TWILIGHT POV
"Oh my goodness! Darling!" Rarity gasped as she made her way to where Anubis and I were sitting. I feared the worst until she was right in front of me. In one fluid motion, she kneeled so we were eye to eye took both my hands with her own "I leave for a weekend in Canterlot and I come back to find you with a coltfriend!" I deadpanned, unable to respond. I should have expected such a response from her but the way she said made it out as if I had never hung out with a stallion before. I had hung out with Spike, Shiny and my dad (That counts for something right?) Rarity took a seat next to me and practically had her eyes glued to Anubis the entire time we were at that table "So? How did you two meet? Did you bump into each while out shopping? Save her from timberwolves? Spill!" Anubis obviously didn't respond to such a question due to his condition and probably because he didn't know what a coltfriend was at the time.
I saved the three of us from a painfully awkward moment and responded for him "Rarity, we're not on a date. We're just having breakfast. Also, Anubis here is mute and from what I've observed, has lost a LOT of his memory. I'm going to get him checked out by Zecora or a doctor," Rarity looked like she was about to faint when she heard my story. She leaned uncomfortably close to Anubis while he didn't even flinch.
"You don't remember anything?" She asked him. He shook his head.
"Not your age? Home address? Family?" He shook his head again. Rarity went back to her seat and wiped some imaginary sweat off her forehead "I am so sorry for you. This reminds me of something from one of my romance novels but no more sad talk. I'm sure a doctor will find out what is wrong or even getting help from the princesses. They could definitely restore your lost memory!"
"That's a great idea, Rarity! If we can't find out what's wrong, I'll send a letter to Celestia and Luna." I was so caught up in my conversation with Rarity that I didn't even notice how there was a new expression on Anubis' face: Pain.
ANUBIS POV
"Equ---ria will ---- becau-- -- --!"
"These memories."
"I think it's feeding off your guilt, -------- ----,"
"What is this feeling?"
"I've only made you suffer more!"
"It's like I'm being torn apart. Could these voices be talking about me?"
"MONSTER!"
TWILIGHT POV
"Anubis?" I asked as I made my way to his side of the table, where he was gripping the sides of his head in agony. Soon after, he fell to the floor, writhing in pain like he was having a seizure "Anubis!" When I touched his hand, I felt a jolt of magical energy. I retreated my hand in shock "External magic!? That's impossible! He's an earth pony. The only way this should be happening is if he's having a magic malfunction, but only unicorns suffer from that!"
"That doesn't matter right now, darling. We need him to get him help," Rarity said, calming me down. She was right
Rarity helped him up and out of Sugarcube Corner where all of its patrons looked at us, at him, like freaks. I didn't care though, my attention was focused on Anubis, whose mouth was wide open as if he was trying to scream.
Rarity and I both shared a look of concern so I opted for the least painful route: knock him out with a sleep spell and carry him to the hospital. Rarity whispered in his ear that he would be okay as I silently cast the spell. I couldn't tell if he was asleep but his head lowering quickly was a good enough sign for the both of us. As soon as he was out cold, I carried him with my magic all the way to the hospital.
We burst through the doors to the shock of the inhabitants. "Please help! Our friend just had a seizure and needs help!" Nurse Redheart quickly took Anubis off our hands and into a room where he was not to be disturbed. Thus commenced the truly hard part: waiting. We sat next to Anubis' room for a silent five minutes before Rarity broke the suspense.
"Twilight? When exactly did you and Anubis meet?" Rarity asked, with a more curious tone than an excited one.
"Yesterday night. Rainbow found him in the Everfree unconscious." I said simply. I was too emotionally exhausted after watching my friend have a magical seizure right in front of me. I knew these things happened when a unicorn can't handle the immense amount of power they are releasing, it even happened to me once but less painful than the one I saw "This wasn't supposed to happen. Anubis is an earth pony: only unicorns suffer from magical seizures."
"I'm not a genius when it comes to this kind of stuff so correct me if I'm wrong." I turned to meet Rarity's concerned look "It hasn't been long since that night with Princess Luna. 4 days if I'm not mistaken. Do you think that night with the Tantabus and Anubis' condition are connected?" I thought on that for a second, considering the possibility.
"No way. If the Tantabus or the shared dream space had anything to do with anypony losing their memory and/or being displaced from their home, they would have been noticed, found and healed immediately- not 4 days afterwards. It's hard to believe that somepony was lost in the Everfree for that long." Silence once again drowned the noise of a moving hospital. It felt like hours of waiting and the unlady-like snores before another voice rose up to quell my thirst for answers.
A doctor with brown fur and a black mane with greying tips "Hello there ladies, my name is Doctor Hooves. I suspect you are here for our mystery stallion?"
"Are you talking about Anubis?" I asked.
"So that's his name. I'll tell you now: staff are running around like mad-ponies trying to find out his name. When you brought him in he didn't have any identification and it doesn't look like he's on our system so we assumed he's from out of town. Maybe you have his ID or could tell us about him?" I looked to Rarity, who looked just as uncomfortable as me and turned back to Dr Hooves. I explained to him everything we knew about him so far "Oh wow, that sounds like something out of a romance novel."
"I know right!" Rarity butted in. I calmly glared at her before resuming the conversation "So, do you know what happened to him?"
"Well, he is alright physically but mentally and emotionally, it's all over the place. Our magic scans showed abnormally high magical frequencies and he was tossing in his sleep the entire time. He seemed slightly aware of his surrounding as when I reached for his hair to check his eyes, he grabbed my arm and wouldn't let go. It took six nurses to get him off me."
"Please get to the point, doctor," I asked impatiently.
"I apologise. His high levels of magical frequency in the brain are common for unicorns with mental trauma but in his case, his is even higher than that. It's unnatural. Just for reference, do you know when his magical seizure began?" I thought back to the conversation we were having. When Rarity mentioned having the princesses heal Anubis and the idea that he may have been negatively affected by the shared dream or the Tantabus. He was even more quiet than usual during the conversation. He normally would've, from what I've seen, gotten curious because of something he didn't understand and observe it "Princesses. I think it began when we were talking about the princesses. I don't know why though: I've only known him for less than a day."
"Well then, he's incredibly lucky to have two of the elements of harmony taking care of him. Now, do you want to see him?"
ANUBIS POV
"Where am I? Who am I? What am I?" I found those thoughts racing through my mind when that word was uttered. Princesses. That word stirred so many feelings inside me; anger, rejection, betrayal, confusion. However, I couldn't find the source of these dark thoughts. Every time I tried to remember, all I could see was the memory I experienced from Sugarcube Corner, with the word 'monster' being the only comprehensible word. "Monster. Is that what I am?" I thought. I needed answers and these ponies, while helpful, weren't going to help me when they were just as in the dark as I am "I need to find answers. I need to go back to the start." I found myself thinking and just like that, I was gone.