//------------------------------// // Chapter V: Finding Meditation // Story: Wisdom's: Peaceful Beginnings // by InnerWisdom //------------------------------// It was a beautiful morning. Nature was blooming and it was an amazing time to meditate. I left the bakery and headed towards a garden that was nearby. I arrived to see a fountain, an assortment of flowers, the smell of roses, and the distinct sound of a guitar being played. I saw Tick Tock sitting on a bench playing his guitar. I approached him and before I even said anything, he turned towards me and said “You know that feeling. . .where you think you're in love but you don’t know for certain. . .I think I have that. . .Do you know a cure?” “A cure? (pauses) My friend, if you feel butterflies in your stomach, if you can’t stop thinking about some pony, (Pauses) then you, (Pauses, again) are. . .in. . .love. Love is a very powerful form of Harmony, with it, you can conquer almost anything. But If love is interfered with, then the Harmony shall be disturbed. If Harmony is disturbed then the love will fall apart. That doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. Remember, Any love is love that every pony feels but True Love is what YOU and the other individual feel, as one.” Tick started tearing up and said “So true! Can I admit something to you? If I do, do you promise to not release it to any pony?” I smiled and said “But of course, Now tell me, What is bothering you?” Tick ponied up and said “I think. . .(Pauses) I am in love with. . .Fluttershy! But I don’t know what to do, Could you help me?” I sat next to him, I looked towards the trees that were nearby and said, “I won’t ask her out or do anything that you should do. I will, however, help train you in the arts of meditation. Once, you have learned how to meditate and keep calm, you will be ready.” We left the garden and I took Tick to a small park that was nearby. Surprisingly, Peachy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were at the park and noticed Tick and I approaching. Peachy ran on over to us and said “Do you guys want to play Pony, Pony, Mule!” Tick got over excited and ran on over and sat on the grass. I walked on over and said “What is Pony, Pony, Mule!” Peachy walked over and whispered softly, “It’s like Duck, Duck, Goose! but with ponies.” I nodded to sign that I understood and sat next to Apple Bloom. The game was about to start but before it started we had to decide who went first. So, all the ponies started putting one of their hooves on their nose. They would then say ‘Not it’ and so I was it. I walked around and said “Pony, Pony, Pony, Pony, MULE!” and started running while Scootaloo chased me. We then took the game to a whole new level. . .when I decided to Fly around them all. Scootaloo then did the same thing. After a few minutes I sat down and Scootaloo began the game, again. After everypony had been tagged, Peachy and The Cutie Mark Crusaders had to leave and go to do other things. Tick and I took this time to start the Meditation Process. When we were about to start, several ponies saw Tick and I in a tree upside down and kept questioning, what we were doing. Some members of the mane six including; AppleJack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, came over and asked what we were doing. I looked over to Tick and whispered “Keep calm!” I climbed down and said “I am teaching Tick the ways of Meditation. I am also teaching him how one can simply remain calm, remain wise, and be himself. AppleJack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy asked “Can we join you?” Rainbow Dash looked around and said “That doesn’t sound cool. It sounds a bit lame.” I looked at Rainbow Dash and said “Let me ask you something, what does it take to be cool?” She flew up and said “Cool is like. . .(pauses). . .It’s being Awesome, doing something that people will like you for.” I looked around and said “It seems like some of the ponies think. . .It’s Cool. If you think about it, you can use meditation to keep calm, you keep calm so that you can show off as usual.” She nodded and joined us. She was still quite curious. I knew that she still wanted to challenge some pony to a race but that would have to wait till Tick successfully asked Fluttershy out. We were all in the middle of the park standing on all fours, I said “The first step is to know the types of Meditations. The most useful meditations are: Peaceful Meditations, Wise Meditations, and Spiritual Meditations. In order to know which one YOU are destined to use, we shall start by doing a small exercise. We shall sit quietly and find out which ponies are Spiritual Meditators. Afterwards, we shall walk around the natural and calm garden and see which ponies are Peaceful Meditators. Finally, we shall have a small lesson and see which ponies are Wise Meditators. Shall we begin?” They all gathered around, listening ever so closely. I walked back and forth saying “So, first things first, we need to determine your specific meditation. So, we shall start by sitting quietly in this position (Sits with legs crossed and hooves clanged together).” After a few minutes several of the ponies couldn’t handle it, but the ones that could, dealt with it beautifully, having remained quiet. I then continued by saying, “Congratulations, to those of you who remained Spiritual, if you’d like to hang around and continue the other exercises, then you are welcomed to. Next, We shall walk around the garden.” We took a scenic walk around of the garden. I could see that Fluttershy was enjoying herself and that Tick Tock was very relaxed around the beauty and the calmness of the garden. I approached him and said “You have shown me that you are a Peaceful Meditator, even when the day is dark, remember that peace is on your side.” He smiled and when I was about to announce the next group, there was an ominous musical humming coming from nearby. Tick Tock and I walked over and saw Fluttershy humming with the Humming birds. I turned to him and said “I think I know how I can help you with your journey, the best way I see of doing this would be by playing your guitar, BUT! something calm, peaceful, relaxing, nothing too loud.” He looked puzzled but realized I was right. I said “Stick around and after this last exercise, you shall begin creating peaceful music.” We finished off the exercise and I could tell that Rainbow Dash was not amused. So, I came up with an idea, an idea so brilliant, that it had to work. I walked over to the remaining ponies and said “Congratulations to those of you, that have shown an interest in nature, peace, and remaining calm, for you are Peaceful Meditators. The next exercise has been changed a bit but the idea remains the same. We shall have a race around Ponyville. Now for the Pegasus that are here, this means no flying unless absolutely necessary. Get to your starting positions. Before we start here are the main rules, 1) Think wisely about your environment 2) Use your knowledge to your advantage and finally 3) Have Fun!. . . On your mark, get set, and GO!” The Ponies all took off while I waited at the finish line, Tick turned around and saw that I hadn’t budged at all yet, he ran back and asked “Aren’t you going to run?” I looked at him and said “Patience is a virtue, plus, I know a shortcut.” Rainbow Dash was running along with AppleJack and Pinkie Pie, well, Pinkie was bouncing more then running but it kept her up with the two, they were all neck and neck. I then appeared from around Sugarcube Corner and was in the lead. I made left and right turns, Rainbow couldn’t figure out how I was so fast but I then turned around and was running backwards. She ran faster, and faster, and faster until, She was neck and neck with me. I decided to make it more interesting and started bouncing like Pinkie, which somehow was actually a lot of fun. We got the finish line and couldn’t figure out who won, until we looked ahead of us and saw that some ponies had beaten us! We approached them and asked How did you get here so fast?” One of them said “Took a shortcut through a few alleys, and ended up here.” I turned to her and said “See! These are Wise Meditators, Ponies that know their surroundings. You did have me beat at the end Rainbow Dash but I hope you’ve learned more from this race then from showing off.” She looked at me and said “Yeah, I learned that no matter what is thrown in front of you, you can overcome anything.” Tick Tick and I left and I took him back to his home. I then went ahead and headed for Peachy’s home. . .to ensure my suspicions about Chrysalis. Little did I know, that there was more then I could handle.