The image file is correct but I'm in the wrong start location and I don't have an empty slot in my capital, leading me to think you might have used Alleg_Yes.map, which doesn't have the start locations assigned to individual players.
Do you still have all of the pretender files we uploaded?
Because if I'm not 2 provinces from my ally, this will be a major problem
.
Check the .map file you used to make sure it's the right one (Alleg_Y2.map) and if it isn't, you should probably restart and rename the game.