The lush plains of Ponyville spread out for the world to see as banners hung with care gently blew in the wind, welcoming the human ambassadors for the meeting of peace between the two worlds that would unfold. Equestria had come far since its wars and struggles against both griffon and zebra, finally breaking down their barriers and accepting each other with open arms. The sight was grand as more of the town slowly shown itself, smooth stone buildings with glass windows reaching for the sky, artificial light poles dimming and shutting off as the sun began to rise in the horizon, many homes and apartments splashed across the city.
The beauty of it all from further away made the earth pony, Gauge Blackwood, smile as he watched the town he loved from the sky above. As if from nowhere, a sudden explosion went off, destroying Ponyville and blinding Gauge as he began to fall down into a dark pit. His mouth opened up to scream as his eyes shot open.
Shocked and sitting upright in his bed, his breath came in short bursts as he attempted to calm down. He was still here, in his bed, in his apartment, in Ponyville. His hooves pressed into his eyes as he brushed away some of the crumbs that had gathered before seeing his bedside video-phone was going off. Pressing the button to accept the call, the dull grey screen lit up the dark room further and made Gauge shield his eyes for a moment.
"Hey, Gauge, you going to wake up at any time?" he heard a rather chipper female voice say.
Lowering his hooves, his eyes were greeted to see Agent 7 on the line, a fine female unicorn that could show off her curves as well as her deadly spells and athletics. "Do I have to?" Gauge grumbled, still trying to force himself from falling back onto his pillow.
Agent 7 looked over Gauge in worry, "You look terrible, another one of those nightmares?"
Gauge placed hooves on both sides of his head and twisted gently, waiting for his neck to pop. "I blame, GUH, Luna." With his neck popped, he breathed in the stale air of his bedroom. He kept the bedroom cleaned... relatively. The occasional tossed book or crumpled can remained on the floor, but he would get to those in time. "What's with the call?"
Agent 7 gave a surprised and angry huff, "You don't remember? You're supposed to be relieving me from guard duty!"
Gauge got up from his bed and flipped a switch in the room. Additional light came in and blinded him again, making him audibly moan as his eyes continued to adjust. "I thought we had the peace conference to go to."
Agent 7 continued watching Gauge as he rummaged through some of his clothing. "We do, but not you. You were the unlucky one that drew the short straw."
Gauge found his neuro-ocular prosthesis and put it on, covering his right eye. The eyepiece suddenly lit up as it went through a mandatory boot-up sequence. "The game was rigged, I saw the look on 19," Gauge continued, now trying to find a decent shirt.
"You suggested the game, its your own fault for losing it," Agent 7 flatly responded. "You're going to be late again, aren't you?"
"I'm not going to be late!" Gauge yelled out from behind his shirt prison, struggling to find where he needed to stick his head in. "I'll be right on time!"
Agent 7 looked away from the screen to her right and gave a pout, "You'd better, what would this make it, 5th time?"
Gauge finally popped his head out of the shirt, "4th, that last one was unwarranted."
Agent 7 looked back into the screen at Gauge, "Just, please, don't waste any time before getting here, Chief is already on edge as it is."
Gauge got in front of the video-phone and grinned, "Not a problem, see you at 0700."
Gauge shut the video-phone off and quickly went to his bathroom mirror and checked to see if he needed a shave. Gauge was a rather nondescript pony in his mind, a blue-green coat with bright orange eyes, a cutie mark of a tic-tac-toe game with the winning move being a third circle outside of the traditional square. His eyepiece finally booted up, his AI facing him as it spoke.
"Good morning, Gauge, your neuro-ocular prosthesis has recently received an update to its security protocol, forcing a mandatory systems check." The AI calmly spoke.
Gauge groaned as the eyepiece continued, gripping onto his card keyring which included his transport card, debit card, and a miniature flashlight, before walking out. The energy gauge and warning lights went off as Gauge walked through the apartment hallways on the fourth floor.
"The energy warning light is operational," The AI flatly spoke. "The energy level counter is at 100 percent." The AI opened up a window, showing what Gauge was carrying with him. "You have, one card keyring, in your inventory." The AI continued as Gauge pressed the button to summon the elevator.
"Scrolling through the biochip display panel," the AI continued as the hum of the elevator was heard. "You have the AI biochip installed."
Gauge tapped a hoof as the elevator rose up, its on-board system systematically counting upwards. "Second Floor... Third Floor... Fourth Floor" Gauge prepared to step forward when the elevator reached his floor, but saw it continue up with a passenger. "Roof Access."
"Initiating self-diagnosis of on-board Artificial Intelligence," the AI continued on in Gauge's ear, only adding to his impatience as he heard the elevator above him open and then close. "AI unit is fully operational. Agent 5, you are due for your shift at the Temporal Security Annex, recommend departure, soon."
The elevator finally came down to his floor as he stepped in and pressed the button to go to the lobby. He leaned against the elevator wall and sighed, still feeling tired, despite his efforts to remain awake. "Another grain bar and coffee for breakfast," he mumbled. "I really need to get a food dispenser one of these days..."
The elevator reached the lobby floor and opened its doors. Gauge walked out, seeing no one else around, obviously either still asleep or all crowding into transports of their own to attend the peace conference. He meekly pulled his debit card out and swiped it at the snack stand, waiting for the green light to let him know that he can purchase food. The green light went off and Gauge picked a sweetened Grain Bar, watching the device give a minor hum before plopping the treat in front of him. Taking the bar and biting into it, Gauge then made a swipe at the drink stand with his card and got a simple black coffee, only hoping that it would let his eyelids open up a little more.
The quick breakfast eaten and his coffee downed, Gauge finally approached the Global Transport pod as it opened up and revealed a seat for him to sit down on. Getting as comfortable as he could, the chair moved back and the pod closed, a screen revealing itself as a deep voice asked him "Please enter your Global Transport card, now."
Gauge brought up his inventory screen and summoned his card keyring to his hoof. With a flip, the keycard came out and Gauge swiped it into the card reader.
"Choose a destination," the pod asked politely. The screen gave him a few options of viable choices; Manehattan, Griffon Kingdom, Baltimare, Las Pegasus, and finally his workplace, the TSA. With little hesitation, Gauge chose TSA and waited for the pod to do its thing.
"Preparing destination transporter," the pod began. "Recording passenger's organic substratum, prepare for molecular disintegration."
The feeling was still unnerving as could be for Gauge, even if the process had been tested and proven to not to cause errors, the fact that he could still feel his body go entirely numb and then feel it again after appearing in an entirely different area was still creepy.
"I don't get how unicorns are able to be so comfortable with that," he thought to himself as the transport pod opened up, showing the entrance to the Temporal Security Annex. Stepping out of the pod and onto the active walkway, a red laser wall began swirling around him, scanning for anything out of the ordinary with him. Reaching the door with the TSA symbol on it, Gauge pressed the top circle, revealing a hidden screen.
Gauge put his face up to the screen as it began scanning his face. "Please hold for ID check," the door AI asked. "Scanning, verification of central cortex. Scanning for Biotech implant. Identification confirmed, welcome Agent 5. Your 4th late arrival has been verified and logged."
The screen shut off and the door opened, revealing Agent 7 on the other side, an upset look on her face. Agent 7 looked serious in her TSA uniform, covered in black with her name tag just saying 'Agent 7' on the front. Her light purple face and hazel eyes would only look better if she was smiling. "If I miss the first Equestrian encounter with an alien race, I'm going to throttle you"
She pushed past Gauge toward the Global Transport pod as Gauge looked back. "But I wasn't late!"
"Not according to this thing we call a clock!" Agent 7 yelled back before she entered the pod and shut it.
Gauge gave a weak sigh as he stepped into the TSA building.
"Welcome, Agent 5," one of the security robots called out. The robots were much larger than average pony size and were equipped with weapons that would wipe you off the face of the planet forever.
"Don't welcome him, stay focused on the entrance," the second robot snipped at his partner.
"I am," the first robot stated. "Can't I welcome somepony to work without being rudely yelled at?"
The robots continued their bickering at the entrance way as Gauge made his way to the Command Center and entered. In the room sat the hub of the TSA, surrounded by screens and at its center a surprisingly comfy chair. Moving around the computers and sitting in the chair, a message from Chief came up.
"So, you finally decided to make it into work," Chief gruffly criticized. The earth pony, Chief, was much older than Gauge, but had him beat in height and muscle. His once brown coat was turning lighter in color, but his steel-grey eyes remained just as cold as his young years. "Only 32 minutes late, this time."
"Chief, I'm not that-" Gauge began speaking before looking over to the clock beside him and seeing it reading 7:32. "Apparently I am that late."
"Obviously you think TSA rules don't apply to you," Chief continued as Gauge looked back at him. "Well, you are WRONG!" Chief bashed a hoof into his desk in the video and began snorting loudly. "AS. OF. NOW. YOU ARE GROUNDED! One week of reviewing data cleanup work in the Command Center! You can start by reviewing TSA agent procedures!" Another pound of the hoof and more snorting followed before he continued, "Get to work, you lazy sack of sh-!"
The message cut out as Gauge leaned back into his chair. He really did it this time. With that, Gauge had no choice but to look over the TSA Operations Review fully, something he hadn't done since he began working here.
***
"No wonder why I didn't watch these again, they're duuuuuulllllll!" Gauge moaned, listening to the AI go through everything he was already aware of. If an event in the past is changed, it causes a time shift throughout the time line. If he is seen in the past or is interacted with, he could also affect the time line as well. Whatever you do, don't acknowledge the princesses or their enemies. "They could do with some visual graphics instead of this dumb AI face."
His review was cut short as a loud blaring noise and blinking orange lights went off around him, causing him to jump back and tumble out of the chair. "Warning! Warning! Temporal rip has been detected! The alert status is now set to Alpha."
Uprighting the chair and getting back on, a call from the Chief came up. Gauge answered it to see Chief trying his best to maintain composure. "My... Celestia, its finally happened. And you... YOU on duty!" Chief brought his hoof up and over his mane, trying to straighten it as he began hyperventilating. "Everything depends on you, Ponyville, Equestria, the entire world, all on you!"
"Wait, why can't any of the other agents get here?" Gauge asked. "There has to be someone who isn't... grounded."
"DON'T-!" Chief exclaimed before stopping himself. "Don't try this with me, Agent 5. Just, get to the Ready Room and grab your gear."
Gauge gave a nod and rushed out of the Command Center, barely hitting the opposite wall as he attempted to gain traction again. He passed by the two robot guards at the entrance way, both still bickering with each other.
"-and now he's feeling rushed and anxious, all because you snipped at me!" he heard one robot explain.
"It's the Alpha alert that's causing that, not-" he heard from the other robot before he was too far ahead.
Another slide on the floor and Gauge reached the Ready Room door. The room opened and revealed a small room, with a section for assigned mission biochips and another section for suiting up. Gauge opened the biochip section and quickly inserted both chips into his eyepiece, a mapping biochip to help find his way around areas he had explored before, and a Pegasus chip, granting him access to the time machine that he now had to use.
Gauge moved to the biosuit generator and stepped inside, allowing the system to scan his body for correct measurements. With only a few more scans later, he was encapsulated in a biosuit that would keep his body from being aged in any form during time travel and would help with keeping away any sicknesses that may be around when he traveled.
Pressing a button in the biosuit generator, the platform he stood on began to descend to Pegasus. Pegasus looked unlike other time machines. It didn't travel with you, instead it physically sent you out into the past and tethered you to the present. His first mission was to go back in time to where the TSA hid the historical log, a time that could never be affected by pony presence or time distortions, the age of the dragons.
It was common knowledge that dragons practically ruled the world for the longest time, until a freak incident with a crashing meteor eliminated most of them, leaving the world to redevelop itself. In turn, this same meteor in regards for the time line would eliminate the historical log, never being revealed for the later generations of ponydom. Gauge approached Pegasus with respect, he had only seen it from above, looking down at it from the railing of the compound, but now he stood in front of the door that would let him go to whatever time he wanted. Such power had to be respected and admired, even if it came from a machine.
Gauge entered Pegasus and stood at the ready as the door shut behind him. Lights and multiple screens revealing information about the time rip revealed themselves as a compartment opened nearby, revealing the Journeymare Key. Taking the key and placing it into his inventory, Gauge felt the rumble of Pegasus warming up as the Chief appeared onscreen.
"Gauge," Chief began, still attempting to remain calm. "I need to remind you that the world has only one hope, its you." His eyes shut as he took a breath to calm himself. "I can only hope that the TSA building will remain here when you come back with the historical log." Gauge watched as Chief raised a hoof in salute to him, "Good luck, Agent 5."
The feed ended as Pegasus was ready to send Gauge back in time. Gauge set the machine for 200 million B.C and hovered a hoof over the button which would send him hurdling through space and time. With a gulp, Gauge pressed the button and felt everything began spinning, faster and faster as the pull began to occur. Gauge had found a worse way of traveling than by Global Transport as he felt energy crackle around him, the sight of multiple colors from events in the beyond making him nearly gag. His hooves found ground again as he looked around.
The wild life of the plants and noises of the animals told Gauge that he definitely wasn't at home here. He walked the straight path that was set for him and the other agents when they would arrive and quickly ducked into a rock when he heard a loud call from above. Keeping in his cover, he watched a beaked dragon with large wings, but very small body and legs, soar over him.
"Warning, you are currently in an area with multiple carnivorous creatures, please exercise caution." Gauge's AI mentioned as he moved from his hiding spot.
"Like I wasn't aware," Gauge mumbled now moving slower to make sure nothing would catch him off guard like that again. After a moment of searching around the large gorge, he found the symbol of the TSA and pressed it, activating a system of gears that made the symbol push back and move aside, revealing the lock for the historical log. For the longest time, Equestria relied on books and paper for storing information, but the scientific genius of many ponies led to the creation of storing data on disks that could easily hold millions upon millions of books.
Placing the Journeymare Key into its slot and twisting the knob, Gauge stepped back as the key began spinning and twisting around for a moment before it stopped. Taking the key out of its position, the steel wall was easily moved with a slide. Gauge carefully pulled the disk from its spot and placed it into his inventory. "Time to head back and see what changed," Gauge said to himself as he activated his Pegasus chip, sending him forward in time, back to his present time of 2318.