The chapter begins with Shining still standing before the Diamond Dog that just tried to kill him and he uses the radio in his armor to inform everyone that there is an intruder in the embassy. The canine panics and jams his weapon. Shining notices that these kinds of weapons can be jammed easily if too much force is used and the spirling pistol is a cheap model, he can see that the would-be assassin is very unprofessional. Then the Diamond Dog makes his first smart decision and jumps out of the window but Shining jumps after him. The unicorn is even creative enough to use his shield magic to reduce the impact and not damage his radio. And deservingly the earth pony interviewer is cheering for him. Afterwards he gives an order that shows his ability to lead his troops and keep his cool. Shining leaves a magic trail behind which his men can follow, orders some of his troops to follow him while the rest guards Princess Cadence and he even thinks about asking the LCPD for help. As a matter of fact the cynical pegasus interviewer is impressed. He rushes after the canine and sees a cart rushing away. Instantly he suspects that it is an escape plan abandoning the Diamond Dog and reported this in. The nearest unit of the LCPD is four minutes away and his own troops will have to catch up with him, so for a while he is alone in his chase.
Then the princess wants to know what is going on over the radio. Just as she was ready to go to bed countless troopers rushed in. He tells her that it is standard procedure to follow the intruder and protect the principal (her) at the same time. She points out that while it is his job to make these decisions, he shouldn’t be the one chasing the attacker. But if Shining looses track of him neither his troops nor the LCPD will find the Diamond Dog ever again. The chase is very exhausting and Shining really wishes he could control his teleportation as good as Twilight can. She made good use of that in her encounter with Nightmare Moon but he would have to stop and spend much more time and mana on the spell. Soon the hunt will lead him into a tunnel and the radio contact with the outside world will end but he is not alone anymore. A griffin named Frost is helping him now.
At this point Shining points out that shield spells can be used easily to kill others if the forcefield cuts them in half and that is the reason he can’t simply trap the fast running dog. The pegasus interviewer asks if he couldn’t just use the bigger version of the spell but that could just blast the Diamond Dog away. Then again throwing him into a wall might be a good way to catch him but the impact would probably turn the canine into puree. As both run after the dog inside the tunnel, Shining uses his magic as a flash light but now the griffin can’t use his ability to fly anymore. Underground the Diamond Dog is in his element. Furthermore steam-powered trains are still running, so overall while the attack itself was really amateurish, this escape route is surprisingly well chosen. Maybe it was the entire time the idea to lure Shining to this place? Soon a train rushes by them and Shining shields himself from the effect of the steam while Frost is protected by his mask. The Diamond Dog isn’t that well prepared and his loud noises easily lead them to him.
He seems cornered but other Diamond Dogs start shooting at them from an alcove and these ones have much better weapons. Shining can see that it is an ambush. The unicorn tries to hit them with stun magic but his aim is still horrible. But after they have wasted their first shoots the canines have to reload and the two can follow the Diamond Dogs. Normal guns are pretty useless in such close quarters against an opponent that can shield himself against the attack. The unicorn talks about the game Call of Cutie but considering how horrible his aim is, he will likely not enjoy that game. For a brief moment Shining wonders if there is a weapon that would fire like a machinegun, even he might hit something with that.
The terrain has a lot of corners, making it perfect for another ambush. Soon they reach a depot and Shining uses his telekinesis creatively to let the gun of one of the dogs fire too early and but the canine doesn’t seem to be injured. Now Shining wants the earth pony interviewer to leave before the story becomes too dark, but she is used to much worse. And the others would leave with her as well.
Suddenly the floodlights switch on and blind the two chasers and Shining activates his shields just in time as they are fired at repeatedly. Shining’s wish of a weapon did become true. Both he and Frost quickly hide behind cover. It is clear that this second ambush is much too professional for a little group of assassins. It turns out the weapon that is firing at them is a Gatling Gun and it is placed in a way that nobody could easily sneak up on the firing Diamond Dog or teleport behind him. That still wouldn’t protect the gunner against someone teleporting aside of him but Shining’s aim is too horrible to try that.
Frost asks the unicorn to shield him and allow him to fire at the gunner. He knows that Equestrians don’t like violence but now their own life is in danger. Shining doesn’t hesitate but the gunner has a steel plate as protection, so without a sniper they will not get past him easily. But slowly the carriage they are hiding behind is torn apart and Shining’s shield has to protect them, draining more and more mana. Then the firing suddenly stops.
It turns out that Private Audience did kill the Diamond Dog and Shining is visibly distraught but he decides to talk about that later and chase to last two Diamond Dogs down. He doesn’t hate all of these dogs and knows that they are often tricked or forced to do others dirty work. This was what he wanted the earth pony interviewer not to hear: That one of his men killed somebody else. But the interviewers point out that he had no choice and supported the griffin in his attempt to kill the attacker.
But Shining sees it as very different for griffins. No pony had killed another pony in Equestria for such a long time, that they don’t even remember when that happened the last time. Sometimes non-ponies and ponies did kill each other but even that is rare. Surely dragons or some of the other creatures of Everfree killed a few ponies. It caused a public outcry when ponies realised that the Royal Guard doesn’t carry weapons just for decoration. So the procedure was changed and the guards had to pledge not to use gunpowder weapons in cities and they were trained to prefer non-lethal methods. And one accident was still enough to send the public into panic again.
But overall that is very understandable since ponies are herbivores and prey so this encounter with death by the hoof/hand/whatever of another awakens old almost forgotten fears. It is a horrible situation for any soldier to see somebody else into the eyes and then press the trigger and watch them die and witness the life vanishing from those eyes.
The interviewers don’t blame it on Shining or his men. They know that they did what they had to do and most importantly they didn’t enjoy it. He didn’t loose himself in death. They hug him to cheer him back up.
