Fairy Tales of Equestria

by VioletRose13

Tortoise Sparkle and Rainbow Hare

Once upon a time in a tiny quaint forest, there lived a tortoise and a hare who were very good friends. The tortoise was called Tortoise Sparkle and she usually spent her time reading. The hare was called Rainbow Hare and she spent her time racing.

One day, Tortoise Sparkle was sitting under a big shady tree indulged in another book, her eyes shifting from page to page. Suddenly a gust of wind was heard and the cheering of many. With a ruffle of her feathers she stood and went out to take a look.

There stood Rainbow Hare amongst a small crowd of little and seemingly younger forest creatures. They all surrounded her praising her on her several accomplishments. Rainbow Hare absorbed the praise standing in all pride.

“Yeah, I know, kids. I’m awesome.” She beamed.

“Mind keeping it down, Rainbow Hare?” Tortoise Sparkle asked.

“Sorry, but I can’t disappoint the fans.” She chuckled.

“Well could you not disappoint them somewhere else?” She frowned.

“Hey! I bet Tortoise Sparkle could beat Rainbow Hare in a race!” A chipmunk cried.

The two creatures looked at each other, then to the group befuddled by that chipmunk’s outburst. “Now children, I don’t think that that’s what you should take from…” She answered.

“Come on Tortoise Sparkle, how about just one race?” Rainbow Hare grinned.

“Rainbow Hare, I don’t want to race! I was studying. I…” Tortoise Sparkle cried.

“I bet you could so win, Tortoise Sparkle!” The chipmunk interrupted.

At this point a small duck also came out, “No way! Rainbow Hare would win!” She exclaimed.

“Okay, okay! Look, kids. Rainbow Hare and I are friends and we wouldn’t stoop so low.”

“C’mon, Sparky! Just one race! What have you got to lose?”

In the end, Tortoise Sparkle gave in to her friend’s persistent asking and begging and they met up at the edge of town to begin their race the very next day. At the start line, the two friends readied themselves to run. On the sidelines, many animal spectators watched and cheered, ready for the race to begin. And to the right was the referee with a whistle around her neck and wearing a baseball cap on her head.

“Don’t worry, T; I’ll go easy on you.” Rainbow Hare grinned.

“I won’t need you to.” Tortoise Sparkle grumbled, opening her wings; Tortoise Sparkle’s wingspan being an inch or so larger than Rainbow Hare’s.

Rainbow Hare looked at her and grinned smugly. “You’re on.” She fluttered her wings open and prepared her stance.

“Is everyone ready?” The referee asked the two racers.

“Ready!” Rainbow Hare exclaimed.

“Ready.” Tortoise Sparkle grumbled.

"Alright! The racer who runs as fast as they can around this entire forest and back here wins!" The referee announced. “On your marks… get set… GO!”

And with that, the referee blew her whistle and Tortoise Sparkle and Rainbow Hare were on their way down the track. Rainbow Hare was running at a great speed of course, while Tortoise Sparkle was running as slow as ever.

“Easy win.” Rainbow Hare said to herself as ran at top speed.

But Tortoise Sparkle knew what do to. As the race went on, Rainbow Hare was at the lead and Tortoise Sparkle at the rear. Before Rainbow Hare could reach the finish line however, she had a thought.

'Tortoise Sparkle won't catch up to me for a long time now. Maybe I should take a nap. I still have plenty of time to win.' She thought.

So, Rainbow Hare walked to a tree and lay down in the shade. Meanwhile, Tortoise Sparkle was still going. As she was running, she didn’t stop for anything or anyone on the way to the finish. And a while later, she passed by the sleeping Rainbow Hare who was completely unaware of what was happening.

But when Rainbow Hare awoke a few hours later, she looked down to see the crowd cheering as Tortoise Sparkle got close to the finish line.

“What?! Tortoise Sparkle is in the lead?! But how?! I have to beat her! I just have to or my reputation is ruined!” She cried as she stood up.

Rainbow Hare’s eyes widened, mustering all her strength she raced to the distant finish line. She just couldn’t lose; she had a reputation to uphold. Tortoise Sparkle looked up and noticed her. She smiled at Rainbow Hare and with a sudden burst pumped her wings and with godly speed crossed the line, skidding to a halt on the ground.

Rainbow Hare arrived mere seconds later, with beads of sweat on her brow and heaving.

“I won!” Tortoise Sparkle cheered.

“How… how did you… how did you do that?” Rainbow Hare gasped, desperately trying to catch her breath. “You… ran so… so slow.”

“I paced myself. I went slow keeping pace and at the end while you were distracted I used all my energy to sprint to the finish line.” Tortoise Sparkle answered proudly.

“I don’t believe it. I bookworm turtle beat me!”

“It’s okay, Rainbow Hare. Everyone loses once in a while.”

The rabbit with rainbow hair nervously chuckled. She looked at her friend and answered, “Goes to show that even the fastest in the land needs to learn to go slow and steady from time to time.” Tortoise Sparkle smiled back and put her foreleg around her friend’s shoulder.

Tortoise Sparkle was declared the winner of the race and from there forth Rainbow Hare learned that sometimes, slow and steady does win the race. And so, they all lived happily ever after.

Comments

[Godslittleprincess]

Hmm, I'm a little weirded out by the fact that they both still have their wings in this story. It would seem as if you mixed elements of "Fall Weather Friends" with the original story.

[VioletRose13]

9268865
It's just the characters I thought would fit the Tortoise and the Hare

[theanonymousbrony]

“C’mon, Sparky! Just one race! What have you got to lose?”

Aside from time that could be spent studying?