//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Jester's Cutie Mark 
// by The Lunar Samurai 
//------------------------------//

	Jester clutched the small teddy bear close to her chest as the hoard of fillies and colts raced into the playground. The mud that flew from their hooves threatened Snuffles’ soft brown fur, and Jester tried her best to keep it clean. It had just stopped raining, and the clouds still hung low and dark over the tops of the trees.
“Stay in the playground!” Daisy Quill shouted to her pupils, trying her best to keep their curious hooves as clean as possible. Jester could hear the smile in her voice. Quill knew that her words would only make them to explore the puddles and mud outside of the mulch.
“I’ll stay in the mulch,” Jester said quietly as the last few ponies raced onto the playground.
Daisy Quill leaned down and nudged Jester. “You don’t have to, Jester,” she said gently, “you can go exploring.”
“That’s okay, I want to swing today,” Jester said as she trotted toward the empty swingset on the edge of the mulch. It was the one place on the playground that she could be alone with Snuffles.
The rest of the ponies gathered in their usual spots. The cliques of fillies gathered around the jungle gym, each eager to share their small bit of gossip about the colts. They were always talking and laughing amongst themselves, but Jester could never quite make out what they were saying. Every now and again she would hear her name, but she didn’t pay them too much attention.
The colts galloped through the muddy mulch, kicking up chunks of vile filth that made the fillies reel in disgust. They were playing their usual competitive sport, one that Jester didn’t quite understand. They would shout at one another for a ball to be thrown, only to have it taken the other direction.
Jester crawled into the swing and nestled Snuffles close against her stomach. His head drooped forward as though he felt safe in her lap. Neither of them knew how to swing, but they didn’t mind. Jester enjoyed watching the ponies go about their routines from a distance. Snuffles just enjoyed being with her.
The world around her seemed so active, but she just kept to herself. Nopony bothered her on the old decrepit swing set, and that was exactly the way she wanted it. She never had an interest in sharing snippets of gossip with the other fillies, nor did she wish to join in with the colts in their chaos.
There were a few ponies like her, other fillies and colts who kept to themselves among the outskirts of the playground. Nopony paid much attention to them, much like Jester. One colt in particular, was more reclusive than the rest. He was smaller and younger than the others by a fair margin, and he usually stayed inside or next to Daisy during the recess. Today, however, their teacher was nowhere to be found. And that small colt sat next to her chair, timidly watching the colts play their games while clutching a blue string in his hoof. Just above his mane, a smiling blue balloon swayed in the gentle breeze.
Then, something happened, something that caught Jester’s attention. The ball that the the colts had been throwing between themselves found its way on a collision course with that blue balloon.
It struck the balloon, splattering dirt across its colorful surface. 
“Hey!” the small colt protested as the balloon cowered toward the ground.
“You better watch where you’re going!”
Jester frowned as she watched a trio form around the small colt. She never liked it when somepony was sad, but she really didn’t like it when somepony was bullied.
“I’m sorry,” the colt protested to the group. Even from across the playground, Jester could hear the fear in his voice.
“Why don’t you go play somewhere else? You’re only getting in the way, you little runt!”
Jester winced.
A small voice rose into Jester’s ear. “Go and help him. He can’t defend himself.”
“Snuffles?” she whispered.
“Go and help him, Jester.”
She looked back to the small colt on the other side of the playground. The others had moved closer.
“Hey look!” one of the bullies shouted, “He’s crying.”
She could feel her teeth clenching together. It hurt to watch. She had to do something.
Maybe the small colt said something, maybe the bullies were pushing too far, maybe the teacher’s absence fueled their drive, but the outcome was the same.
A light slap rose from the trio. Jester’s ears twitched at the sound. A few moments later, and the smiling blue balloon drifted upward into the sky.
“Hey!” Jester squeaked, her mouth reacting before her mind had a chance to stop her. “Cut it out!” Her voice was filled with anger, but her threat squeaked from her throat.
“Hey look! His crush is gonna fight us!”
Jester’s cheeks burned red as she stepped backward. “No I’m not!”
The group laughed as they turned toward Jester. “Jesster and Dogwood sitting in a tree!”
“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Another volley of laughter erupted from the group.
“Cut it out!” Jester shouted as her cheeks grew warmer still.
“What’s the matter? Can’t defend your coltfriend?”
“N-No!”
By now the group had started moving toward Jester. She couldn’t help but feel slightly relieved at the fact that they were finally leaving Dogwood alone.
“Why don’t you ask your teddy bear for help!”
Jester cowered farther, instinctively clutching Snuffles close to her side. The trio was just a stones throw away now, but every step they took toward her was a step away from Dogwood. Her legs started to backpedal, her body beginning to escape the bullies. As the first colt reached her, she turned to run, but her legs caught against eachother. She clutched snuffles to her side, trying to keep him off of the dirty mulch.
“What’s the matter? Forget how to walk?”
Then, one of the colts made a move. He started to reach for Snuffles. She wanted to fight back, to defend her best friend, but she was powerless.
“Flash!” a voice rang out over the playground. It was Daisy Quill. “I want you, and your friends to see me in my office!”
The trio immediately winced as though they had been struck with a whip. At once, they retreated toward the school, their recess had come to an abrupt end, and their reign of terror had ceased as well. They walked toward their teacher, heads low in shame. They stepped past the wake of damage they had created, unapologetically sneering at the wounded in their past.
Jester rose to her hooves and started toward Dogwood. He had moved to the chair that Daisy usually occupied, but she was busy dealing with the bullies inside. He was alone. His face half hidden behind its wooden back.
“Comfort him,” Snuffles whispered.
Jester looked upward to the dark sky. The blue balloon that had accompanied Dogwood was too small to be seen against the clouds. It was gone.
As she neared the small colt, her voice acted, once again, before her mind. “Dogwood?”
The little colt’s eyes snapped open and his ears folded back. He scooted back behind the chair once more.
“I’m not a bully,” she said quietly as she walked around the chair.
His eyes drifted up toward hers as he tried to hold back his tears. They said he wanted to believe her, but his heart could only cower.
“This is Snuffles,” she said, casting a glance to her teddy bear. “He’s my bestest friend.”
Dogwood’s eyes drifted upward, trying to find his own friend who had left a few minutes ago. “I miss bluey.”
Jester looked toward the sky, and then to the small plush teddybear she clutched by her side. Snuffles felt warm against her coat. A stiff breeze drifted through the playground, forcing her to hold him closer still. 
“I’m cold,” Dogwood whispered as tears began to stream from his eyes once more.
A few moments passed as Jester searched her young mind for a way to comfort the colt. Then, a spark flashed before her eyes. In just a moment, she knew what she needed to do.
“Here,” Jester said as she pried Snuffles from her side. It took every ounce of her being to sacrifice her best friend, but something told her that it was the right thing to do. “He’s your best friend now.”
Dogwood sniffled as he reached out for the small brown bear. Jester could feel his warmpth slowly dwindling, but another was rising in its place. She felt it the moment that Dogwood’s small mouth cracked into a smile the first time. It didn’t come from some small piece of stuffing and cloth, but rather it came from within her.
“Thank you,” two voices said. One was Dogwood’s, he muttered it as he held the bear close. The other was Snuffles. He said it when he began to warm Dogwood.
“Alright class!” Daisy Quill shouted from the doorway. Recess is over, time to come inside!”
The group of ponies slowly meandered into the doorway, leaving their pent up energy on the mulched in area. All were saddened by the fact that their playtime was over. But the weather was starting to pick up again, and the dark clouds were releasing the rain once more.
“Jester,” Daisy Quill said as the last few ponies trickled into the door. “Where is Snuffles?”
Jester looked to Dogwood, who was now sitting in his desk, playing with the teddy bear she had once called her own. He was smiling, and that brought a smile to her face as well.
“I gave him to Dogwood. He lost bluey.”
Her teacher stopped for a moment, shocked by the selflessness of the little filly. “You gave away your teddy bear?”
“Uh huh,” Jester whimpered. She had given such an important friend away, but she wasn’t sad. Without a word she walked past her teacher and toward her seat.
“Jester?” Daisy quill said as she tapped on the filly’s shoulder.
Jester squeezed the tears from her eyes and looked back to her teacher. “Yes ms quill?”
“It looks like you didn’t give up your teddy bear after all.”
There, on Jester’s flank, was a small brown bear, arms outstretched, ready to comfort anypony in need.