//------------------------------//
// The Watch Box 
// Story: My Little Nightmares 
// by A Winters Rose 
//------------------------------//

A little girl in a yellow raincoat stared down at the black void, watching a dark speck quickly fall from her vision. The speck was her friend, once. But not anymore. He would likely be dead once he reaches the bottom of whatever this place was. She didn't care.

Without a second thought, she turned around on the walkway, facing the glaring static of what she compared to the televisions. Her way out.

She walked slowly forward to the exit, shielding her eyes from the increasingly glaring view of the static, feeling the remains of the path crumble and fall to the abyss behind her. She didn't look back.





The sun shone brightly overhead, casting a warm glow over the peaceful town of Ponyville. The air was filled with the sweet scent of blooming flowers and the gentle hum of ponies going about their daily routines. And things were no different for  the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle. Amidst shelves stacked high with dusty tomes and scattered scrolls, Twilight stood engrossed in her latest experiment. A tangle of wires, circuit boards, and copper coils littered the workbench before her, as she tinkered with an unusual contraption.

Just as Twilight was about to connect a delicate wire to a gleaming metal box, a gentle voice interrupted her concentration. "Hey, Twilight, what's going on? You've been cooped up in here for hours." Spike, Twilight's faithful assistant and friend, peeked into the room, his scales glinting in the soft light that her horn emitted. He looked on in curiosity as he took in the scattering of electronics and diagrams strewn about the room.

Twilight carefully set aside the wire, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Ah, Spike! Come see what I'm working on. It's going to revolutionize the way we consume information in Equestria!" She beckoned Spike closer, her voice barely containing her enthusiasm.

Spike's eyes widened as he approached the workbench, taking in the array of components and diagrams scattered before him. "What is this thing, Twilight? It looks like a cross between a crystal radio and a magical artifact!" He pointed a claw at the metal box, adorned with glowing runes and a small, glass screen.

Twilight beamed with pride. "This, Spike, is a television! Or, as I like to call it, the 'Watch Box'. It's a prototype from a new company called New-Tech Industries. They asked for my help in testing it, and I couldn't resist the opportunity to explore this innovative technology." She turned on device, and the room was filled with a soft hum as the Watch Box sprang to life.

Spike's eyes grew even wider as he watched the screen flicker, displaying a test pattern of colorful shapes and patterns. "Cool! How does it work?"

Twilight's horn glowed with excitement. "The Watch Box runs on magic to produce animated images, Spike! It's an incredible feat of engineering. Just imagine being able to share knowledge, entertain, and connect with ponies all over Equestria like a Radio, but with visuals!" She stepped back, admiring her handiwork, as the Watch Box continued to hum along, its magic resonating through the air. "I'm actually trying to figure out a spell to copy creative thoughts, or even dreams, into a disk which can be saved and played back whenever you want. We got the theory down, but in practice its a bit difficult."

As Twilight continued to marvel at the Watch Box's test pattern, she began to sense a faint, unusual magic interference. It was a subtle, almost imperceptible drain on the ambient magic in the room. At first, she thought it was just the device's natural magical resonance, but as she focused her attention, she realized it was something more. The magic was being siphoned off, slowly but surely.

Twilight's curiosity got the better of her. She decided to experiment, pouring a small amount of her own magic into the Watch Box, trying to compensate for the mysterious drainage. The hum of the device grew slightly louder, and the test pattern on the screen began to shift, as if responding to her magic. The princess's horn glowed softly as she monitored the flow of magic, intrigued by this unexpected development.

Twilight's eyes widened in alarm as she realized that her attempt to compensate for the magic drainage had only made things worse. The interference grew stronger, and the hum of the Watch Box increased in intensity. The test pattern on the screen began to warp and distort, as if the device was feeding off her magic like a ravenous beast.

She tried to cut off the flow of magic, but it was too late. The device had already developed a momentum of its own, drawing in her magic at an alarming rate. Twilight's horn glowed bright red as she struggled to regain control, but it was like trying to hold back a torrent of water. The room began to feel heavy with magic, the air thickening with an almost palpable energy.

"Uh, Twilight? Is that supposed to happen?"

"Spike, stay back!" Twilight warned, her voice sharp with concern. She raised a hoof, and a shimmering barrier of magic erupted around the room, a last-ditch effort to contain the escalating situation. The air seemed to vibrate with the pressure, and Twilight's heart raced with the fear of a magical explosion.

Just as she thought the situation couldn't get any more dire, a sudden shift rocked the room. The drainage of magic seemed to stabilize, and Twilight sensed a strange, unfamiliar connection – a link to somewhere else, she could sense a direction, but at least it wasn't here. Her eyes locked onto the Watch Box, and a plan formed in her mind. She would try to redirect the magic drainage into this mysterious link, hoping to prevent a catastrophic release of energy.

With a deep breath, Twilight focused her magic, redirecting the unpredictable energy into the mysterious link. The room seemed to hold its breath as the magic surged, and then, miraculously, the drainage slowed, finally coming under her control. The hum of the Watch Box ceased, and the test pattern on the screen flickered back to a standstill.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, her horn dimming as the magical tension in the room dissipated. She turned off the Watch Box, her hooves shaking slightly as she detached the device from the magical leash she had created, turning it off in the process. Spike, who had been watching in stunned silence, approached her cautiously.

"Twilight, what in the world just happened?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

Twilight's expression was a mixture of bewilderment and curiosity. "I have no idea, Spike. But one thing is certain – I have a lot more research to do than I initially thought." She gazed at the Watch Box, her mind already racing with theories and hypotheses.

After a minute or two to calm down, she looked over the Watch Box for any damages, and sure enough, there was a crack in the screen. Chuckling softly out of nervousness, she levitated the Watch Box and packed up the rest of the equipment. She would be bringing it back to the New-Tech center for repairs. "And I just got this from them, hopefully they won't be too mad."

Twilight thought about what had happened once more, but she was at a loss. She decided to put this event to further study after it is repaired on her checklist.

And with that, she walked out of the room, Watch Box in tow.





Steel Score trotted down the halls, heading towards his office. He wore a white lab coat along with black protective hoofwear. On the front of his coat resided a gold nametag that read "Director Steel Score".

He passed many ponies wearing similar attire, as was required by standard procedure - procedure that was set by himself of course. The only ones who stood out were those wearing the black and blue security barding. Instead of a nametag, they wore a smaller badge of the New-Tech Industries logo. And one such pony was headed straight for him.

"Good morning, Director! Here are the incident reports for the past week, as requested." The security pony spoke, showing the related documents he was carrying.

Steel sighed, pressing his hoof to his eyes in annoyance. "Strong Hoof, I thought I told you to put any and all papers on my desk. That means everything, including incident reports. I told you this last time."

Strong Hoof coughed into his hoof. "Uh, yeah. My bad."

Steel levitated the papers anyway and continued on his way. "For the love of Celestia, at least try to listen next time." He said without looking back. "I swear, I'm surrounded by idiots."

Finally reaching his destination, and having glared at one too many ponies for standing in his way, Steel released his magical hold on the papers on his desk and let out a sigh in the comfort of his chair.

And then the intercom on his desk went off.

"Director Steel Score, Princess Twilight Sparkle just dropped off the Watch Box for repairs, said she damaged it on accident." A bored sounding voice reached his ears.

"Oh for the love of-" Steel growled as he scooted over to reach the intercom, before pressing it. "Well then get somepony to fix it. I'll have the Princess pick it up later."

With that out of the way, Steel slumped back in his chair. "Damaged the Watch Box... wonderful. Simply wonderful." Steel sighed and rested his chin on his hoof. This was going to be another long day.





A lone pony walking down the hall was whistling a marry tune while holding the Watch Box in a blue magical glow. He saw nopony else as he made his way past multiple doors with various signs, few were allowed in this section except for specifically selected researchers for various projects that were in the works.

He finally reached his destination, stopping in front of a door not different from any other in the hall. The sign above the door simply read "Project #6".

He unlocked the door with his master key card and stepped inside briefly to levitate the box on the floor next to a few storage crates. And with that, he turned to leave and closed the door behind him.

The pony paused for a second, and looked back, confused. He could have sword he heard an echo when the door closed shut, was that always the case?

He shrugged, and continued on his way. He had other things to do.

As the pony walked further out of sight, the Watch Box suddenly came back to life with loud static, but only for a moment. The cracks grew, and the screen shattered into many pieces only seconds later.





And another long day it was. The director, with tired eyes, looked at the pony who brought the news that would only make his day much more difficult. "What do you mean, shattered?! I said have it repaired, repaired! That's the complete opposite from being repaired!"

"W-well, it was intentional, smashed by a no good criminal who snuck in, I assure you! We have the pony responsible in holding as we speak. They are... unconscious."

The director could only sigh in exasperation. "Ugh... who is responsible? The princess will be very unhappy when she hears of this."

The security pony shifted nervously. "A... filly. In a yellow raincoat."

The director's staring caused the security pony to feel rather uncomfortable. 

"I'm sorry... what?"