Deep within the basement of the Ponyville library, a mare sat hunched over a work desk, horn glowing with energy. Around her, in a cacophony of production, various books and pieces of stray equipment laid. She was focusing on a cylindrical piece of metal, no bigger than the horn on her head, with a small protrusion on one of the ends. It was split cleanly down the middle, with a small, spherical reservoir in the middle. Straining herself, a small orb of magic began to form in the hole.
After a short period of time, her horn’s glow faded, but the ethereal pool of energy still remained in the middle of the device. Quickly, she snapped the two halves together and held her breath. A second passed, then another.
On the third, the device as a whole began to glow. Dark magenta magic flowed through small lines carved all around the metal, giving the object a uniform glow. Letting out her breath in a sigh, she brought over another tube-like contraption. She slipped the glowing object into the tube, then twisted the tube’s cap.
There was a button which she tentatively pressed, as if she were unsure of what would happen. To the mare’s surprise, the wider end of the device began to shine brightly, sending out a cone of white light. It took several moments to register, but when it did, she beamed almost as brightly as the flashlight she had just created.
“It works. It actually works!” she exclaimed, jumping up and flashing the light around in triumph. After another few moments of playing with it, a sudden realization hit her. “Oh gosh, I should tell Spike!” With that, she clicked the button again and headed up the stairs.
“Spike!” she called, reaching the main floor of the library. As usual, her assistant was never where she wanted him to be. “Spi~ke!” she called again, eliciting a muffled protest from upstairs. Twilight rolled her eyes as she went up another set of stairs and into her bedroom.
“Spike, how can you be napping at a time like this?”
“Because this is when I always go to bed?” the dragon questioned, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He gave an irritated frown and pointed at the window. “In case you didn’t notice, it’s night.”
Twilight blinked several times. “Oh. Well in that case, sorry. But this is important!”
“Can’t it just wait until morning?” Spike asked, flopping back down into a comfortable position.
“Not when it’s a groundbreaking new discovery!” Twilight said, walking over to the dragon. “Here, try this out.” She took the flashlight and floated it into his claw.
He grabbed it, then sat up again with a groan. Spike looked over the device, turning it in his hands and looking at it in various ways. He then turned to Twilight. “Uh, what is it?”
Twilight giggled. “Push the button, silly.”
“Oh, alright.” He did as instructed, and in a moments notice he was blinded by a stream of light. With a yelp, he dropped the flashlight and covered his eyes. “You could have just told me it was a flashlight!”
The unicorn tapped a hoof in thought. “Well, yes, but that’s not the important part.”
“Then what is?” Spike cracked an eye open slightly, looking up to Twilight.
“It’s not enchanted!” she replied, proudly.
“Huh?”
“It’s not enchanted. Nopony put a spell on this to make it light up.”
Spike picked up the flashlight and looked over it again, clicking the button a few times. “Oh, well that’s kinda neat, I guess.”
A few moments of silence passed between them before Twilight cleared her throat and said “Don’t you want to know how it works?”
“Sure?”
“Excellent!” she exclaimed, clopping her forehooves together in excitement. She took the flashlight and unscrewed the end, allowing the device she had created earlier to fall out. “It works because of this.”
“And uh... what is ‘this’?” Spike asked, taking hold of the contraption.
“That, my dear Spike, is a magical energy containment cell, or, a MECC. It can hold magic to be used with other objects that accept magical energies and charges.”
“So... you can use this magic... thingie...”
“MECC,” Twilight quickly corrected. Spike simply rolled his eyes.
“This MECC to... act like a unicorn? And make things work that normally require magic?”
“Yep! That’s precisely it.” She looked over the device, studying it’s every aspect. “With something like this, pegasi and earth ponies will be able to do anything a unicorn can! Just think about it, Spike. An Equestria where Applejack can levitate the fruits of an entire orchard by herself, or where Rainbow Dash can finally repair her own magic items.”
“That’s pretty great, Twi,” Spike said, with a yawn escaping his mouth. “What are you gonna call... well, the rest of it? Or maybe this kind of stuff as a whole?”
Twilight rubbed her chin momentarily. “Well, it’s like a fusion between magic and technology. Technomagic?” She let the idea hang in the air for a bit. “No, that’s too long... Magicology?”
Spike shook his head and collapsed back down into his bed. “You’re no good with names, Twi.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“Hmm...” He brought his blanket over him and shuffled around in his bed. “I’d call it... Magitech. Yeah, that sounds cool.”
“Magitech? I like that. Magitech it is!” She ruffled Spike’s spines and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, Spike.”
Spike grunted. “Yeah, yeah, don’t mention it. Now can I please go to bed?”
Twilight giggled, then started walking towards the door. “Yes, yes. Goodnight, Spike.” He uttered a reply which Twilight couldn’t catch on her way out. She was too busy focusing on the work she still needed to do. On the way down the stairs, she smiled.
“Heh... Magitech.”