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// chapter 2: Where Am I? 
// Story: Welcome to Equestria 
// by james_the_unicorn 
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I woke up slowly and looked around. I was in a dark castle ruin of some sort. It was empty, and the structure was rather aged, but it was somehow kept in good condition. Someone obviously took care of it lately. I went to rub my face, but I felt something in my face. It was not a hand, or any fingers... It was hard, and flat, and it banged my eye a little hard. "Ow!" I opened my eye and saw a red hoof of some form in my face. "What?" I looked at it and followed it slowly down to find that the top of the leg was right where my shoulder should be. “What the?!" I rolled onto my feet, and stood up, but suddenly fell forward on all fours. "Th-this isn’t right...!" I looked around and found a bucket full of water. I stumbled up to it and looked down into it to see a red unicorn with deep ruby red eyes and a long black mane, wearing my hat somehow, staring right back at me!

I stared at my reflection for what felt like hours, my heart stopped as my jaw hung open. I was completely in shock to find myself like this. I’m not a human anymore! I’m a horse! Not even a horse, I’m something smaller. I’m just a pony! I finally took a breath, my lungs aching exactly like they had hours ago when I was just attending school. It was a complete shock that everything has suddenly turned upside down on me. I didn’t know where I was, what I was doing here, or how I could possibly get back. Either way, when I finally got my thoughts together, I knew one thing was certain. I lost the bullies. That was one stroke of luck. And hopefully, I would be able to find some method of returning home, but for now, I had to find someone. I had to figure things out.

"Okay... Let’s do this, James." I shakily got to my hooves and started walking to an exit, looking around the castle and capturing any details I could. It was an interesting castle; the statues in it were beautifully made, the tapestries were also really well made, but seemed to have been repaired and they seemed to have a strange theme of horses. It was so strange to me, but I didn’t think over it too much. I finally found the exit and walked through, only to find forest in all directions. "I guess I AM in the middle of nowhere; great." I sighed and proceeded into the forest, unsure of what I was getting myself into.

Time passed slowly as I felt the soft earth give way a little with each hoof fall I made. The trees were full and so many strange noises surrounded me that I began questioning what was real and what was just my mind playing a trick on me. Saw a silhouette in front of me in the distance, moving up and down quickly, approaching me a little quickly. I stopped and let it get closer. it was another pony! One with wild pink hair, and light blue eyes, and a pink coat. She had a big grin on her face, but it disappeared and she stopped right in front of me, we were face to face and I was a little confused of what was happening.

"...Uh... Hello...?"

I couldn’t come up with anything else before she leapt up and gave a loud gasp, then stormed away in the other direction.

"What was that about?"

I proceeded forward and looked around. More green, more noises... but something caught my eye. What was that shiny thing? I walked over to a spot below a tree and saw an orange egg with a sun pattern on it. The egg had a bright luster and it was not cracked or damaged at all! It looked round and there were no birds to find it... I managed to get my hat off, and rolled the egg into the plush material. I then carefully stuck my hat back on, my red horn sticking through the forehead of it, keeping the egg safe and sound. When I turned around I found the pink pony in my face, with a big smile and wide eyes. Behind her I saw some kind of pink wagon with hearts and other decorations "HI! I'M PINKIE PIE!"

Pinkie Pie? But wasn't she a human last I checked?

"And this is my welcome wagon, JUST FOR YOU!" she lifted her hind hoof and kicked the wagon, opening it up to reveal some complex instruments, pipes, and some sort of oven. "Welcome, welcome, welcome! Because I know you're new! Welcome wagon welcome! A welcome just for you!"
the pipes shot some brown stuff into the sky and that brown substance landed all over me, then the oven dinged and an explosion of confetti blast right into my face, leaving me coated in it like a piñata. Pinkie Pie giggled "OOPS! I must have put the cake batter in the confetti cannons and the confetti in the oven... AGAIN!"

I stared at her for a moment, taking in what happened, but after a good minute of staring, I cracked a smile and started laughing. I was still a mess, but that was so fun that I didn't really care! I just laughed and couldn't stop laughing! "Haha, I haven’t had a good laugh like that in such a long time! Thank you, pinkie pie!"

"Teehee, you’re welcome!"

I couldn't say or do anything else for a while, i could only stand there and laugh. I finally took a deep breath and looked back up

"How did you know I was new here?"

"Well, I haven’t seen you before in Ponyville, and I know everypony in Ponyville! So if I haven’t seen you, then you must be new!"
I watched her in surprise as she kept talking. I know she was not the pinkie pie I recognized, but she was somehow she was eerily familiar. it was like a pony giving me a case of déjà vu!

"WELL?! Are we just going to stand here or are we going to go to Ponyville!?"

"Ponyville...? Where is that?"

"This way! C'mon!!!" She bounced off down a path and I stood there for a moment in confusion, then I followed her down the same path. That path led to the exit of the forest! That was a relief, because the forest was starting to freak me out. We walked over a small bridge and I began to see a village appear ahead of us. It was big, colorful, and rather beautiful, but there were no people, only ponies. Ponyville... it was an amazing sight to see!