Rainbow regretted blinking, for she already lost count of how many agents of Philanthropy Stu Leaves had sent flying towards the far reaches of the city. Within the next five heartbeats, the stallion's mech had deflected a wave of steam bullets, charged through a phalanx of shrieking officers, and then slammed his metal fists into the floor—sending a huge crack spreading through the platform that ran underneath the wagon of Flim and Flam.
The brothers dove in opposite directions—yelping. As their wagon was reduced to shrapnel, the "Red Rook" slid to a stop, picked up a cluster of metal, and flung it at the gyrocopters soaring overhead.
"Raaaaaaaugh!"
The vehicles attempted to dodge. Two of them were skewered by the spread of projectiles, and they went sailing off to a smoldering fate. Ka-powww!
Burning ashes fell across the rubble pile that was left of the clock tower. Underneath this hideous rain, Rainbow Dash flinched, fighting and struggling to pull her artificial wing loose from the chunk of debris that was anchoring her down. After several grunts and hissing breaths, she finally popped free—but not of her own volition. A hovering sphere of metal and steam had shoved the debris away.
While Stu kept smashing armored ponies into oblivion, Epcot materialized before Rainbow Dash with a gasp. "Holy Figment!" She grinned. "I haven't seen this much destruction since the Millenial Sign! Your friend sure has some imagination!"
"Yeah, he's a regular John Lassetrot!" Rainbow grumbled, rushing towards her fallen comrades. She tried pulling Donut Joe to his hooves. "Quick, Epcot! Help me with these—"
Pow! A weighted net flew in and covered Epcot from head to tail. She fell to the floor, writhing in the snare. "Ooomf! Hey... uhm... how do you mortals put it? Oh right." She took a deep breath. "EEEEEEEK!"
Rainbow gasped and looked aside. A solid line of uniformed ponies were galloping up. A pair of them readied another net gun. Pow!
Seething, Rainbow ducked the volley, rolled to the side, then galloped forward. "Grnnngh—Not today!" She twirled and bucked one soldier upside the head, knocking his helmet off.
Two more lunged at the "Blue Jay's" side. Rainbow parried their attack, headbutted one, and threw him into the other. As three more attacked, she vaulted over the group, bucked them towards the edge of the platform, then twirled with outstretched wings in time to blow a few more off balance. However, the sheer charge of guards was too much, and Rainbow wasn't her usual dexterous self. She collapsed—grunting—under the weight of nearly half-a-dozen ponies struggling to bind her hooves all at once.
"Rnnngh... grfff! Come on! Dang it!" She panted, glancing over at where several guards were scooping up the unconscious bodies of Joe, Mulia, and Gustave. "No! Celestia darn it! No!" She flung a look towards Apple Jewell.
The Cider Princess stood off to the side while several officers formed a protective circle around her. She watched—her expression pained in the glow of her enchanted tiara.
Rainbow spat, "Whatever happened to being loyal and dependable, huh?! The real Applejack wouldn't st-stand for this nonsense—gaaah!" She face-planted under the weight of the guards.
Apple Jewell gulped. "I'm sorry, darlin'. It really would do y'all good to just give up..."
"Grnnngh..." Rainbow squinted a tearing eye and hissed against the rubble beneath her muzzle. "For you...? Snkkkt—... never."
Apple Jewell blinked.
Stomp stomp stomp...!
Just then, the Cider Princess looked up.
The group huddled over Rainbow glanced over as well.
Barreling through debris and bouncing off steam bullets, the Red Rook came charging up.
Stomp stomp stomp! "Grrrrr-haaaaugh!" Stu Leaves slid through with a swinging metal limb.
The ponies flew off Rainbow's flanks like bowling pins. The Red Rook cover Rainbow with his mechanical body, shielding her as more and more projectiles flew in, sending sparks and bursts of broken steam across his armored figure.
"Ooommf... augh!" he winced in pain.
"Stu!" Rainbow hollered, flinching from the pieces of his mech crumbling to bits all around her. She looked past his legs to see that Flim and Flam had rolled in a gatling gun and were reducing his shell to tin foil. "Ah jeez! I'll... uh... I'll fly out and distract them while you—"
"It's no use, Rainbow," Stu wheezed. "This thing is breaking up all around me! I can barely do another charge!"
"Don't you friggin' quit on me!" Rainbow yelled. "You can still win this!"
"No, Rainbow..." Stu frowned at the ponies escorting Apple Jewell and their unconscious friends away. "I can't." His metal limb grasped the pegasus. "But you can..."
"Huh?" Rainbow gasped, then shrieked as she was flung like a baseball clear off the platform. "Stuuuuuu!"
Broken and venting steam, the Red Rook reeled behind her. "...save the day, Rainbow! It's all yours, girl!"
Rainbow twirled through the air, spotting Stu in a brief blur as he spun to face the forces of Flim and Flam once last time. Within seconds, she was too far away to see or hear anything. All went black, for she had fallen deep within the recesses of the canyon itself, with Philanthropy floating above like a grim ceiling.