desk and started filling in the blank one with everything from the filled one, including the request for the date and time received, along with sending a copy of the form with the order. Once that was done, I put it in the envelope and the envelope on the copied form.

I pulled out the boxes of Drivers and found mine nestled in the middle of them. I opened it and pulled out the goodies within. The Driver was in its closed position and there were four different colored Gashats: Red was War Time Commander, White was Rhythm Blades, Black was Dev Comms, and Yellow was Full Speed Racing.

For at least a minute, I just stared at the RWBY colored assortment of Gashats. After an exaggerated sigh, I set them and the Driver aside. For some reason, or maybe no reason at all, that surprised me more than it should have.

“May as well get to the post office.” I grabbed a hanger with a set of winter clothes, some undergarments and my boots, then went to take a hot shower.

After I was done and dressed, I went to the bank to find out if there was a way to send money without having to use a chest. There wasn’t, so I bought one for the occasion and had it filled up with the 2,100 bits needed to pay for all the Drivers. While I was waiting on that, I thought again about having a 5 bit coin introduced and wondered why I hadn’t brought it up with a Princess. Any of them would hear out and consider the idea, after all.

After the chest was loaded, locked, and the key was in my possession, I got an extra 15 bits for the delivery fee and hauled it over to the post office. There, I found The Doctor behind the desk. “Another any time delivery, please.” I put the 15 bits on the counter for the fee, followed by the envelope (containing the key and order form) and the big chest of bits. “I need these delivered two weeks ago.”

“Of course, Ms. Xiao Long.” The Doctor took the chest and envelope to the back, there was some odd sounds, and then he returned. “It’s done.”

“Thank you. Have a good day.”

“I will.”

When I got back home, I changed back to my pyjamas, lay down on my bed, put on the Gamer Driver, activated and inserted the Dev Comms Gashat, then went to level two. My bedroom fell away as I entered a workshop of some kind. There was a scroll in front of me with my name on it, so I picked it up and opened it.

Yang Xiao Long,

Welcome to the dev space. This is where we test new games and concepts, and you’re in on it now.

Feel free to look around and start making something. You’ve got your own workshop here, alongside ours.

Sincerely, Mindscape and Ga-mez

I went over to the one empty desk and looked around it. The only thing of note on it was a box of blank black gashats and a slot made to hold one.

“Hello, Yang” an accented voice said from behind me.

I looked to the speaker, the griffon of the team. “Ga-mez, right?”

“Yep.”

“So, what do I do here?”

“This place has a few concrete rules, but you can basically create anything for a game here with your mind. Go ahead and give it a try. Just put a blank gashat into the slot to get started.”

I looked back at the gashats, grabbed one, and slid it in place. The desk was covered in what looked like light blue mercury, rippling with no apparent cause. The virtual substance felt warm and cool at the same time. “Where do I start with this?”

“With an idea, of course. Make whatever you want.”

“Make whatever I want.” I didn’t want to make a fighting game, nor a shooting game. Violence, easy as it was, was not something I wanted to make a game with. “How about I look at the other games first?”

“No problem.”

I closed the Driver and the virtual space vanished as I returned to my bed. “Well, that was interesting.” I took Dev Comms out and put Rhythm Blades in its place, let the loading tune say its stuff, then went to level two.

I found myself standing on a square platform on a road in a spherical space. A window with instructions and options was floating in front of me. To play, all I had to do was focus my music magic and the game would create obstacles and breakable objects. I could also speed up or slow down the music by running forwards or backpedalling.

While I got my music magic started up, I selected the evasion mode of gameplay. I heard a few notes and the music started.

Throughout the song, I was ducking, jumping, sliding, and weaving through a number of insane obstacles in time with the music. Sharp objects, dull objects, angry cat objects, and so many other things.

After the song was over, I got my final score: 1,986/2,005. I was quite pleased with having gotten such a good score on my first try.

I closed the Driver and pulled out Rhythm Blades, noted that I didn’t actually use any blades while I played it, and went on to Full Speed Racing. When I took the game to level 2, I found myself as a pegasus standing on a cloud. I decided not to do any racing, but rather just sat on the cloud and took in the feeling of being a pegasus. While I had imagined what it was like to be a pony on occasion, this game made it feel more real. I focused on the sensations coming from my virtual wings more than anything, and it was interesting.

I eventually decided I’d had enough, closed the Driver, and took the game out. It took a few seconds for me to get readjusted to my human body, but once I was, I checked the clock. I had to make myself some breakfast and get ready for the day.

While I was getting ready, I wondered why I’d purchased 30 Gamer Drivers. Clearly, they weren’t all for me, so what were the other 29 for?

“Yang?”

“Yeah, Gilda?”

“There’s a bear cub that’s been hanging around the front doors for a couple days now. It’s cute, has drawn in a few extra customers, and they even buy a little extra to give to it, but I’m worried about it.”

“Hey Gavan, you guys got everything handled here?”

“Yeah, we’re good, Yang” Gavan answered.

I turned back to Gilda. “I’ll look into it.” After changing to my winter clothes, I went outside and was immediately tackled from my left by a black fuzzy thing and knocked onto the ground. I was close to trying to push it off when my face got licked. The black fuzzy thing was the bear cub, standing on top of me. I was able to discern that the cub was female. “Alright, alright, stop already.” The cub was acting like a dog, which was cute and made it impossible to not be a little amused. “Have we met before?”

The cub got off of me and nestled herself under my head, acting like a pillow. I remembered the time I stayed over at Fluttershy’s and woke up with a bear cub pillow. “So that was you?”

“There you are!” Fluttershy called out in her normal quiet voice. “I’ve been looking all over Ponyville for you.”

“I’m usually in here, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, Hello Yang. I was actually talking about the cub. She wandered off a few days ago. It looks like she wants to be your pet.”

“Well, she’s been hanging out around here for a couple days apparently. Seeing as she pounced me and licked my face as soon as I came out here to check on her, well, I think you may be right.”

“What will you call her then?”

I looked at the cub for a moment. “Bear, female, has been hanging out here, friendly, let’s see. . .” A few seconds later, I had a name. “Asada. I will call you Asada.” The newly christened Asada seemed very happy with the name.

“I’ll let you two get better acquainted with each other. Let me go get some books on bears from Twilight for you.”

“Thanks, Fluttershy.”

I sat up and moved to sit against the side of the Carne Den. Asada was quick to capitalize on the lap space. “Alright Asada, you seem smart, so let me lay some ground rules. You listening?” Asada, to my surprise, looked at me and nodded. She really was smart. “Okay. First, the kitchen is off limits for you. I can’t have you raiding our supplies. Second, you can’t take any food from anyone. You can have it if they offer it though. Third, I’d really like it if you, ah, relieved yourself outside. I know it’s getting colder, but I don’t want you going inside. Fourth, please be careful and try not to damage anything inside. As long as you follow those rules, I won’t have any problems with you. Got it?” Asada nodded again.

Eventually, Fluttershy came back with some books. By then, Asada had curled up on my lap and was just watching the world with me. “Oh my. You two are already getting along very well.” A smile graced her face. “Anyways, here’s some books to help you take care of Asada, especially with winter coming up.”

“Thanks, Fluttershy. I’ll make sure to show all due and some undue affection to Asada.” I promptly pulled the cub into an unsanctioned hug. “She also seems rather smart. She seemed to understand the rules I told her earlier.”

“She’s always been a little smarter than other animals at my place, probably because she’s an orphan. Her mother died protecting her from a bigger, meaner bear.”

“Oh. Well, that’s tragic. Still, she’s doing well, and now she’s got me. Hey, could you take those books to my room for me? Asada’s doing a cat impersonation.”

“She is?”

“She’s using gravity powers to keep me from standing up.”

“Are you sure it’s gravity powers and not the weight of your affection for her?”

I thought about what Fluttershy proposed. I thought about it long enough for her to take the books to my room and come back. “I’m pretty sure it’s gravity powers. Both gravity powers and affection, while intangible, are best exerted onto others. Therefore, Asada’s keeping me pinned with her gravity powers. If it were my affection, Asada would be the one pinned in place.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense? I’ll just head back home then. Have a good day, Yang. Well, what’s left of it, anyways. It’s going to be dark in an hour or so.”

“Thanks. Bye, Fluttershy.”

“Bye, Yang.” Fluttershy flew off, leaving me still sitting with Asada.

At some point, I’d lightly dozed off with only a loose grip on Asada. I woke up a bit when she jumped off of and curled up behind me. I fully woke up when I was looking at her and heard a roar behind me strong enough to send some of my hair blowing in front of my face.

It was a big bear that looked ready to kill. If Asada’s reaction was anything to go by, this might have been the one that made her an orphan. “Will you please leave?” I forcefully asked. The response I got was a deep growl. “Don’t make me force you to leave.” I stood up between the bear and Asada.

He stood up, towering over me, roared, and swung a massive paw at my head. I blocked the paw with one hand. “If you leave now, I won’t hurt you.” Once again, he growled at me and swung the other paw, which I blocked with my other hand. I changed my response to an angry growl of my own, complete with red eyes, causing him to loosen his arms a bit. “I warned you” I said before pushing his arms aside and punching his chest hard enough to make a muffled crack sound and send him on his back. My fist was perfectly fine. I took the opportunity to jump on him and pull his head in so we were face to face and eye to eye. “Your pelt would make a wonderful rug for my room, and you would taste well marinated, grilled medium-well, put between toasted buns, topped with lettuce, bacon, and barbecue sauce, and served with a side of lightly seasoned fries. If you leave now, I won’t start making that come true.”

He seemed to get the message and tried to scurry away from me, which I allowed. “And don’t come back.” He ran off around the side of the building and back into the forest. It wasn’t until he was out of my sight that I relaxed and felt my eyes change back to purple.

“Well, that’s new” Gilda remarked from behind me, Asada nestled between her eagle legs. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.”

I sighed. “It wasn’t pleasant for me either, Gilda. I don’t like it when I’m on my bad side. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to call it a day and see if Asada can join me at the spa.” Asada left Gilda and came over to my side. Together, after I got some money, we made our way to the spa.

“Good evening, Yang” Aloe greeted. “Yang, are you aware of the bear cub that followed you in?”

“Her name’s Asada, and we just went through a bad event involving the bear that probably killed her mother and was after her. I think I cracked some of his ribs with one punch. I definitely made a rather tasteful threat.”

“The usual shampoo and massage then?”

“For me. Asada gets the full wash. Don’t worry, she’s quite well behaved.”

“If you say so. I’ll help Lotus prepare for both of you then. You know where your robe is.”

“Thank you.” While Aloe went to get Lotus, I turned to Asada. “Wait out here for a bit, okay?” Asada nodded and I went into the hidden restroom, reserved for regular or special guests. After my bout with The Unmusician, I’d been making somewhat regular spa trips, and so earned a spot there. That, and defeating Tirek.

After a few minutes, mostly spent fitting my winter clothes into the locker, I came back out to find that Asada had climbed onto a chair while she was waiting for me. At the same time, Aloe came back. “Would you like the massage or shampoo first?”

“Massage, please.”

“Right this way.”

I motioned for Asada to follow and we went to the massage tables. The room was heated for my comfort, a free touch which got more bits out of me as it got colder outside. I got on my table and saw Asada do the same thing on a foal sized table with a bit of caution. The massage started and any remaining stress from the encounter started leaving my body like water in a sieve. A glance over at Asada showed her practically melting under the experienced hooves delivering her massage.

Once we were in a very relaxed, almost jelly-like state, we went over to get the shampoo treatment. Asada was so relaxed from the massage that I had to carry her over for her treatment. Once again, the mares went to work, expertly washing my hair and cleaning Asada’s coat. As with the massage, it was very relaxing, though I imagine Asada had it better since she was basically getting a second massage.

Special care was taken in drying both my hair and Asada, her because she was wet all over and me because the temperature was getting lower outside. Between the two of us, she probably had it easier with her natural fur coat and distinct lack of a weakness to the cold.

After my hair was dried off, I went back to the hidden restroom, changed back to my winter clothes, and came back out just in time to see Asada come out. Her coat, while not glossy, still had a slight shine to it.

“Alright Yang, that’s a massage and half of a shampoo for you and a massage and full wash for Asada. 50 bits, please.”

I counted out 65 bits and gave it to them. “Thanks.”

“Thank you, as well. Oh, as long as, Asada, right?” I nodded that she got it right. “As long as she behaves, we’ll always welcome her here.”

“Even when she’s an adult?”

“Yep.” Asada let off a happy growl at that.

“She’s smart. Well, bye.”

“Bye” Aloe and Lotus said at the same time.

I picked up the local paper during breakfast and immediately noticed the main headline: “Yang Xiao Long adopts pet, names bear cub Asada.” “At least they got the spelling right” I thought. “This may even help draw business. Who wouldn’t like seeing a cute bear cub around here?” I read the article, which described Asada very well, especially when it came to her apparent ability to understand language. There were even some nice words about Asada from the spa sisters in the article.

Business that day was excellent and Asada quickly made a spot for herself in the corner next to the office door. From what I heard, there was a lot of bear petting and extra bits of food were ordered just to give to her. Since she was apparently being given all kinds of snacks, I knew she could bear not being allowed in the kitchen.

Author's Notes:

While I was doing some bear research, I learned that male bears are called boars and female ones are called sows. I also learned that male bears will sometimes attack cubs, which is why the mother bears are so defensive of their young.

Also, Yang has a pet now, so that's fun.