Itty Bitty Living Space

Itty Bitty Living Space

Chapter 1: Phenomonal Cosmic Power

Apple Bloom fidgeted with her pencil as she barely listened to Miss Cheerilee drone on and on about the presentation she was giving today.

Her teacher had said the presentation was about something they would never be able to learn about by reading through their elementary school textbooks, so the little filly had assumed that perhaps the presentation would've been a little bit more exciting than what she was currently hearing.

It was true, Apple Bloom had never seen anything like what Cheerilee had brought into class today.  But, that was about where the excitement ended for her.

The artifact that she had brought in today resembled a wide, turquoise bottle with a narrow neck on the top, but it had been decorated like Sweetie Belle's sister had gotten hold of it, being encrusted with various gemstones.

Her excitement had waned when Cheerilee told them it was just a reconstructed replica that she had gotten from the Institution of Archaeology and History in Canterlot, and those were not real gemstones that decorated the outside of the bottle.

"Ugh, boring..." Scootaloo pined from the right of her.  Apple Bloom couldn't help but agree with her fellow Cutie Mark Crusader and friend.  She didn't understand the point of Miss Cheerilee giving up an entire class to rant about some fancy bottle.  What was so special about a fancy bottle?

"And does anyone know why this bottle is important?"

"Um.... because it looks nice?" her other friend and Cutie Mark Crusader, Sweetie Belle, wagered a guess on the other side of her.

Several other students nodded in unenthusiastic agreement.  Cheerilee laughed.

"Not quite, my little ponies!  Though, I would very surprised if any of you knew what this bottle represented.  There aren't a whole lot of ponies around today that know the importance of this type of bottle.  In fact, I had to go out of my way and request this artifact because none of your books mention it at all!"

"However, I feel it is a fascinating subject, and one that I feel young fillies and colts such as yourselves would be interested to learn about as well..."

"I'm learning about a dozen new ways to be bored right about now..." Scootaloo snarked under her breath, and only Apple Bloom heard her speak.  However, the lesson was about to get much more interesting.

"Tell me, do any of you know what a "human" is?" Cheerilee asked.  She was not surprised when no hooves raised into the air.

She cleared her throat, and pointed a hoof at the bottle before her.

"Allow me to explain.  A human is a very obscurely known mythological creature within Equestrian stories.  They go by many names: djinn, jinn, genie, due to their parallel symbolic connection with Saddle Arabian origins.  But humans in Equestrian stories are far different than those in Saddle Arabian myths."

"But, Miss Cheerilee, what do these humans have to do with that bottle you brought?" Sweetie Belle asked.  Apple Bloom was starting to get interested.

"Good question, Sweetie Belle!  I'm getting there!  But, to understand that, we must first take a journey back to the unification of the Three Pony Tribes!" she trailed off.

"You are all familiar with the founding of Equestria, are you not?" she asked, and when she got a plethora of nods, she continued.

"Well, after the Three Pony Tribes united themselves, it wasn't like Equestria just became the magical, harmonious place we know it as today.  But, in those early years after the founding of Equestria, there were struggles.  The environment was harsh, and ponies didn't always have the easiest of times trying to make a life for themselves..." she paused, allowing the students to sink in the information.

"During these rough times, the ponies of early Equestria would often create colorful characters and fantastical creatures based on the harshness of their lives and over what they thought they saw within the harsh environment of early Equestria.  One such creature was the human..."

"The human was a spirit with phenomenal cosmic power who supposedly was bound within one of these decorative bottles or lamps, and would appear in front of unsuspecting ponies.  The pony who picked up the lamp and summoned the human would be its master, who would bestow upon the pony three wishes..."

At this point, the entire class was interested.

"Wait, wishes.  So if you found a human, you could wish for anything?" Diamond Tiara asked.  "You could even wish for all the money in the world!?" the rich filly prodded, in awe and wonder over what that meant.

"Yes.  In theory.  Though I would like each and every one of you to remember that humans are a completely fictional race.  There is no archaeological evidence for their existence outside of artwork and stories..."

The rest of the class was muttering to themselves, and even Apple Bloom was very interesting in the discussing.  Her big sister had never told her of any "human" before, but if she found a human, she could conceivably wish for anything!  Even her cutie mark!

"Um, Miss Cheerilee, what exactly does a human look like?  Is is pony-like?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Cheerilee smiled at her student, before she trotted over to an oversized notebook that was on display in the middle of the room.  Using her muzzle, she flipped open the notebook, coming to a blown-up picture of what apparently was a human.

The class' eyes widened when they set eyes upon the wooden carving of what seemed to be a vaguely ape-like creature.  The carving from relatively crude, but it did show something akin to the bottle that Cheerilee had brought into the class.  The human was apparently rising out of the bottle, its ghostly tail connecting its body to the lamp.  Other than that tail, the students eyes were also drawn to the apparent shackles that were bound on its wrist, crudely carved into the wood.

"As you can see, this interpretation of a human looks nothing like a pony, though in more recent times there has been art of humans looking like this.  This is the common interpretation of the Pre-Celestian era in Equestria..."

Apple Bloom was interested by the blown-picture of the wood carving, but her mind was still buzzing over what Miss Cheerilee had told her.  The fact that humans granted wishes.  Apparently, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were thinking the same thing.

"Hey, blank flanks..." Apple Bloom heard Diamond Tiara whisper to her.  A cocky, taunting smirk was on her muzzle.  "Maybe you can find one of these humans and make him give you your cutie marks..." she taunted.

Apple Bloom sighed, trying not to let the bully's taunt get to her.  Too bad the mythical humans didn't even exist...