//------------------------------//
// Part 2 - Chapter III: Rainbow Dash 
// Story: The Seventh Pony 
// by Essy 
//------------------------------//

	Sometime the next day, Essentia found herself next to a spritely little filly, that being a pegasus of the orange persuasion who can’t seem to fly just yet, and she watched as Rainbow Dash ascended very high up into the air. Essentia presumed this to be the start of a new stunt, and she watched with just as much excitement as Scootaloo.
“Come on, Rainbow Dash! You can do it!” exclaimed the filly, and Essentia smiled radiantly before following her example.
“Go for it, darling!”
As soon as Rainbow Dash hit the apex of her ascension, she collapsed her wings and fell straight down, head first. She accelerated quickly toward a patch of clouds, and she waited until she was just below the patch of clouds to unfold her wings. Instantly, Rainbow Dash made a sharp parabola before ascending upward quickly into the sky, the clouds following her as she began to draw in the atmosphere. Her path was agile and rapid, and the trail of clouds began manifesting into an illustration of sorts. Essentia gazed up in wonder.
“Al…most!” grunted Rainbow Dash. Just then, however, an unneeded turn wiped out the remaining cloud she had left behind her, and she looked at the cloud drawing in disappointment.
Essentia blinked at what she saw. It was a large outline of a cloud.
“So you made a cloud with yet more clouds? Well, that certainly is impressive darling.”
“Cool!!” shouted Scootaloo, and the rainbow haired pegasus slowly descended back onto the viewing cloud with them.
“It’s…still a work in progress,” said Rainbow sheepishly.
“I do say that your stunt is admirable, darling.”
“Oh, well, what can I say? I’m pretty awesome.”
And very humble, at that, the priestess thought.
“She’s so awesome!” Scootaloo hugged Rainbow Dash from the side, and the rainbow mare couldn’t help but smile at this.
“Thanks, squirt. I’ll get it down eventually.”
“So this problem has occurred before?”
“Yeah, but I can’t get it right for some reason! I follow the plan exactly, but it always turns out to be…this!”
“What do you do to try and fix it?”
“Well, I try to make adjustments to my overall plan, like, small, tiny adjustments, but I work for hours and hours and I can’t get this one right for some reason.”
“…ever try meditation?”
“You mean like that thing with the ‘Ohhhhmmmmmm’?”
“Well, yes, but that’s only one style of meditation.”
“I’m not really into that sorta thing.”
“…but have you ever tried it?”
“No, but—”
“Has there ever been a time in your life when you wished you had a clearer mind or, at least, a more rational thought process, before doing something?”
Rainbow Dash immediately thought back to when she participated in the Running of the Leaves with Applejack. She had behaved so selfishly and hot-headedly because she was too hell-bent on winning the race to think about anything else. Her emotions had gotten the best of her. The pegasus returned back to the conversation at hand after a few moments, and she sighed.
“…yeah,” she reluctantly admitted.
“Well, meditation is one way to clear your mind. And it’s really easy; anypony can do it.”
“Even me?” asked Scootaloo excitedly.
“Yes, little one, even you.”
Maybe I can get my cutie mark in meditation!
The three of them sat in a circle, and Rainbow Dash and her sister followed Essentia’s instructions exactly.
“Now the first thing you need to do is close your eyes. We are going to do a basic exercise where you travel through your mind outside of your own thoughts. Just let the thoughts come to you; the neural passages of your brain will not be inactive just because you are meditating.”
“But,” started Rainbow Dash, her eyes latched shut, “what do you mean ‘just let the thoughts come to us’?”
“Pretend that your thoughts are in front of you. Now take a few steps away from them and just observe your thoughts as they come to you. Do not experience them. Do not immerse yourself in them. Just watch them as they pass by and try to interact with you. Relax your breathing.”
After a few minutes of doing this, Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash finally understood how it was supposed to feel. It was not the getting rid of thoughts but rather the separation of the self from these thoughts. They remained in this meditative stance for a solid fifteen minutes before Rainbow Dash finally “woke up”, so to speak, with a smile on her face.
“Hey, I think I know how to fix the stunt!”
“Right on,” said Essentia, who opened her eyes next. “Maybe you can show us?”
“Yeah!”
Essentia and Scootaloo took their viewing positions one more time, and they watched as Rainbow Dash took off into the air with even more confidence than before.
“Do you think she’ll do it this time?” asked Scootaloo.
“Yes, most definitely.”
“How can you tell?”
“I just have a hunch, darling.”
Scootaloo grinned and turned her head quickly to look up at her older sister as she prepares for her stunt.
“YOU CAN DO IT, RAINBOW DASH!!”
The mare in the sky grinned as she came falling back down, faster than before and with her legs tucked in this time. She waited until she was at the right altitude to unfold her wings, and she began with the illustration again. Within seconds, it was apparent she had more control of her movements, and she flew with such fluidity in her stature. Before Essentia and Scootaloo could applaud for her, Rainbow Dash was finished with the cloud illustration, and she turned back around to look at it.
“YES! Finally!!”
Essentia and Scootaloo cheered wildly at the cloud drawing. It was a perfect copy of Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark, albeit without the extra colors. Despite the less than modest gesture of Rainbow’s work, Essentia could not help but smile to herself.
Very inspiring indeed, Miss Dash. I knew you could do it.