diff --git a/lib/connection.js b/lib/connection.js
index 1b1d6bdff0..b4be11f5c1 100644
--- a/lib/connection.js
+++ b/lib/connection.js
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ function Connection(base) {
   this.models = {};
   this.config = {};
   this.replica = false;
-  this.options = null;
+  this.options = Object.assign({}, base.options);
   this.otherDbs = []; // FIXME: To be replaced with relatedDbs
   this.relatedDbs = {}; // Hashmap of other dbs that share underlying connection
   this.states = STATES;
@@ -1781,6 +1781,19 @@ Connection.prototype.syncIndexes = async function syncIndexes(options = {}) {
   return result;
 };
 
+/**
+ * Runs a [db-level aggregate()](https://www.mongodb.com/docs/manual/reference/method/db.aggregate/) on this connection's underlying `db`
+ *
+ * @param {Array} pipeline
+ * @param {Object} [options]
+ * @return {Aggregate} Aggregation wrapper
+ * @api public
+ */
+
+Connection.prototype.aggregate = function aggregate(pipeline, options) {
+  return new this.base.Aggregate(null, this).append(pipeline).option(options ?? {});
+};
+
 /**
  * Switches to a different database using the same [connection pool](https://mongoosejs.com/docs/api/connectionshtml#connection_pools).
  *
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ecae8b6674..a852e3abfd 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
     "bson": "^6.10.4",
     "kareem": "2.6.3",
     "mongodb": "~6.20.0",
+    "mongoose": "^8.20.0",
     "mpath": "0.9.0",
     "mquery": "5.0.0",
     "ms": "2.1.3",