2208 hours
Nine (9) days after first contact
Above the Equestrian city of Canterlot

It had been a long hike, but they had finally reached it: Canterlot.

Davit had driven his squad hard to reach it this early, but they had arrived at the perfect time: It was dark, and thus, they could complete their mission.

The sun had gone below the horizon nearly half an hour ago, leaving only the moon to light up the landscape. Davit had ordered his squad to turn on the light enhancement on their 'Net' glasses, leaving them with a much better view than any other creature was likely to have.

The squad had reached their position easily: A pre-determined area of the steep hillside, nearly five hundred feet above - and one hundred feet horizontally from - the castle that leaned partially against the cliff. An entire tower had been destroyed - and a large hall damaged - by a drone strike a week ago, and it seemed as if repairs were only just starting, judging by the scaffolding.

Before they could begin their mission, however, Davit had to call in.

"Overwatch, this is 1-Actual. Do you copy?" He asked over the radio.

"We copy, 1-Actual." 'Overwatch', in this case the operator of the MQ-4C Triton orbiting four thousand feet above their position, responded. "I have you on thermal. Are you in position and ready?"

"We are in position and ready." Davit replied.

"Copy. You are go for mission launch."

"Copy. We will begin momentarily. 1-Actual out." Davit turned to the rest of his squad. "Are you all ready?"

A chorus of answers came forth, "Ready." "Let's go." "Yeah."

"Let's go, then."

Davit took off his pack, quickly taking out a hard, plastic case. He opened it up to reveal various components, which he swiftly assembled into a 'Net'-connected Mobile Detection Unit, used to radar map small areas and track any movement. It also functioned as a laser designator for various munitions, which would be very useful for their mission. Davit and his three other squad members quickly located a spot to place it, right under a small bush, where it would be nearly invisible to observers, but also have a view of the castle and much of the city.

With that done, they raised its' small antenna, allowing it to connect to the 'Net' systems via the Triton above them.

"I have a connection with the device." Overwatch said a moment later. "I am combining it with the thermal, ultraviolet, and electromagnetic reading from up here. A picture of your surrounding and the guards should appear... Now."

Instantly, their Heads Up Displays lit up with multiple symbols, as the 'Net' unit synced with what the computers on board the Triton were generating. It cleared up quickly, and they were quickly left with a three-dimensional map of the castle, along with red dots indicating the locations and distances of guards.

"We have your feed." Davit said a few seconds later. "Showing nearly one hundred guards patrolling the grounds. We'll have to do this carefully. Down the mountain path, and into the garden area behind the castle. Let's go."

2217 hours

Captain Henderson watched the screen showing the position of units as they crushed the last of the resistance in the city, satisfied. He had pulled off the capture of a major city in a remarkably short time, and with a very low number of casualties. Current numbers listed one hundred and forty-four dead: A far cry from the thousands that the Guard forces inside of the city had lost.

The vast majority of the city was secured, with only two small spots of enemy forces left, each concentrated onto an area one block in diameter. With luck, and the coming night, they would be easily subdued. With that done, they would be free to turn their attentions towards the next city...

Inside of the city of Manehatten, however, was a different story. At that very moment, Vasilyev was cursing his own luck. It had been relatively easy to advance in daylight, but with night having arrived, caution had to be exercised. Although the unicorns revealed themselves every time they used their magic, hitting them in the dark was another matter, even with the light-enhancing features of his 'Net' glasses.

It didn't help that the building that generated electricity for the city was under Guard control, right in front of them, and the Guards had turned it off.

"Advance!" Vasilyev heard somebody yell behind him. With that, he leaned over the cover, firing rounds at the building just down the street. The oncoming fire slackened as the ponies inside took cover, and the constant stream of magic and crossbow bolts that had been pouring down the street slowed to a halt.

A T-90SM tank crashed through the wooden cart next to the stone slab he was using as cover, advancing down the street as its' coaxial machinegun fired. Vasilyev took that as his cue to move forward.

"Let's go!" The Russian Lieutenant yelled, spurring on those behind him as he jumped over his cover and started running down the street, making sure to stay behind the tank. As he turned his head to see if anybody was following, he could see that dozens had, including most of his squad. Kozlov seemed to be conspicuously hanging back, however.

The T-90's cannon roared as it fired, the HE-FRAG-FS round blowing an area thirty feet wide off of the front of the building, sending chunks of concrete flying.

As they approached to within twenty feet of the building, the tank slowed to a halt, forcing Vasilyev to run around it. As he approached the hole in the building, he spotted the vague outline of a pony farther inside. Vasilyev raised his rifle and fired, the tracer round striking the Guard in the head, killing it.

With the rest of his men in tow, Vasilyev charged into the building, ready to take it from the Guards.

2219 hours

The unicorn guard casually strolled down the path in the castle gardens. Despite being in a state of war against the monsters that had attacked his homeland, the unicorn considered himself lucky. With the casualty rates coming in at nearly ninety-eight percent, the news was grim, and he was secure in the fact that the castle was nigh impregnable.

In any case, the guard was idly strolling down the path. After all, there was little chance of anything unusual, right? The Princess would surely push them back to-

His train of thought was eliminated, along with his life, as a 9mm round passed through his helmet and into his skull, killing him. The guard fell to the ground with a thud, and the noise of the gunshot was hardly audible beyond twenty meters. A pair of hands reached out and dragged him into the bushes, concealing him from sight.

"All clear, 1-Actual." Overwatch said over Davit's radio a moment later.

"Copy. Moving forward." The Georgian man replied. "All of you, across the path and to the side of the castle."

Davit quickly crossed the path and darted into the bushes at the other end, his suppressed Beretta M9 aimed in front of him. For this part of the mission, they needed stealth, not firepower: And thus it has fallen to them to attach suppressors to their sidearms. The subsonic 9x19mm ammunition used by it didn't pack enough punch to get through modern combat gear, but it was easily able to penetrate the pathetically thin golden armor most of the guards wore.

He reached the side of the castle seconds later, still inside of the thick array of bushes and trees that constituted the 'garden'. Once there, he swiftly pulled out a six-inch-wide plastic container, which he firmly attached to the smooth stone of the castle wall. He quickly pushed a button, activating the transmitter, before slowly making his way away from the castle, and out of the gardens.

Several quiet radio calls came through, warning him that his teammates had completed their placements, and that they were ready to complete the next phase of the operation. They quickly met up, gathering together in an area of the garden hidden from sight.

"Okay." Davit said. "That was the easy part. The next section will be planting the device in the south-western room. Then we'll get the hell out of here, as fast as we can."

"What if we're discovered?" One of his men asked.

"Get away as quickly as possible." Davit replied. "We can't afford mistakes. We complete the mission as quickly and silently as possible. There is no 'if'. Let's go."

"Your nearest entrance is being highlighted on your HUD." Overwatch said a moment later, followed by a red box superimposing itself on their 'Net' glasses. "One guard. Next guard is twenty meters from the door and moving away."

Sure enough, as Davit slowly passed through the underbrush, the dim shape of a guard was visible in front of the door. Davit slowly glanced around, looking for other guards. Seeing none in the vicinity, and satisfied that the UAV orbiting above them could not find any more either, Davit raised his M9, aligned the sights on the target, and fired.

The dull thud of the weapon firing was almost as loud as the clang of the bullet penetrating through the helmet. The pony fell to the ground, and Alek moved forward, dragging the corpse into the bushes. Another one down.

"What's the room?" Aleksandre asked Davit.

"Some kind of throne room while they rebuild the old one." Davit replied as they moved forward towards the door, the other two soldiers of the squad behind them. "The UAV noted a high amount of traffic, as well as occasional sighting of the enemy leaders. We are here to deliver them a present for the morning."

"Wonderful." Aleksandre remarked as they reached the door. "I'll go in first."

Davit nodded. "Three, two, one, breach." Aleksandre pushed the door open, stepping into the room with his SAR-21 aimed forward. No guards were in sight in either direction the hallway they stepped into went. Davit followed into the hallway a moment later, as well as his two squadmates.

"Marking the path to your objective. Zero guards along your route: Most are a level above you." Overwatch said over the radio.

"Copy." Davit replied. "Distance to the room is sixty meters. Let's make this quick."

2228 hours

"They'll begin the final phase any moment now." Captain Henderson heard 'Overwatch', sitting in the UAV control center in the hangar deck, tell him as Henderson watched the live video feed on the bridge.

"Good. Send them my congratulations." Henderson said in reply. However, a red dot suddenly appeared in the camera angle from the UAV, and another, and then a third...

"1-Actual, this is Overwatch." Davit heard over his radio as he slid the box carefully under a couch in the makeshift 'throne room'. "You've got five- Damn it, six contacts heading towards your position. And they're in a hurry."

"Copy that, Overwatch." Davit replied, turning to his squadmates, who had overheard the transmission. Davit finished placing his explosive and stood up, unslinging his SAR-21 and pulling back the bolt, loading a round.

"We've got company." Davit said. "We need to get out of here. Into the hallway! We'll find a way out."

They were just beginning to move towards the closed door when it blew apart.

Author's Note

Creative chapter names will return soon.

In any case, I am recovering from my surgery. This chapter has actually been sitting around for a while, and I finally got to following the suggestions The_Rainbow_Brony, my editor/pre-reader/(insert term here), made. So here's the chapter.