Despair in Equestria

~Makoto Naegi's POV~

...Where am I?

I don't recognize this place at all... it's all so unfamiliar to me...

And... why does... why do my hands--

Hooves.

I meant hooves.

Hooves?

Wait a minute. I'm a pony. A living, breathing pony. That can talk.

Or at least I think I can.

"Hello?"

Yup, I definitely can.

I stood up like a newborn colt would have. Standing on my hind hooves would not work, so I tried standing like an actual horse, on all fours. It was hard at first--it was pretty wobbly.

I looked around. Behind me was a vast, dark forest that seemed pretty dangerous to go through. In front of me was a town of some sort, and off in the distance loomed some mountains. Near the forest stood a single house, a cottage, maybe. The lights were on, so I supposed someone was inside.

I slowly made my way over to the house. When I reached it, I knocked.

"W-who is it?!" came a seemingly frightened voice.

"My name is Makoto Naegi," I replied. "I'm a bit lost, and I don't know my way around. Can I come in?"

The door opened slowly. A face peeked out--the face of a yellow pony with long, pink hair and turquoise eyes. "M-makoto... N-naegi?" she repeated slowly.

"Yeah, that's my name..."

"Oh..." the pony said.

"What's yours?"

"Oh, um..." said the pony. She had opened the door a tiny bit wider, so I managed to catch a glimpse of the pair of wings on her back. Unfortunately, I had no such wings. I was regular old me.

"Uh... did you say it?" I asked again.

"I'm... Fluttershy..."

"What was that?"

"I'm... Fluttersh..." she whispered even quieter.

"Did you say Fluttershy or nothing at all?"

"..."

I sighed. "Well, my name is Makoto Naegi, and I'm lost..." I said. "Can I stay here for the night? I don't know my way around..."

"S-sure," Fluttershy nodded. "I can probably make room for another pony... You can come in."

"So, where are you from, Makoto?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'm from Hope's Peak Academy," I said. "It's in Tokyo."

"I-I've never heard of it..." the pegasus (I think that's what it was) replied.

"Well, it's a school for talented students," I explained, "so you couldn't get in unless you had a superior talent."

"So... what are you good at?" Fluttershy asked, feeding her pet rabbit some salad (I don't get why she does that).

"Um..." I wasn't sure whether to explain my hope thing or not. Should I just say that I got into the school with pure luck? Because the hope story would take a very long time to explain...

"I got into the school with blind luck," I partially lied. "I'm actually just an ordinary per--uh, pony."

"Oh, I see," Fluttershy nodded. She glanced outside. "It's getting dark. Why don't you head off to sleep for a while?"

I nodded. "Thanks."

She led me to a guest room with a single bed, a nightstand, and a small closet to put clothes in. "You can sleep in here," Fluttershy said. "I-I'm sorry it's not much, but it'll have to do for now..."

"It's plenty," I thanked her. "Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome," Fluttershy nodded, backing out of the room. "I'll see you tomorrow morning!"

She closed the door, and I was alone.

The room wasn't that different from the ones at Hope's Peak; its only difference was that there was no bathroom.

I got into bed and tried to fall asleep, but questions and wonders kept flooding my mind. Where exactly am I? What am I doing here? Why is everyone a pony? Are there others like me here? Possibly the other members of the Future Foundation, like Kyoko or Byakuya?

With a sigh, I closed my eyes.