Chapter 9.- Winona's daring rescue

- Make her come back! -shouted Applejack galloping towards the launching pad-. Winona is up there!

Twilight felt her heart stopped for a moment. In the trench, side by side with Von Braunie and Chokorolev, she saw Applejack possesed by horror.

- Vhat do you mean Vinona is up therrre? -asked Von Braunie- Vho is Vinona? The doghouse?

- NO! Winona! She's my doggie! She's my pupper! -Applejack said in tears-. I think she's up there! I saw her blanket! I didn't notice! I can't find her! She's up there, I'm sure!

Chokorolev put down his binoculars and took off his hat, in duel. "Poorrrr zing", he said looking at the sky.

- We will all vanish wizout a trrrrace -added the earth pony with the gloomiest of tones.

- YOU BET SOME OF US WILL, IF YOU DON'T BRING HER DOWN SAFELY! YOU HEAR ME MISTER? -she shouted.

Twilight tried to calm Applejack down.

- We'll make her come back safely! -she said-. Now... Are you sure she's up there?

- YES! Her blanket was there. I didn't notice! I was too tired and busy attending to the coupling procedure! I saw the blanket and I didn't notice! -she cried-. It's all my fault! Can you teleport her here or something? Please!

- Impossible -explained Von Braunie-. The keystone's magic field is too poverrrful! She can vait until the firrrst stage ends, I guess?

- Ze timing is carrrrefully planned -remembered Chokorolev-. Once ze firrrrst stage stops and ze keystone is not a prrrroblem anymorrrre, ze rrrrockets will activate.

- Say what? -said Applejack.

- Yourrrr doggie will be beyond the Bearrrrded's limit! -explained Chokorolev-. No teleporrrrting zere, neitherrrr!

- What about a remote-presence spell? -asked Twilight.

- A vat? -exclaimed Von Braunie.

- First things first! -Twilight ordered-. You have to check if she's there. And calm her if so, Applejack.

Applejack was about to ask how, when Twilight focused her horn on her, and last thing she saw before closing her eyes was a violet and blinding magic beam.

Applejack opened her eyes. She was there! She was inside the doghouse! Everything was shaking and roaring and looked like 'bout to break apart! Why did everything seem bigger? Nevermind! She could even take Winona and jump! Twilight would teleport them to safety! They would probably be watching from the ground!

- Winona! Winona, sugarcube! It's momma! I'm here!

The trembling blanket suddenly stopped and Winona's head popped out. Applejack saw her coming...

...Gigantic!

"I am the hawaiian pony figurine!", she understood. Twilight had just teleported her presence!

- Easy! Easy girl! -she laughed when Winona's tongue licked her from hooves to hat-. Stop!

Winona sat in front of her, her wagging tail shaking as everything else inside the doghouse.

- You are a good girl! You are a good one! Now, listen! We are going to bring you back home, but you have to be a brave doggie, do you undestand?

Winona barked happily.

- That's it! -she said trying to think-. Now, look! I'm not going to be a figurine for much longer, sugarcube! Don't be afraid! We will take you back! I'll come back and I'll...

The shaking and trembling ended up for a second and immediately after that, a powerful force took everything against the back wall of the doghouse.

- The limit! -Applejack heard Twilight saying-. She's beyond the limit!

When Applejack opened her eyes, she was again in the pad.

- Send me back there! She's alone and afraid! -Applejack demanded.

Twilight tried to think.

- How much time do we have? -asked Twilight, looking at the hourglass.

- It was zought as a suborbital test -thought out loud Chokorolev-... RRRRockets will worrrrk full time, but trajectory is almost verrrrtical... I assume 3 minutes tops forrrr engine shutdown. And other 3 minutes forrrr rrrreentry into the limit.

- So we have 6 minutes?

- The capsule may entrrry the limit back in 6 minutes -continued Von Braunie, eye on his telescope-, but that's like one hundrrred kilometerrrs! Brrreathing is possible only much laterrr and so is flying! Doghouse vill rrreentry supersonic... Maybe one minute morrre.

- What do you mean supersonic? -exclaimed Applejack-. The doghouse doesn't have a heat shield yet!

- The heat vill not be a prrroblem -explained Von Braunie after a second-. It vill go not so fast, and not so high. Now that I think about it, the best option is maybe vaiting until parrrachute opens! Maybe yourrr doggie is vell afterrr all?

- Parrrrachute? -exclaimed Chokorolev alarmed-. WHAT PARRRRACHUTE?

Twilight teleported immediately in violet sparkles when everypony, without words, remembered the test didn't include a parachute in the mockup capsule.

- Vhat is she doing? -mumbled Von Braunie, a terrible fear in his voice-. She can't teleporrrt without seeing! She plans to... To... Get in...

- It is... It goes too fast! -mumbled Chokorolev-. It will also be tumbling! It is impossible!

Applejack understood when she saw the faces in front of her. Twilight was about to risk her life for Winona. "¡No, no, no!", thought Applejack. It was suicidal! She was going to lose both Winona and Twilight!

Applejack contained her tears. Twilight needed help. More than help, she needed somepony able to stop her! She went back to the Wonderbolts seats as fast as she could.

Von Braunie was astonished beyond comprenhension.

- She's an Equestrrrian Prrrincess -he thought out loud-... And... The dog... It's just a... Dog...

Twilight waited for the doghouse to descend, six thousand hooves over the Everfree Forest's lake. She could not flap higher, she couldn't barely breath, but she needed as much time, as much altitude as possible: every second was critical. She saw it coming from up above after its powerful Rainboom cone. It was intact, but tumbling and shaking without control! Poor Winona!

She breathed slowly, closed her wings and started falling to level velocities as much as possible.

She only had one shot.

And she took it.

Violet sparkles filled the air. Her eardrums, popped. She felt the nausea and the violent and uncontrolled spin and before fainting, she was able to take Winona in her arms and think, "out of here!"

Three shades of blue, fast as lighting, flew by the Everfree Forest lake.

Three shades, coming down, from the sun, confused by the wreakage of the launcher's components falling from the sky.

- There! At your six! FL 10! Falling! Falling! Falling! -exclaimed Misty Fly-. You two for the Princess! I'll get the dog!

- WONDERBOLTS! -shouted the three pegasi at once-. GO!

It took an 9-g maneuver, a heavy turn.

The kind of maneuver all pegasi learn not to do, not even try, because all of the blood goes to the wrong places and silly pegasi who try, faint and fall.

But she was their Princess.

And she was falling.

And they were Wonderbolts.

- Twilight! Twilight! Sweet Celestia! Please wake up! Please! Please! Please! Tell me something!

Twilight opened her eyes, feeling nausea and headache. It was Applejack calling, her eyes drowned in tears.

- Something... -Twilight was able to say.

- Don't move, Prrrincess -she heard Von Braunie's voice-. Ve arrre taking you to the hospital. You have a concussion.

- You hit your head with something! -explained Applejack-. You passed out and fall! Luckily, the Wonderbolts arrived on time!

- Winona -remembered Twilight-. Is she ok?

Winona barked, happy again. Twilight felt her tongue licking her cheeks, gratefully.

By night, Von Braunie recovered the keystone from the EverFree Forest's lake.

As he expected, it was intact. Chokorolev was waiting at the shore, close to the crater the doghouse had produced.

- It seems just one of yourrr amazing firrreworrrks, has been recoverrred Mrrr. Chokorrrolev. I hope the otherrr one didn't fall overrr Drrrragon Island –Von Braunie mumbled-. Last thing ve need rrright now is a varrr against drrragons.

- Please, call me Serrrrgei -smiled Chokorolev-. I'm prrrretty sure it didn't. I... I hided a surrrrprise in number 2. Please don't get angrrrry, Mrrrr. Von Brrrraunie.

Von Braunie nodded. He had saw small perturbations in number two during flight. Tricky pony, Chokorolev. Good at his craft. Number two, or its payload, was probably in orbit at that moment.

- Call me Werrrnherrr.

Next he went to the doghouse an opened the hatch. A "schissss" sound, proved it was hermetic, yet.

- Zat is a rrrremarrrrkable doghouse! -exclaimed Sergei.

Wernher took what was left of the zinnia then. The hawaiian pony figurine was in the doggie's mouth when she was recovered. Maybe that was the reason (bad luck), the zinnia was almost beyond recover. He took the flower the best he could and planted it outside the crater.

- You do like flowerrrrs, I see -smiled Sergei.

Wernher smiled back.

- I'm afrrraid not -he answered-. But I... I think I can see the point now.

(CUE TO MUSIC. END OF CHAPTER)

Edit: Oh man... So many mistakes. I'm starting to think I use past perfect not in the best way... Sorry about that. I'll try to avoid it. :)

Edit2: Flew... It's flew and not flyed...:(