Friendship was magic: the Lunar Republic

Twilight winced at the bright sun that hung in the morning. She reflexively held her right hoof up instinctively to shield her eyes.When her vision became accustomed to the light after a couple of minutes, she gazed at her companions and tried to look over the fact that they didn't look like themselves.

Instead of the dark midnight blue that was Princess Luna's fur is now a lighter,sky blue.Her mane no longer resembled a starry, blissful night, but a cyan color with a tint of red. Even her cutie mark had been changed,from a crescent moon surrounded in darkness, to a small book with a quill on it.

Twilight couldn't even recognize herself in a mirror if she was given one. From what she could tell,her fur had turned from its normal purple to a brass color, while her mane had turned completely black. Her cutie mark had changed from a purple star surrounded by smaller,white stars to a four leafed clover behind a fence.

"Is this really necessary for the two of us?" Luna inquired.

"Of course it is, my dear princess. If I didn't cast that masquerade spell, then you two would be hunted down." Dr. Science said while he picked up a large bag.

"Hey Dr. Science, I was wondering, how are we going to get Princess Luna look like a normal pony?" Twilight asked.

"Hmmmm......" Dr. Science scratched his chin in concentration. "Maybe I could....no,no. That could cause combustion....I got IT!" Dr. Science walked over to Luna and enchanted something. "Olim adolescentibus, profectus iuventute!" Luna was suddenly surrounded in a light brown aura,and turned into a child.

"What did you do to ME!" Luna yelled in a high voice.

" (chuckles) All I did was cast a spell. I say you're about five or six now."

"Hey,Dr. Science. What did you say during that spell." Twilight asked.

"Twilight, you mares can just call me Tesla. And what I said is in an old language not widely used, when translated it means 'From old to young,bring forth youth'!" Tesla said smugly.

"Well you better change me back right now! I don't want to be a kid again!"Luna angrily yelled.

"Heh. The funny thing about this spell is that you can't reverse it"

"So I'll stay like this till I age!?!?"

"What? no. It only takes about a day for the spell to wear off. So in the meantime, enjoy being small and adorable for a day." Twilight tried to hold back a small laugh. But when she realized what time it was, her light demeanor turned serious.

" If you two can stop arguing, then maybe we can get supplies before the shops before they close!" Both Luna and Tesla stopped and looked at Twilight.

" Okay,okay. But we'll keep arguing on the way there."

"Well we wouldn't be arguing if I was an adult, and not a child! And we still don't know what to do with my wings!" Luna spread out her wings with a mixture of anger and smugness.

"Oh yeah. Hey Twilight, could you shrink this." Tesla hovered a coat near Twilight.

" Anything for the Princess." and in a couple of seconds, the coat was just the right size for Luna.

On the way to town, Twilight asks Luna how she met Tesla.

"Well after I saved you from your fall, I flew for as long as I could till I landed and passed out in the Everfree forest. Next thing I know, I'm in a warm being looked over by Tesla. He's the one that put those bandages on your head."

" That's how I was raised. To help those in need, and after I heard about the attack, I made sure to take care of you two."

After a while of walking,Twilight asked Luna where they were going.

"I don't even know, Twilight Sparkle. It was so dark that I didn't even know where I was."

" We're near Dodge City. I saw Luna flying over and land, so I decided to investigate."

In town

As the trio walked around for a while gathering food, one of the vendors became curious.

"Hey Doc, whose the mare and filly with you today?" asked the stallion.

Tesla anxiously looked around, thinking of an answer.

"This little filly is my sister Lu.......la,yeah Lula. And this is her Foal sitter Twinkle. Our parents are on their second honeymoon in Las Pegasus, and my little sister insisted that Twinkle came with her."

"Hmmm....." The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes at the three. "Well I hope your parents have a good time. But just make sure you three stay safe. Living near the Everfree forest is dangerous."

"We'll keep out of trouble, see you tomorrow." After they walked away, all three let out a relieved sigh.

"That was a close on, don't ya think." Tesla said in a relieved tone.

" Don't ya think,Don't ya think! If he had figured us out, then we'd all be in jail!" Twilight said in a whispered tone.

"I agree with Twilight Sparkle, that was too close for comfort."

"We should leave soo-"

"Come one, come all! Anypony whose anypony will be going to the Grand Generals Ball in Vanhoover. In exactly five days,general Rainbow Dash of the Royal Celestial air force will host a ball in order to raise money for the war effort against Nightmare Moon. And afterwords you could go to the museum of honored ponies. You could see all of them, even the most famous of all, General Leoneighdes Patton. The pony that defended all of Equestria using only his wits and intelligent mind."

Tesla stopped in his tracks,thinking about what that announcer in the square just said. Luna and Twilight just kept walking before they noticed their friend wasn't moving, but when they did, they wondered why he stopped.

"Tesla? Why aren't you moving" Luna asked.

"I think I just found a solution to our problem. All we need are three tickets to Vanhoover Lula."

"Don't call me that."