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// Clyde and the Tortoise 
// Story: Clyde's Tales 
// by Salivanth 
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Clyde and the Tortoise


Once upon a time, there lived an eminently sensible earth pony named Clyde. Clyde loved to run, and would frequently run through the forests and hills that surrounded his home. One day, while Clyde was bathing in the river, a tortoise approached him. The tortoise had met many ponies before, and had found them arrogant and prideful.

“Sir pony!” the tortoise spoke. “I have seen you running through these parts! You must be quite proud of your prodigious stamina and speed! But there is one creature in this forest even swifter than yourself, and that is I, the tortoise!”

Clyde raised an eyebrow.

“You don’t believe me! I do declare, sir, that I raced the hare himself into the ground! But he was not truly a challenge; it would be an honor to test my speed against such a worthy opponent as yourself!” the turtle said. “I challenge you to a race! We shall race the five miles to yonder hill!”

Clyde thought about it for a moment, and accepted his wager. The tortoise grinned, secure in his knowledge that the pony would falter when attempting to run for so long across such rough terrain. The race began, and Clyde jogged off, quickly leaving the tortoise in the distance.

When the tortoise finally reached the finish line, he found Clyde waiting for him. "But how? How did you manage to keep running for such a long time?"

Clyde looked at the turtle and raised an eyebrow. "I walked," he said.

The moral of the story is: While slow and steady is good, a moderate but respectable pace is even better.