Shedding Scales
Chapter 1: An Unexpected Vacation
Three months.
 
Three months since I was sent here to this damned place. I'm not sure how or why it happened, but I somehow awoke to my worst nightmare. I've heard stories about this place, and the only question in my mind is "Why here?"
"So Derek, how are you taking this whole ordeal?"
I snap out of my thoughts to turn towards the soft tone. The owner's name is Twilight Sparkle, and she's been the only one here who accepted me here. All the others here have been scared of "the human". I'd normally enjoy being treated as a higher being, but this just creeps me out. Especially when one of your biggest fans is a lime green unicorn who always has her eyes on me.
"Oh, being the only one of my species here while everyone else here is scared to death of me? Oh yeah, it's totally going great," I say back to her sarcastically.
"You know they would like you more if they got to know you! And not everyone hates you, what about me or Lyra?"
I look down at the purple unicorn sitting next to my seat. Oh right, I think I forgot one crucial detail of this travesty: the inhabitants here are, for the most part, ponies. Yes, the ones from that cartoon that's been all the rage recently. I can't understand how grown men could like such a thing; it's degrading.
"You're different," I reply, "You just want to see what a human like myself is like. As for Lyra..." I check the windows  quickly to make sure there's neither hide nor hair of that insane green one before I finish. "...I'd rather she hated me, to be honest."
Why me? There's an entire group of people out there that could make great use of the time that I'm squandering. They could be using this time to explore or some shit and I'm just staying here, holed up in a library. Was this someone's way of karma?
I run both hands through my short brown hair in frustration. I don't get it, and I couldn't care less. All I wanted was to get back, and this bookworm might be my only way. Speaking of...
"Don't worry, Derek," she tells me, her head resting on my lap. "I'll try to help you get back. I can tell you aren't comfortable in this place, so I'll try to do what I can."
While I didn't feel anything for her, I can tell why some people would like Twilight. She was smart and capable. A little antisocial, but then again, who ISN'T a little antisocial from time to time?
"In the mean time," she continues, "Spike wants to take you on a trip somewhere. He didn't tell me where, but he did say it'd be two weeks long."
Spike, that purple dragon assistant of hers. He's apparently a baby dragon, but still a dragon nonetheless. Like me, he was the only one of his species in this town, which gave us something in common. He's one of the big reasons why Twilight was so calm about me staying with the two of them.
"Oh really?" I ask.
"Yeah, he told me it was a 'guy's only vacation' or something like that."
Where does Spike want to take me? Wherever it is, it MUST be better than being here in boring-ville. "So when is he taking me?"
"Whenever you want. He didn't say much, so why don't you ask him about it?"
Good, the sooner she gets started on a way back, the sooner she can make a portal back to Earth. I get up and walk towards the second floor.
"And Derek?"
I turn back to Twilight.
"Please be careful. I know you and Spike can handle yourselves, but some of the ponies here can, well..."
I raise my hand to stop her. "I'll be fine, Twilight, no need to worry," I say to her before I head upstairs. It's not like I don't know who to watch out for. Three months in Ponyville teaches you some things, like "watch out for the weather pegasus" and "learn to live like a vegan". Even if something unfamiliar comes my way, I can depend on SPike or Twilight to help.
I head on upstairs to find Spike packing up for our trip.  He's almost done filling up the bag, too. "So Spike," I call out so that he turns to face me, "I was told that we were going on a trip."
"Uh, yeah, sorry that I forgot to mention it to you, it's just that I've been busy planning the trip and all."
Spike looks a little nervous as he looks down at his claws. "It's alright, Spike," I assure him, "I could use a vacation."
Spike seems to be in a better mood now. "Alright, so when do you wanna go?"
"How about right now?"
"What?!"
"Well you've packed and everything, right?"
"I guess..."
"So let's go now! Besides," I look over the railing to see Twilight diligently studying, "It'll give Twilight some peace and quiet while she tries to find a way to send me back."
Spike lets out a heavy sigh. "Let's go then!"
Ten minutes later, we are at the outskirts of Ponyville. Spike told me not to bring a change of clothes or anything special because I could lose it. I laughed at the thought, but he seemed dead serious, so I decided to humor him and play along. As we start to head north, I glance behind me. In two weeks time, I can finally leave this godforsaken land. Nothing like a little vacation for a nice farewell, right?
 
Nope.
 
I was dead wrong.