The moon was round and full as I limped home, gems rattling in my little cup. I was just a young Jammer, but it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

A little more hopeful then the sad sight of my cup.

I had counted the gems three times before I left. Posted by the news bulletin, begging for enough money to put food on my little orange table, I had scraped up twenty gems. Respectable enough, I supposed. Twenty Jammers had stopped by me, pitied me, and dropped a small colored token in my carrot cup. That was something to be proud of.

I wasn't fond of deceit. Some animals scraped by with trickery, stealing and scamming other Jammers. But if someone wanted to give you money out of the goodness of their heart… well, that was different. That was real, hard-earned money, money that was mine.

A shuffle of hooves sounded behind me made me turn around. There was a tall, proud looking horse just behind me, with long tan fur and orange stars speckled all around her body.

"Juniper," I nodded.

"Rosy," she said. She reached into her money pouch and withdrew two purple coins. There was a chink as they fell in my cup.

"I won three races today," she announced proudly. "So I have more than enough."

"Still at the Jamaa Derby, eh?" I laughed.

"What you do is you trick them," she laughed back. "You build up your speed until the very end, and then you go running like crazy. Boom, you've passed those four other horses ahead of you."

"I wish I was a horse. Then maybe I wouldn't have to beg," I said sadly.

"Maybe you could be fast anyways," she comforted. "Be the first bunny to participate in the Derby, eh? I bet you could beat me if you really tried."

"I couldn't. You're so fast."

"I bet you could if you practiced."

"But you've had more practice than me."

"Rosy Cottoncloud, I'm trying to comfort you!" Juniper burst, holding back a snicker. "Be kind!" She tightened her gem purse, letting go and laughing for real.

"Aww. No more gems?" I asked, looking at the purse.

"I only made, like, 450," she giggled. "And besides, you're not letting me comfort you. For that, you don't get any more."

"Fine. I would beat you if I practiced," I scoffed. Juniper smiled and plucked a gem out of the pouch. It was yellow this time.

"You're going to be a great Jammer one day, Rosy," Juniper said. "You're going to find something to work on, to pay for your house and your food and your clothing. I just know it."