Equestria, Ponyville
Castle of Friendship

11:06 PM

Princess Twilight Sparkle didn't really stay up this late on weekdays. However, tonight was an exception. She had ignored her royal paperwork to spend time with her friends today, and she was paying the price at the moment.

"Twi?"

She turned to see Spike walk downstairs, wearing a miniature bathrobe.

"You still up?" he asked.

"I'm fine, Spike." she said. "This paperwork won't finish itself."

Spike sighed, knowing how much Twilight obsessed over finishing her work properly.

"Twi, go to bed." Spike advised. "It'll be here in the morning, and besides, you look like you haven't slept in days.

Twilight did hear his words, and she let loose a yawn.

"Point taken." she said. "Alright, I'll get to bed."

Spike nodded approvingly, and he headed back upstairs. As Twilight made sure he was out of sight and earshot, she quietly resumed her work. As she continued to look over the plans and itinerary she had set up, Spike called from upstairs, like a frustrated parent.

"Twilight, for Celestia's sake, go to sleep!"

"Alright!" Twilight rolled her eyes, like the unwilling child of the aforementioned frustrated parent. Setting her work aside, she reluctantly left her desk and headed upstairs to bed. Huffing at Spike's expression of "I caught you", she collapsed into her four-poster bed.

"Twilight?"

"Yes?" she said to Spike.

"You go back downstairs once I'm asleep, I'm not making you breakfast." Spike said from the doorway. "You need sleep, badly."

"Fine, fine."

As Twilight closed her eyes, she fell asleep almost instantly. Spike rolled his own eyes, knowing how much of a workaholic Twilight was. As he headed into his own room, he hopped into bed and was soon asleep himself.

====

As the sun rose and Twilight woke up, she did feel significantly more refreshed. As she went downstairs, Spike looked over at her from the stove.

"Morning." he said. "What did I tell you? The paperwork is still there, right where you left it."

"That's not what I'm worried about." she replied, sitting down. "I just wanted to finish it on time."

"That's an understatement to end them all." Spike muttered.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Nothing!"

As Spike served her a plate of eggs and hay bacon, Twilight ate at a refined pace while Spike dove into his own breakfast with ferocity.

"Geez, Spike, slow down." she said. "You're eating like a maniac."

"Says the pony who would stay up all night doing paperwork." Spike snorted. "Twilight, I'll be fine."

"Oh, that's coming from the dragon who spent the entirety of yesterday reading comics instead of the chores I asked him to do!" Twilight replied.

"I thought you said I deserved a day off!" Spike retorted.

"Yeah, after your chores were done." Twilight responded. Spike was about to reply when their stomachs let out a rumble at the same time. As the two of them looked at each other, then began to laugh, Twilight sighed.

"Okay, let's just forget that happened." she said. "Let's eat."

"Sure thing."

As Twilight finished her breakfast and looked over her itinerary for the day, Spike looked up.

"Anything good?" he asked her.

"Just a few small things." Twilight replied. "We'll be free from 11 onwards if we're lucky. Come on, let's go find the girls."

As the two of them headed outside, Spike suddenly got the feeling he was being watched. Turning around to survey the area, he saw nothing but air. As he ran to catch up with Twilight, a gust of wind blew past, stirring the leaves.

====
Earth, United States, North Carolina

Fort Bragg, Office of Colonel Scott Mitchell

As the sun rose over North Carolina, Scott Mitchell sat in his chair, looking over data on his laptop. Hunter Team had just dismantled the Raven's Rock faction in Russia, and returned relative peace to the region.

Relative being the key word in that statement. The international fallout was still coming down all around. Raven's Rock still had international connections, and unraveling them all was still a job that needed done.

Scott Mitchell was left to finish that job, which brought him to his current position. Then, an alert appeared on his laptop.

"Hmm." he murmured, looking over the notification. "I suppose I can take a break for this."

As he headed out of his office and towards the airstrip, a Blackhawk Helicopter landed in front of him, with four men in fatigues disembarking with duffel bags at the ready.

"Gentlemen, welcome to Fort Bragg." Mitchell said.

"Good to be here, sir." the point man said."Captain Matthew Gates, Aegis Team Lead."

"Aegis Team?" Mitchell said, with rare surprise. "I've seen your files, and heard good things."

"Honored." Staff Sergeant Thomas Sipes said, coming forward. "Shall we be off?"

"Let's." Mitchell said as the five men entered the darkened mess hall. As Sergeants James Trevor and Caleb Adams retrieved a case of beer, Mitchell, Gates, and Sipes sat down.

"So far, you've impressed me." Mitchell said as the men sat down. "Cheers to that."

"Cheers."

As the men drank, Mitchell's cell phone began to ring.

"Excuse me, gents." he said, stepping away. As Castle Team waited, they could overhear a few things, mostly profanity and exclamations of disbelief. As Mitchell came back in, he swore rather loudly.

"What's wrong, sir?" Gates asked.

"We've just received word of an attack on the UN in Manhattan." Mitchell said. "Five simultaneous blasts, at least half of the complex is now rubble."

"Any survivors?" Gates asked.

"Negative as of now." Mitchell said.

As the Ghosts stood up in shock, Travis cursing under his breath, Mitchell continued in a dark voice.

"I've got good news and bad news for you, if you see it that way." he said. "You four are taking orders from me now. Bad news is that you're getting an IOU on your official welcome. Get kitted up, you're going to Manhattan to provide backup. I'll show you to the armory."

As the four Ghosts nodded, Mitchell led them to the base's weapons depot. As the Ghosts strapped on their gear and loaded their weapons, Sipes frowned.

"Something wrong, Staff Sergeant?" Mitchell asked.

"Anyone claim responsibility?" he replied.

"Negative as well, but we'll find out soon enough." Mitchell sighed. "Get moving, Blackhawk's taking us to a Carrier en route to New York. We'll get more details there. Situation's still developing, but we've got a job to do."

"Yes, sir."

As the five men exited the base and boarded the helicopter, the stars faded from the night sky.

Author's Note

Yep, a crossover with both Future Soldier and Wildlands. Expect El Sueno to show up, along with Nomad and crew.

Next time-The Ghosts arrive in New York.

EDITS 4-19-19 Changed "Castle" to "Aegis", and continuity fixes.