"..h my...!"

As my brain finally booted back up, my senses began to take note of my surrounding over the grogginess and dull ache permeating my body .

First off was hearing, catching the very end of a rather soft, female voice along with a few chirping birds. But, I don't remember opening any of the lab windows

Next came smell, the air was surprisingly crisp and clear. It seemed...how do I put this...fresher than normal, coupled with the fragrant smell of flowers nearby.

Then touch. A light breeze, the heat of the sun, which, strangely enough, didn't feel as hot as it normally did this time of year, adding to my confusion. Though, shock quickly joined in when I closed my hand. Instead of the the linoleum of the lab floor, one of the table legs, or even the sheets of a hospital bed, I felt grass...a handful of real grass, or at least it felt pretty damn real.

Sight was the slowest to come, since opening my eyes even slightly was met with another blinding light that forced me to shield them. I glanced around as best I could to see several fuzzy outlines and blurred colors.

"Are..are you all right?" The lady's voice spike again, this time I could tell she was right beside me. The feel of a hand on my arm confirmed that; although it was surprisingly small and for some reason, only had three fingers.

I grunted, sitting up slowly, "Yeah, I...I think so. Just not all there at the moment. Nothing feels broken, at least."

For some reason, the lady gasped, "You..you can talk!?"

The hell? What was she getting at? "Of course I can!" I replied, slightly indignant at what I thought was a dig at my intelligence for some reason.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to imply you were dumb! I've just..I've never seen anything like you before. I mean, there..there are lots of animals who live here in the Everfree, but there's nothing like you...at..at least, not that I'm aware of."

The hell? Now THAT had me wondering what the frig was going on even more, "The heck are you talking about?" Thankfully my head was clearing enough so I could sit up, albeit gingerly. A few blinks was enough to get my eyesight back to normal and...and....

I wasn't in the lab, that much was true. Wasn't in the hospital either. In fact, the Science building, the college, the whole damn campus...it was all gone! In its place was a small glade surrounded by a rather dense forest. Also, it was then that I saw the small, triple-digited hand; it and the equally small forearm it was attached to were covered with fur that was a shade of yellow I could really only compare to butter. But that isn't really what threw me off: it was what the arm was attached to.

Kneeling beside me was..well, SOMETHING. How do I describe it...? Well, it had a very slender humanoid body, covered in the same butter-yellow fur, though I could see its legs ending in what appeared to be horse-like hooves. It wasn't very tall, probably just around four feet even. Given the fact it's build looked feminine, and it was wearing a pale green blouse and blue skirt with three butterflies embroidered on it, I think it was safe to assume it was most definitely a 'she'. She also had bubblegum pink hair-i noticed a pointed ear visible on top of her head as well-down to her middle back and an obvious equine tail the same shade, almost looked like it was styled the same as her hair too.

Oh, and she had wings. I shit you not; a pair of small, feathery wings were sticking out between her shoulderblades. All in all, coupled with those big blue-green eyes she had fixed on me, I gotta admit; she was actually kinda adorable, whatever the hell she was.

Naturally, I could only respond one way.

"Eh..I..ebe..wha..uh..w-whodawha..?" I blathered like an idiot before snapping out it, "Come again?" I asked, not really to anyone in particular, "Ever-who?"

"T-The Everfree Forest. The woods just outside Ponyville." She replied, showing it was her voice I had heard earlier.

That's when it hit me..a talking horse-girl...being, the middle of the woods...'Everfree', 'Ponyville'? It all made sense then!

"Of course! It make so much more sense now!" I laughed, relief flowing through me, "Why didn't I see this sooner?"

"S-see what?"

"I haven't woken up yet; I'm still dreaming!" I laughed heartily, "That blast must've hit me harder than I thought."

"But...I'm awake..." She piped up. At least, I think that's what she said, but I wasn't paying much attention

"And now that I'm aware of this, I'll make myself wake up. Sorry to leave so soon, horsey-girl; maybe I'll dream you up again the next time I'm asleep." With that, I drew my hand back and let it fly.

THAT! FREAKING! HURT!

Stifling the whine of pain and trying to ignore my now stinging right cheek, confusion and dread finally settled into my gut and I could feel the blood drain from my face: I wasn't dreaming... "No...No, No. Nonononono!" I whispered in a panic, "This can't be real;"

Could...could I be d-dead? Was that blast fatal?? No..checking showed I still had a heartbeat and pulse. That left only one possible outcome: by some twisted turn of fate, I was in an alien land with no real way of knowing exactly how I got there or how to get back.

"You don't look so good. Maybe you should.."

"Oh really!?" I snapped at her, the realization finally sinking in, "What was your first clue, Genius; that I have abso-friggin-lutely no damn idea where I am, or that I don't know how the hell I even GOT here, or better yet, how in the fuck I'm supposed to get back home?! TAKE YOUR PICK!"

I know, I know, I really shouldn't have responded to her that way, but when you realize circumstances like that have happened, even the best of us can react in a less than pleasant way.

After saying that, I immediately regretted it; the little horse-girl shrank back some, whimpering and shaking. Felt my heart sink when I saw those big eyes of hers start welling up.

"Oh jeeze..!" I dropped down beside her, wincing when she flinched away, "Wait, look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you like that!"

All I got was a sniffle in return. "Good going, Spike...you dumbass" I muttered to myself. Call it cliche if you want, but seeing a girl cry, especially one that hadn't really done anything to warrant me yelling at her, was something I just could not handle. So I did the only thing I could think of...

Gently cupping her chin, I coaxed her head just enough so I could look her in the eyes., "Listen.." I said, taking out a handkerchief to wipe away the tears that had already ran down her face, "I did not mean to yell at you, honest." The gesture seemed to calm her down, "I'm just finally realizing what's happened and I having a lot of trouble accepting it. "

"R-really..?" She asked, the timid way she said it just hitting me. I don't know why I did what I did, but I did it, and hugged her, getting a somewhat surprised squeak in return. Though after a moment, she did seem to relax a little.

"Really." I said.

Would have said more if it wasn't for the hissing snarl behind me, followed by the now shaking horse-girl's terrified whisper, "Oh no!"

Don't look, don't look, don't-why the hell did I look!? And what the hell was I even looking at?? It looked like someone had put the head of a wolf on a crocodile's body, stretched the legs out, made it three times bigger than normal and painted the whole thing purple. Whatever it was, it looked kinda hungry.

"A ch-ch-chupacabra..!" She squeaked out.

Joy...

"That...that thing's carnivorous , isn't it..?"

She nodded.

More joy...

It snarled again, baring a set of teeth that I'd rather not see up close before taking a step our way. When that happened, I nodded and a three step process began.

Step one: Turn back and grab the horse-girl, who was surprisingly light for her size.

Step two: Prop her over my shoulder, ignoring the yelp.

Step three: RUN LIKE FUCK!!!

"I hope you know a way out of here!" I yelled, running full tilt. The guttural racket behind us was a good indication the chupa-whatever was tagging along.

"Th-that way!" She yelped, pointing off to my left.

I'd describe the chase, but I'm not real sure you want a step-by-step account of a guy running away from a big-ass predator wile carrying a small, panicky alien-horse-girl...I really should've asked her name beforehand; calling her that was getting old fast! So I'll cut ahead to a few minutes later.

I could hear the thing breathing almost right behind me; it was catching up to us, It was also then that I got an idea,

A stupid, insane, completely batshit-loco idea. To this day I still wonder why in the name of self-preservation did I go through with it.

"Can you fly with those!?" I asked her.

"Yes, but.."

"Good!" With a heave, I tossed her up as hard as I could, ignoring her startled shriek. As soon as she was in the air, everything seemed to go into slow motion:

On my next step, I pivoted on the ball of my foot. Planting my other down once I was facing it, I swung, aiming a right hook for its snout. and praying to anyone who heard that I would startle or surprise it enough to buy me a few more precious seconds to put some distance between us

I put everything I had into the punch, which if I recall in gym, wasn't much. This time, though...

My fist connected, time caught back up...

It's head snapped to the side...

Then plowed into the ground, its back end lifting into the air for a moment, twitching slightly before falling back down. Its eyes widened briefly before closing, though I could still hear it breathing.

It was out cold.

No..no..this wasn't possible...

This thing was almost the size of a Texas Longhorn and probably almost as heavy! Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm not all that muscular, not by a long shot...but this...no!

It's a physical impossibility! Even if it did have something akin to a glass jaw, there should have been absolutely NO way for me to have knocked it out! My fingers should be broken at the very least,if not my whole hand! But, I barely felt it..

I probably would've mentally ranted about it more, but the feeling of her suddenly grabbing my hand brought me back to what was currently reality.

"Is your claw ok!?" She fretted, turning my hand almost every way it could go, a mix of concern and awe "I..I've never seen anypony go hoof-to-hoof with a full grown chupacabra like that!" She looked back at it, somehow now sporting a large bandage on its face, "Luckily he'll be ok and back on his feet in a couple of hours."

"That..that should NOT have happened!"

"I know, but I don't think either of us were expecting him.."

"No, no..little horse-girl... you don't understand..."

"I-I'm a pony.."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm a pony. The closest horses live in Saddle Arabia.."

"Oh, ok. Well, little pony-girl..." I stopped, "Please tell you have a name."

"Fluttershy."

"Huh"?

"That's my name. Fluttershy."

"Well, glad to meet you, Fluttershy. I'm Spike. Anyway, I shouldn't have been able to even do that in the first place. I was hoping to startle it or something at the very most to buy some more time to get away. Cleaning its clock was the FARTHEST thing from my mind!"

"You weren't?"

"No!" I shook my head vehemently, "I should be clutching my hand in agony right now at the very least!" I quickly stopped myself. A few feet from an unconscious-and possibly apex-predator was not the best place to have this kind of discussion, "All right. I think it might be a good idea to continue this AFTER we get out of here...and a good deal away from him," I looked back at the chupacabra, "Before he wakes up."

"Oh, yes." She looked around suddenly, "We should probably hurry, because sometimes..."

This time multiple growls caught our attention, followed by three more of those things lumbering out of the foliage.

"S-Sometimes they don't...*gulp* don't hunt alone!"

"Aw, piss!"

Author's Note

In all the HiE fics I've seen here, I've only seen one or two with the anthro tag and it seemed like an interesting change from the norm. Also, I feel I can work the romance angle a bit better this way.