Nar Yakushi

Sunlight peers through the bedroom window at just the right angle. Nar's eyes register the sunlight through his closed eyelids, causing his brain to send signals to the rest of the body to wake up. With a grunt of effort, Nar slowly manages to roll himself over to dangle his legs over the edge of his bed. Even before he opens his eyes, Nar can tell he's overslept again. He reaches his arms up to rub the sleep from his eyes. They feel heavy. As though they'd somehow become solid stone overnight. Eyes opening, Nar is greeted to his room, bathed in late morning sunlight. Ah crap. It's probably close to opening time.  Nar shakes his head vigorously in response to his thoughts. He has to remind himself that he doesn't belong here. He- Crap! He's supposed to meet up with Austin, and Willow this morning! He's going to have to explain this to Amy somehow too. Probably should have done that last night, but his mind was so preoccupied that the thought never crossed his mind. A sudden jolt of energy allows Nar to push himself up out of bed, and go about his morning routine. Shower, brush teeth, and... Huh. The bathroom lights aren't working. Maybe there's a power outage? Well, he can't worry about that right now. He's got to go break the news to Amy, then go meet up with Austin, and Willow. Making his way out of the master bathroom, something in Nar's gut tells him to be careful. Something is off. In fact, now that he's stopping to think, he's realized just how quiet it is right now. No voices downstairs, no smell of breakfast, not even the chirping of birds outside. The sudden realization of the silence makes every little noise Nar makes all the more noticeable to him. His breathing, every footstep, the sound of his clothes rubbing against each other, and even the beating of his heart all sound so much louder now. Senses on alert, Nar makes his way out of the master bedroom to head downstairs. Halfway down the stairs, Nar's movements suddenly stop.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBdWNEOtRnw) His front door has been smashed in, and the foyer has large scratch marks all over it. Peering over the banister into the living room, Nar finds what looks to be the scene of a violent burglary. Furniture is in tatters, with visible, large claw marks about them. The carpet has been torn up, alongside the concrete underneath. The walls are full of scratch marks, and holes. However, the strangest part is that it doesn't look like his belongings were taken. Only knocked over, and smashed to pieces. Meaning, who, or whatever did this wasn't just here to steal things. There were violent intentions to this break in.  Amy! Kishi!  Mind suddenly back in the present, Nar bursts down the stairs, and charges to the kitchen. What he finds is a scene much the same as the living room. Cabinets and shelving have been destroyed. Spoiled food lays about the floor, and destroyed countertops. Flies buzz about the rotten food, adding to the stench from within. Nar's eyes survey the kitchen for signs of a struggle. No visible blood, or any signs anyone was here when this happened. Maybe Amy, and Kishi were out when it happened? A piece of paper stuck to the fridge catches Nar's eye. He doesn't remember there being any paper on the fridge before. Moving closer to examine the paper, he finds it's a crude drawing. There are two figures stood holding hands. The taller of the two is scribbled in cyan, with a little straw hat, and yellow shirt. The other is scribbled in a pastel blue with some sort of blue dress, and what Nar thinks is supposed to be white hair.  His heart drops out of his chest.  No...No! Please Solaris no! Rational thought is waylaid by concern, and panic. In a frenzy, Nar runs about his house, calling out to Cookie. He checks every nook, and cranny. Evey bit of rubble is overturned. Every cushion removed, and every room, and closet thoroughly examined. Not a single sign as to the whereabouts of Cookie.  His parents house! If something bad happened, and he wasn't around, Cookie would have gone there! Nar's full sprint out of the front door of his house is halted by the scene on the street before him.  A police cruiser sits sideways in the middle of the road. The officers who it belongs to lay on the street behind it. Both with visible gashes across their bodies. One officer appears to be missing a leg entirely. Their sidearms lay beside them, with spent shell casings in the vicinity. It seems they had died while engaging some sort of creatures. Likely, the ones that broke into Nar's house. Closer inspection reveals the presence of some sort of ash strewn about the street in decently sized piles. Approaching one of the piles, Nar crouches down to examine it further. However, he finds that when he gets too close, his eyes begin to sting. He hadn't planned on touching the ash piles regardless, but now he's even more cautious about their presence. Gah! Now isn't the time to be investigating this! He needs to find Cookie! Only two houses down from his, Nar's parents' house stands seemingly untouched. No time is wasted with the locked front door. Grabbing one of the stone plant holders in front of the door, Nar bashes around the lock in an attempt to smash it open. Desperate strength smashes the lock open with only two swings, allowing Nar access to the house. Mind racing, Nar enters the house to investigate. He's met with the alert tone of Equestria's emergency alert system, coming from the kitchen. The synthesized voice that follows the tone begins to speak, but Nar is too focused on searching for Cookie, or his parents, to listen. Unlike his house, his parents' house appears to have been left untouched. No signs of forced entry, or any signs of struggle. No signs of his parents, or Cookie either. The only place he can think to check next is Asuka, and Hiari's house.  The sound of the alert tone finally catches Nar's attention. Half frenetic, partially winded, and utterly confused, Nar shuffles into the kitchen to listen to the broadcast in hopes it may give him some sort of clue as to what happened here.  "This is not a test. Follow all instructions given in this broadcast to the best of your ability. The following alert is sent at the request of the Society of Extraplanar Exploration." Shit. The E.S.E.E sent this alert? That... Fuck. They NEVER send out alerts.  "A shelter in place warning is in effect for Ponyville, and the surrounding area until further notice. Residents are advised to find shelter indoors. Avoid any openings to the outside of which you may be seen. Find an interior room, attic, or basement, with no windows, or other openings from which you may be seen from outside. Turn off all lights, devices, and other objects which may reveal your presence.  Ensure you have access to food, water, and an emergency communications device. Only use said device if you are in immediate danger. Take notice of any blue doors marked with a white star. If you see one of these doors, leave the area as quickly as possible. Do not approach any blue doors marked with a white star. Hostile creatures are believed to originate from these doors. At approximately 10:36 AM local time, authorities received reports of unknown, hostile creatures within city limits. These creatures are hostile, aggressive, and will attack any living being they take notice of. Do not attempt to interact with any entities you spot. If self defense is required, cutting implements such as knives are believed to be the most effective. If you spot any open blue doors, report them to local authorities when it is safe to do so.  This message will repeat until the shelter in place order has been lifted." Senses heighten, and experience pushes out panic to be replaced with cold focus. If this broadcast is still going, that means the shelter in place hasn't been lifted, and there are likely still entities from the AHS out there somewhere. Those officers outside have been dead for at least a few days, so who knows how things have progressed since this all began? He needs to move carefully. Especially seeing as how he's currently without any supplies, or means of defense against them. He knows better than to take the advice of the broadcast, and use a knife. He'd get hacked to pieces before he could even get close enough to use it. With this information in mind, Nar takes a moment to calm himself. He clears his thoughts. All the fears, and doubts that had guided his actions until now tucked away to allow for reason, and wisdom to take their place. First, he's going to need to gather some supplies. Find something to carry food, water, and other supplies in. Find a weapon that will actually give him a chance if he runs into an entity. Then, set off to the south side of Ponyville, to Asuka's house.  Now, with a clear plan in mind, Nar takes a moment to search his parents house for supplies. Finding nothing of use beyond a few food items, he stashes what he can fit in his pockets, then sets out to begin the hunt for supplies.

(https://youtu.be/-5R9CrRkELo) Up before the sun begins to peek over the horizon, Nar prepares himself for another early day at his restaurant. He's as careful as can be when getting ready. He doesn't want to wake Amy, or Kishi up early. Shower, brush teeth, clothing, breakfast. An everyday routine by now. Nar's been working the 4 AM shift for over a year now. After his father was diagnosed over a year ago, he wanted to make sure his son would be able to take on all the duties of the restaurant if he passed away. Nar had desperately hoped it would never come to that, but unfortunately, it did. Now, he wakes up at 3 AM, 5 days a week (only an hour later on Sundays), for his 4am-2PM shifts at his restaurant. Not that he minds. He'd still do this, even if his father were still here.  Try as he might, sometimes Nar isn't as quiet as he wants to be with his morning routine. Around 10 minutes before he needs to leave, Nar hears the babbling voice of Kishi coming from his room upstairs. Going up to investigate, Nar finds the little colt stood at the edge of his crib, shaking the bars in an attempt to get his parents' attention. Putting a finger up to his lips, Nar signals for Kishi to be quiet. "Shhhhh. It's veeeeerrry early, sport. Mama needs her sleep." His voice is soft, and quiet. With Kishi's room being fairly close to the master bedroom, Nar doesn't want to risk waking Amy up. Kishi reaches up towards his father, and is quickly scooped up. As soon as Kishi is in his arms, Nar notices the smell coming off of him. Ah. Time for a diaper change. He places Kishi on the changing table in his room with great care. The little colt kicks his feet for a bit before Nar is able to calm him enough to get to work.  One changed diaper, and a thorough hand washing later, Nar puts Kishi back to bed, and sets out for work.  The early morning air is cool, and refreshing on Nar's skate to work. A crisp, chilly breeze brushes against his fur. In a way, it reminds him of when he used to live in Vanhoover. Though, it's not nearly as cold, and there's not a flake of snow to be seen right now. On top of that, it's going to jump up to about 80 degrees by about 1 PM. So he plans to enjoy this cool, crisp air while he can. Arriving at the restaurant just 3 minutes late, Nar heads inside to begin prep for today. Alone inside the restaurant for 5 hours, Nar prepares all the ingredients that will be needed for today's meals. He takes out the noodles he started yesterday to finish for today before starting another batch for tomorrow. Raw meats are portioned, and prepared to be cooked. The broths for today's soups  are started, and will be ready by the time customers start coming in at 10:30. It's a lot of work for one person, but Nar isn't about to ask any of his staff to wake up at 3 AM to be alone at the store until 9 AM. Most of his employees are young adults in college, or older folks who need their rest. Plus, he gets to listen to whatever he wants while no one else is here. So he can keep listening to his audiobooks while he works. About an hour before the first opener is scheduled to come in, Nar receives a call. It's just a standard business call from one of his suppliers, telling him about a delay with one of the supplies he'd ordered. Annoying, but not too uncommon. They'll be sending him extra when the shipment comes in to compensate. Thankfully, the rapport his dad has built up with the restaurant's suppliers, and business partners has followed Nar. He's had a pretty productive professional relationship with all the companies, and people his restaurant works with, and it's made running the place much smoother for him. After the call, Nar goes to put his phone away. He pauses when he notices that his home screen background has changed. It seems like a drawing he made, but he doesn't remember doing so. The drawing has two crudely drawn faces, with a name under each. Once is of a filly with pastel blue fur, and white hair. Underneath her are the words "COOKIE. DAUGHTER." The second drawing is of a mare with light orange hair, green eyes, and glasses. The text underneath her drawing reads "AUTUMN. GIRLFRIEND." At the bottom of the screen, in big, bold letters is the word "".  Why do those two look oddly familiar? Like... Like he knows them on a personal level? Nar stares down at the drawing. His mind trying to dredge up any memories about these two it can find. At first, all he finds are memories of Amy, and Kishi. Yet, as he begins to really focus on the memories, they begin to distort. Faces blur, and colors change. Entire scenes dredged up from the depths of his mind changing as they surface. Synapses fire rapidly. Kicking his thoughts into overdrive as he tries to piece everything together.  A memory of a hospital room comes to the forefront. Amy lies in the bed, cradling newborn Kishi. Nar is crying, but... They aren't tears of joy. Why would he not be happy about his own son's birth? Amy's face begins to blur. Her colors shifting as though someone were using some sort of color filter on her. Her form begins to shift before him. Slowly, Amy's form becomes a blur of color, and features. Kishi disappears from her arms. Instead, a little pegasus girl clutches to his hand. She seems... concerned. Nar focuses on the woman in the hospital bed once more. Her form beginning to solidify before him. Orange hair, glasses, green eyes, bat wings. There's a cast on her leg.  The memory hits him like a truck. Realization dawns like that of a divine revelation.

Following a filling breakfast, and a little bit of quality time with his son, Kishi, Nar exits his house for his skate to work for the day.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d_gB3HbcGw) The warm, spring sun rests high in the sky, informing Nar that he's at least 4 hours, if not more, late for opening like he's supposed to be. After all, he's the owner of Yakushisoba now, and he has a duty to uphold his late father's legacy of hard work, and dedication! Wait... No... He doesn't own the restaurant. Does he? His father owns it. Right? No. No. His father passed away from cancer a few months ago. Just after Kishi was born.  Nar pauses his skate, and shakes his head vigorously. There are memories jumbled around in his brain, and he's having trouble figuring out which ones are real or not. After a moment, two faces pop into his mind. Before he forgets them, Nar opens up a drawing app on his phone, and quickly (terribly) scribbles two faces down. Under one, he writes the words "Cookie, Daughter." Underneath the other he writes "Autumn, Girlfriend." Below it all, in big strokes he writes "REMEMBER." A voice from nearby breaks Nar's attention away from his phone. "Mornin' Mr. Yakushi!" A young colt calls out atop his bike. Nar smiles, waves, and greets the little colt by name. "Good morning Astro! Enjoying your weekend?" The young colt slows to a stop nearby to continue the conversation. "Yep! Oh! And happy birthday!" Little Astro beams. For some reason, Nar feels like he has some sort of bond with this boy. As if he's done something important for this boy that helped him in a time of great need. What it is, he can't remember though. Nar ruffles the little colt's helmet, then pats him on the back. "Thanks, Astro. Remember to keep your helmet, knee, and elbow pads on when you're biking!" The young colt nods enthusiastically before he begins to bike down the road again. "Will do Mr. Yakushi! Have a good weekend!" On his skate to work, Nar finds himself greeted by almost every face he sees along the way. Young children beg him to join them for games of four square, and tag. A group of high school boys invite him to a pick up game of hockey at the rec center. People his age ask about hanging out after work, and older folks ask about him coming over for a chat, and some tea. All of which, he must politely decline. Seeing as how he's 4 hours late today, he's gotta stay extra late to make up for it!  Arriving at Yakushisoba, Nar takes a moment to say a little prayer before the plaque honoring his father by the front door. Afterwards, he opens the door to head inside. Instantly, Nar is greeted by the voice of his middle sister from behind the counter. "Only 4 hours late!" Asuka shouts. A cheesy grin plastered on her face. "Sorry, sorry!" Nar says, raising his hands in a gesture of placating. "I must have been really tired after last night." At this, Asuka's features soften. "You were here until 2 AM. I don't blame you." Crossing behind the counter, Nar is pulled into a gentle hug by his sister before she releases him to let him get to the kitchen. Right. He almost forgot that Asuka works here now. She quit her EMS job after dad got diagnosed about a year ago so she could take care of him. When dad passed, she needed something to pass the time, so Nar suggested she come on as co-owner of the family restaurant. Ever since then, Nar has run the Back of House operations, while Asuka handles Front of House. Even if Nar is technically the sole proprietor, he still likes for Asuka to have as much say in the restaurant as he does. Though, she does deffer to his superior experience most of the time. Wait. NO!  Asuka doesn't work here! She's still a paramedic! C'mon man! Snap out of it! This isn't right!  Nar chooses to ignore the little voice in the back of his mind screaming at him. Must just still be a little tired.  Entering the kitchen, Nar is greeted with friendly faces, and some teasing banter from his staff about his tardiness. He apologizes, and informs them that he'll be staying to close to make up for it. Well, that doesn't go over well with the day shift manager, Bo. In his creole accent, he outright refuses to allow Nar to stay to close. Telling him that rest is just as important as work, and that he needs to spend time with his family. Nar tries to protest, but the staff all shut him down. He's leaving at 6 today, and there's nothing he can do to make them change their minds.  Throughout the day, Nar works alongside his staff to prepare meals for their customers. Being the only authentic neighpanese restaurant in Ponyville means they can get quite busy! Even with a full kitchen crew, things are still quite hectic! Even so, Nar makes sure every member of his staff, including managers, get 30 minutes for a lunch break. He only begrudgingly when in turn, Bo demands he at least take a 15.  While sitting in the designated employee break area of the dining room, the front door opens, and two familiar faces enter. Nar's face lights up as his wife, and child make their way to his booth to sit with him. "Hey! I wasn't expecting to see you two at work!" Nar's greeting is met with a kiss from Amy, and Kishi reaching out to be held. However, Amy pulls away before Nar can grab hold of his son. "You need to focus on eating, mister. I know you aren't taking a 30." Amy's tone is light, and playful despite the scolding. "Oh, c'mon!" Nar pouts. "You know how quickly I can eat! I can still finish my food after a little bit of hug time!" At this, Amy wags a finger back and forth. "No buts, mister. You need a full belly for the rest of your shift. You can have hug time after you get home."  With that, Amy slides into the booth across from Nar to chat while he finishes his meal. Once his break is over, it's Asuka's turn to meet with Amy, and coo over her nephew.  After a very busy shift, Nar is practically forced to leave by the night shift manager, Stella. She's an older mare, but not by much. Only in her early 60s, but she's been in the restaurant business longer than anyone else here. As sweet as apple pie most of the time, but more than willing to get mean if it's needed. Usually, directed towards rude customers who abuse the staff. Nobody yells at her babies on her watch!  On the skate home, Nar stops by a local bakery to pick up a surprise gift for Amy, and Kishi. Completely unaware of the homemade cake the two made waiting for him when he gets home. The mare behind the counter talks his ear off the whole time. Seemingly overjoyed that he stopped by. Once he arrives home, Nar is greeted by his wife, son, mother, sister, and a few friends for a surprise birthday party! Thankfully, they decide to keep things nice and relaxed. Even so, Nar finds himself nodding off near the end of it. As Nar sits on the couch, desperately fighting off the urge to conk out with Kishi in his lap, Amy and the others all help to clean up before saying their goodbyes. Nar doesn't make it to the last few guests. He, and Kishi both asleep on the couch together by the time Hiari, Asuka, and Juno come by to say goodbye.