As Gates and his team seated themselves in the Castle Library, Twilight brought over a stack of heavy, leather-bound books.

"What's all that for?" Sipes asked.

"It's all of the most comprehensive information we have on humanity." Twilight replied. "I figured you could help me with some fact-checking, if you're so inclined…"

"We've got time." Gates said, opening one of the books. "Colonel?'

"If it helps further establish friendly relations, do it." Mitchell replied. "We've also made progress on our end regarding the attacker's identities.'

"Roger, keep us posted." Gates said.

"I will. Overlord out."

As the Ghosts and Twilight, now aided by the CMC, sorted through the books, they didn't notice Applejack approach the castle through the window.

====

Applejack had to admit one thing about her younger sister, she was elusive. She had been looking for Applebloom for an hour now, and still no sign of her yet. Applejack had told her many times to stay out of the barn when it wasn't cider season, yet it seems Applebloom needed another reminder of that.

As Applejack entered Twilight's castle, she saw the three fillies looking over some thick books through a door.

"Applebloom!" she called, causing her sister and her friends to jump. "What have I told you about the barn when it's not cider season?"

As she stormed into the room, oblivious to the astonished Ghosts sitting on her left, Applebloom started to shiver.

"You stay out?" she said meekly.

"And what did you do?" Applejack added..

"We went in." Applebloom said. "But we had a good reason!"

"I don't care!" Applejack said. "You stay out of the barn when it's not Cider Season! Why would you go in there even though I've told you this?"

"Ghosts." Scootaloo said.

"Ghosts?" Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Like in Granny Smith's stories?"

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle said. "We met four of them!"

"Now you're crazy." Applejack said flatly. "Ghosts aren't real."

"We're real." Gates said, breaking into the conversation. "And we're right next to you."

As Applejack turned to the left, she yelped in fright and took a low fighting stance, as the Ghosts went for their sidearms.

"Applejack, please!" Twilight said. "They're my guests!"

That made Applejack stand up, though she did so with caution.

"What were you doing in our barn?" she asked.

"Resting." Gates said. "If we did any damage or harm, we apologize. Though, did we break anything, Applebloom?"

"Nope." Applebloom said.

Applejack looked away,

"Okay, fine." she said. "Applebloom, you're off the hook. Just...keep what I told you in mind, okay?"

As the CMC nodded, Applejack sat down across from the Ghosts.

"So…" she said.

"Yeah…" Gates added, as neither side was sure where to begin talking.

"I guess I should say I'm sorry?" Applejack asked.

"Maybe." Gates said. "Anyway...can we get back to work on the problem at hand?"

"Oh, right!" Twilight says as the en-masse shuffling of pages resumed again. "Have you found anything?"

"Not yet." Trevor said. "All this crap, it's like trying to read a business contract."

"Well, most of it is speculative." Twilight said.

"And the rest of it is completely wrong." Gates added. "Like it says here that we're 11 hooves tall on average, with an average weight of over 500 pounds. What kind of bullshit is that?"

"Not something I'd read, that's for sure." Sipes smiled.

"I think I should go." Applejack said. "Applebloom, get home when you can, okay?"

"Sure."

As Applejack tipped her hat in apology and left, the Ghosts resumed their work. That is, until the voice of Colonel Mitchell spoke through Gates' radio.

"Aegis Lead, this is Overlord. We've got some new intel for you."

"Send it." Gates said.

"We've managed to analyze the device you recovered from the UN. It matches tech made by Trinity Labs, located in New York."

"Trinity?" Gates asked. "Don't they make cutting-edge military and scientific tech?"

"Officially, no the first, but yes to the second." Mitchell said. "They reported a theft consisting of a confidential project about two weeks before now. That's most likely the device."

"Brilliant. Any Idea who did it?"

"Negative." Mitchell said. "We'll dig up what we can on our end. Aegis, until then, let's just go with the flow. Anyway, I've got to make a phone call to Langley."

"The CIA?" Gates sounded confused. "May I ask why, sir?"

"They've got a contact that I need some intel from. Who that might be is classified. Keep up the good work, Aegis Team. Mitchell out."

As Gates returned to his work, the entirety of the group jumped at hearing rapid knocks on the door, coming from the foyer.
"Who might that be?" Adams asked.

"I'll take a look." Twilight said, leaving the room. Gates got out of his chair and followed, motioning for his team to stay put. Slowly taking hold of his HK417, he rounded the corner to the foyer to see what was going on.

From what we could tell, the residents had figured out he and his team was in the town. It also seemed they weren't happy.

"Okay, for the last time, they are my guests!' Twilight yelled in an exasperated manner. "Now please leave them alone. We're working on something important together, and I would like to resume it as soon as possible!"

The crowd didn't leave, only increasing the volume of their voices. Gates rolled his eyes and started to move forward towards the door, eventually coming into view.

====

The crowd gasped as the strange being came into eyesight and stood next to Twilight with its limbs crossed. It was tall, like a minotaur, only without the crooked legs. It wore strange clothing, but what surprised the crowd the most was the eyes it had.

A pair of brilliant, intelligent blue eyes looked at them with apprehension. As walked forward, it spoke.

"Okay, you want to know what's going on? Well, here I am."

He, at least it sounded like a he, rolled its eyes as the crowd recoiled, realizing they could understand him.

"First things first. There's three others of my kind with me, and though we may seem...strange, we're emissaries from our world working with your Princess on a matter of complete importance. But I'd also like to know who told you about us being here?" he asked.

The crowd parted down the middle to let a guilty-looking Applejack come forward.

"Applejack?' Twilight asked. "What did you do?"

"I told Rarity about them since she was looking for Sweetie Belle and wanted to know if I'd seen her. After that, she told Rainbow, who told Pinkie, who told everypony else in town." Applejack sighed. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I couldn't stop them."

"You should be." Gates said. "Look, I'm not mad, Applejack. I'm disappointed that you blew my own and my team's cover. We pride ourselves on remaining undetected."

"Well, I'm awfully sorry." Applejack said. "Can ya forgive me?"

"Forgiven." Gates said. "Look, you want more details, my team and I will tell you all what we're allowed to say later and answer any questions we can. For now, can we get some privacy, please?"

The crowd slowly dispersed, quiet as could be. Gates headed back inside, and Twilight followed.

"You handled that well." Twilight said.

"Yeah, comes with hard experience." Gates said as they stood near the room where the others were still working. "Anyway..."

As the two of them headed inside, Sipes raised an eyebrow.

"What happened, boss?" he asked.

"Just some curious locals." Gates said. "We're wasting time, let's get back to work."

====
Earth, USS Ticonderoga
New York Harbor

As Scott Mitchell looked over the NYPD police report on the Trinity break-in, he sighed in frustration. New York's finest had done their best, but the report wasn't being much help. From what the Lt. Colonel could tell, the perpetrators had made it in clean and quick, stolen the device, and made it out through a back entrance, without tripping the alarms or sensors.

Mitchell then scrolled down, and scrolled through the list of suspects. All had airtight alibis and were found to have no connection, but Mitchell wasn't so sure.

"Wait, what about you?" he asked, pulling up the report on the night watchman. "You might know something."

====

One phone call later, Mitchell had what he needed. When he made contact with the night guard, and stated his name, rank, and purpose, the man had sighed.

"Look, I'll tell you what you want to know. Just...keep them away from me, okay? I broke in and stole the device, only because some guy there said he could give me whatever I wanted for it. I was broke, so I took his offer. I dropped it off later, and the next day I get a boatload of cash in my bank account, over 500 grand. I needed the money, and....well, I'm sorry."

"I'm not exactly able to forgive you, but I'll keep this between us." Mitchell said. "My lips are sealed."

"Thanks." the man replied. "Look, I don't know the guy's name, either. We communicated over the phone only. I tried calling the number again, and it didn't work."

"Any help is appreciated." Mitchell said. "Have a good day, sir."

As Mitchell hung up, he closed the report screen on his laptop and sighed. Then, a soldier poked his head in.

"Colonel?" he reported. "There's a call on the MTAC for you."

"Thank you, Petty Officer." Mitchell said, standing up and heading out of the small room that served as his temporary office. Following the Petty Officer to MTAC, he was greeted by the image of the President of the United States.

"Colonel, any progress?" the President asked.

"I've located and spoken to one of the witnesses regarding a break-in at Trinity labs, where the device we found originated from. We've got a lead, but it's a small one."

"Good work." the President replied. "Also, what's all this I keep hearing about a "Contact Alpha" situation?"

Mitchell cursed silently, as only he and a select few knew about his Ghost team being in Equestria.

"I'll inform you of what I can, sir." Mitchell groaned. "It's still developing, though a Ghost Team is on the ground."

"Well, let's hear it then." the President stated. "Time isn't on our side, Colonel. Tell me what I need to know."

Author's Note

Update!

Next time-Mitchell speaks to the infamous El Sueno, and the Ghosts settle down for the night. Also, Luna speaks with Gates in the dreamworld.