Chapter Text
...?
"What- Where-"
Nice Nature jolts awake, laid against the hard, cold bricks of what looks like an abandoned house. Her mind is fuzzy, the only thing she can remember is her name. Still undergoing severe amnesia, she crawls on the floor attempting to stand on two legs. She felt absolutely winded as she heaved her body all the way up to normal posture, like a giant object had just slammed her right in the chest. As her legs quivered under her like a newborn foal learning how to stand, she tried to think of where she could be.
Nice Nature was in front of a lush, overgrown forest, right on the outskirts of a city. The billboard nearby seemed to say.. "Boon County." Obviously, she was far from home. From her vague, still developing memories this place seemed very different from where she used to live. Nice Nature looked at the billboard again, it had a man on it. She felt even less like she belonged as she plucked at her ears. Not a single thing around her portrayed a umamusume, which worried her. Was she really in an alien place? How did she get here? Everyone here looked like humans, but were there really no umamusume here at all!?
As Nice Nature stressed about the fact that she probably just got sent to an alien world, she felt her ears again and felt ripped fabric. She took off her ear's coverings and looked at the torn, destroyed fabric. She was really scared that her ear coverings were so torn and looked down at her clothes. Nice Nature's clothes were torn up, but not to a major extent. However they did tear up a bit more as she moved. Her sleeves were tattered, and her skirt was frayed heavily at the bottom. She probably couldn't wear this outfit again. Rest. in. peace. Speaking of which, she's wearing the winter uniform, but it's summer here! Odd.
Nice Nature's ears laid down flat as she began trying to walk. She was wary of the city, she felt like if she tried to go in there she would get immediately murdered for not being a normal human. She sighed, beginning to walk through the forest. Vines hanging down trees tangled and intertwined to her hair as Nature stumbled through the overgrown forest. The densely packed plants made it hard to see much of anything or even move through the forest, but she eventually found a good trail and began walking along it. She could vaguely remember running along a trail like this for training.
But as she walked, lost in thought, shadows in front of her moved. The shadows turned out to be a wild, feral cat! Nice Nature stopped in her tracks, looking at the cat with big eyes. The cat was large and fat, and likely a tomcat due to the large cheeks he had. The cat hissed, then lunged at Nature with all his force. Nice Nature screamed as the cat scratched her cheek, and climbed up a tree. She was noticeably weak, but the strength from being an uma musume helped haul herself all the way up. She clung to a branch, as the cat growled at her. She could hear footsteps nearby, were there more cats? Is this how she goes out? Dying to her favorite animal devouring her while in an alien world?
But as the plants parted, she saw an unfamiliar man instead. Nature saw a man with brown, sideswept hair, scars all across his face, a robber mask, and black clothes. He looked tough, was he gonna kill her too? But as he spoke, she relaxed a little.
"Hey. You in the trees. Need some help?"
Nice Nature's ears unflattened a bit and her tail untucked as she nodded.
"Ugh, what are you? Whatever, anyways, I got some cats down here, you can have them, whatever. Just command them to attack this tom tom so you can be safe already! God."
Nice Nature didn't really know what to do, but she still tried to get the cat to do whatever he said, "Uh, uh.. Kitty attack!!"
"Mathematichka."
"Math... Match.. Ka, attack!"
The cat looked at them expectantly, tilted its head but still attacked. The tom hissed, but then fled eventually. Nice Nature felt the branch she was holding onto crack, then dropped her. As she stumbled up from getting knocked to the ground, she could see the man clearly now.
"The name’s Butch, don't wear it out. These two kitties are Mathematichka and Fang. Hope ya wanna join me in collecting and organizing cat fights."
"...What?"
"Yea, you look like a creation out of Dr. Beanies lab. What? Do you seriously not get what you're meant to be doing right now?"
...This all seems like a misunderstanding, but Nice Nature shakes her head anyways. It'd be best not to protest.
"Send your cats out to fight, like that game.. Uh.. Pokey-mans or whatever it's called. 4 cats to a party, no more! You gotta basically go crusading with them, but ya gotta fight with your claws, and maybe even magical abilities too."
...What... What? What?? What??? What?????
"...Ok." Nice Nature doesn't protest.
"The house on that hill is vacant. You can take it." Butch says as he walks away, leaving the confused Nice Nature to only grasp at her new fate, completely stunned.
She only really snapped out of it when Fang rubbed against her leg. Her face went pale as she thought this is real, isn't it? Her cheek bled scarlet blood, her limbs were all scraped up, her hair was completely different from the neat, fluffy twintails that she usually had, her clothes were all torn up, and she was stuck in an alien world forced to battle her cats forever. What kind of fate was this!? She whined in her head, I miss my old life, however it was!! She could feel hot tears run down her face, and she sighed. There's really no fighting it, I guess. She delicately picked up the two cats and took them with her, taking the path to the house on the hill. As soon as she got there, she left the two cats in the living room as she rummaged through the clothes in the bedroom to find something good to wear.
She grabbed a tight, maybe even slightly too small green and black sweater, a small green skirt, some mismatched white socks, some black boots, some bags to carry stuff in, and a little green gift bow she found that reminded her of her favorite holiday, Christmas, and the bow originally on her ear coverings. She couldn't really fix her hair, so it was red and messy, covered in vines and foliage, and down. She looked in the mirror. She didn't look like her normal self.. But what was her normal self? She didn't remember.
Nice Nature sighed and pushed open the door, walking to the kitchen. She found some cat food left in the pantry, and fed the 2 cats she was given, watching as Mathematichka, the female one who was fluffy and muscly, and Fang, the male one who was sleek and skinnier, stumbled over each other for the food. Nice Nature went into the bathroom and found a first aid kit, using it on the scrapes and the scratch on her cheek. Her scrapes were fine, but she disinfected them anyway and she put a bandaid on the cheek scratch. Nice Nature's ears jolted upright in surprise as the door knocked. She opened the door to see a man with a mustache and sideswept hair at the door. However, he had no visible scars, and wore pink clothes and a crown. This was obviously not Butch, who was this man?
"Well, helloooo neighbor! Yes it's me, Mr. Tinkles!" The man at the door spoke to her.
...Mr. Tinkles. Really? Also.. This is a guy wearing a skirt, is he.. Gay?? Nice Nature didn't want to think about it too hard. Also because that sounds really.. Homophobic. Nice Nature is ok with gay people, she's seen them all the time at her school.
"You've no doubt heard about me around town, and yes, all the rumors are true! I spread them myself! However, I don't think I've seen you around town before, so welcome to the neighborhood!"
"Thank you, neighbor.."
"Tink, you can call me Tink. Your cats are really busted after that adventure they were just on! They're retired now, so they can't adventure again!"
...But.. They only.. Mathematichka only ever hit one cat, and Fang didn't even do anything! In fact, I literally carried both of them over here instead of letting them walk! ...Nevermind.
"They seem comfy, despite the lack of stuff in your home, haha. Anyways, if ya keep 'em around, you might attract more strays and maybe get some kittens," Tink said, "Anyways, I'll be back tomorrow, bye neighbor!"
Nice Nature reached out toward the strange man, but he left quickly. None of them.. Even asked my name. Sigh. Who even is Dr. Beanies? Why is this Tink guy and this Butch guy helping her? Why do those two guys even look so similar? What is even going on here?? ...This place is so weird. I need to get some shut eye, maybe I can go back home??? Hopefully?? Please?? Nice Nature shut the front door and pet the two cats goodnight as she walked to the bedroom again. She shut the bedroom door and climbed into bed, physically exhausted all around. Her limbs, even if they were healing quickly, had scrapes on them, her cheek was mauled by a feral cat, she is being forced to hoard cats, and she felt like she was hit by a truck before waking up! She curled up under the blanket as she drifted into a fuzzy sleep...
--
A dark scene played before her, like an out of body flashback. There it was, Nice Nature, panicked and rushing out of the school. It was raining hard, the air dark and wet. She looked at herself outside of her body and it hit her that she was likely in the middle of a depressive episode. Am I depressed? I guess I hadn’t figured it out yet with the strange day I just had. The Nice Nature before her was in extreme panic and stress, tears running down her face, wearing a non-torn version of the clothes she woke up in. If she ended things like this, maybe she shouldn't wish to go back to her world.. However, as she ran out of the school, something hit her.
A giant semitruck burst through the darkness, slamming straight into the schoolgirl with all its weight. Her body crumpled and snapped, being flung into the street. Then, a familiar feeling rushed through Nice Nature as the dream faded. It was almost like.. Did she get isekaied into this alien world?? What??? The torn clothes of the falling Nice Nature before her were really similar to the clothes she woke up in, but.. Her bones weren't broken and snapped like the one before her. Why were her injuries healed but not her clothes?? As the flashback-dream ended, it filled Nice Nature with more questions than before.
--
"Hey.. Heyy!"
Nice Nature woke with a jolt, and looked outside to see Tink outside, at her window.
"Ya weren't up yet, so I came around to wake you up through your window. Listen.. Ya might wanna check on your cats."
Oh dear lord. What might it be this time. Nice Nature walked outside the bedroom to see a kitten.. What.. Apparently cats in this world age fast, and have only 1 kitten per litter. And.. Her cats Mathematichka and Fang had a kitten. Great.
"Aww.. You're so cute, little.. Kitten.. Uhh.. Allie!" Nice Nature bent down to pet Allie, touching the soft, delicate body of the newly born kitten.
Despite being so young, it was already acting like a kitten who is months old. But Nature couldn't really judge it, Uma Musume also have really weird aging anomalies. The door knocked, so Nice Nature opened it.
"Oh my, what an eventful night in there! Aw! You have a new little kitten! She's gonna need to grow up a bit before going on an adventure, but no need to fear as there's something in the water here that makes them grow up in one day!"
Oh. I thought they were just bio engineered.
"Aw, look, a stray little kitty has come looking for your loove! Totes take them inside, and once you've collected enough of these little kittens you can take them out on an adventure to find more supplies! You'll want 4 of these fresh kitties to send out, but you don't have enough yet. I'd recommend just.. like.. playing the waiting game, and waiting for more strays to show and more kittens to be born!"
That's a mouthful, but.. Very helpful? Nice Nature coaxed the stray kitty inside and waved goodbye to Tink as he left again. She shut the front door and felt her body weaken with a horrible, wary malaise. She was very tired, but still took time out of her day to feed the cats and name the stray. Nature named the large gray stray Bernie, and stumbled through the house to the bedroom door. She heaved it open and laid on the bed, not even shutting the door behind her. She curled up on the bed again. Her body demanded rest... And hopefully after that she can be well enough to gather food so that she and her cats don't die. Nature curled tighter and shut her eyes, letting the world fade away, ignoring everything around her..