//------------------------------//
// Slower Is The New Faster 
// Story: Life is a Test: A Series of Pony Logic Puzzles 
// by Brony_of_Brody 
//------------------------------//

Dangit.

Dangit dangit DANGIT! How'd this even happen? C'mon, Applejack, there's gotta be a diplomatic solution to this horseapples...

...oh, howdy, partner. Ah, don't mind me...

...what's wrong? Ah, it don't concern ya, ya don't need to know. It'd just put ya in a right pickle if ya did.

...ya wanna listen anyway? Well, if ya say so. So, get this.

It all started when Rarity - ya know, who runs the Carousel Boutique - yeah her, she got this customer who was a right pain in the flank to her. Some fancy too-good-for-his-own-horseshoes type all the way from Canterlot. Rainbow Dash got into a right stew about it, and they had a right big argument right there in front of the shop. 

Well, one thing led to another and then Rainbow said, "Well, Ah'll bet Rarity could totally beat ya in a race any day!"

...Ah see that look on yer face. Yeah, it went exactly as well as ya think it did.

That guy - Steady Pace, Ah think his name was, he said that she had that bet, and now Rarity's gonna have to run a marathon against that guy for the fate of the Boutique!

She's crazy! No offense to Rares, but magic don't exactly tone yer muscles much, if ya know what Ah mean. Ah guess Rainbow was real sorry afterwards, sayin' she could do it instead, but Rares insists. Somethin' 'bout how she wouldn't want proxies, and that she'd run that race, for the reputation of the Boutique.

Ah mean, not that Ah don't get behind what she's sayin', but she don't stand a chance. Twilight's actually run some simulations on some fancy machine she's got. That Steady Pace did a lot of charity sports events, and he's got stamina to spare, that guy. Much as he was a jerk, that's the honest truth. Now the way he runs, he could do a mile in eight minutes, no stoppin' for breaks or slowin' down. Guess ya don't get a name like that fer nothin'.

Rares, she ain't too bad in short bursts, but she always has to slow down to catch her breath. She reckons she could swap between gallops and trots to save her energy, but her fastest mile was still a second slower than that Steady fella. And Ah'm not one for fancy mathematics, but a second slower is still slower.

So that's it. Rarity's runnin' a race that Ah don't think she could win. Not without cheatin', and where would that leave her even if she won? Ah don't see a way...

...

...yer kiddin'? Ya actually think Rarity could stand a chance? How? Ya don't have some sort of way to pull a fast one on him, do ya? Cos if ya do, Ah ain't advocatin' it.

...ya don't? So's how's Rarity even supposed to beat that guy and keep her business?