POV: Princess Luna
3 days after Rainbows contract, 1 week and 4 days since her Exile.
Dream Realm

Princess Luna had recently resumed her ancient duties of shepherding the dreams of ponies. She took great satisfaction in this duty and accomplished it well. Around her, the dream realm swirled and danced like her night sky, full of stars and the shimmering void. All around her were doors, all of different sizes, shapes, colors, decorations, knockers, and other distinguishing features. Each looked different even in the smallest way, as each represented a new and unique pony. She oversaw thousands, even if she only entered a few hundred at most a night.

Tonight, however, her usual pep and energy at this task were lacking. She was lost in thought, even as she shifted through the less serious dreams. These thoughts had to do with Rainbow Dash, bearer of the Element of Loyalty, one of the ponies who had freed her from Nightmare Moon. She was gone; if all went well (or not, depending on one's view), never to be seen again.

She thought about it. She knew Rainbow was guilty; she had entered the dreams of Princess Mi Amore, confirming that it was, in fact, real, and she had not been under any spell. However, she was a little, what was the word, miffed, at her sister's decision. Yes, similar sentences were given for such high-level crimes in the past, but that was before Nightmare Moon, and it was rare even then. And given her position, maybe it wasn't the wisest course of action.

Before she could delve further into this train of thought, she was interrupted by a flash in the dream realm. Somepony was having a nightmare. Her horn lit up as the wall of doors slid along, finally coming to a stop. In front of her rested a door of a dark indigo wood with a Rainbow colored line running down the center. However, curiously, a second door appeared. This one was a light cyan with a knocker in the shape of a cloud blown by several strands. Both ponies appeared to be having the same dream, something that she couldn't say she had seen before. She pushed open the cyan door, a familiar white glow surrounding her.

As it died, her eyes widened at the sight before her. It looked like a picture she had seen out of a book: Darmoor's Inferno. It was a depiction of what the author had envisioned Tartatus looked like. He couldn't have been more wrong, but that image was what greeted her.

Black, craggily rock stretched out in all directions, with equally dark clouds blocking out the sun. The only light in the land seemed to be emanating from lava flows and cracks in the earth, all of which emitted a harsh, dark orangish glow. Dead trees and scraggly shrubs stuck out of the rocks, sticking out despite their ash coated wooden forms. In the distance, large mountains rose into the smog coated sky, pillars of light shooting from them like massive spotlights. Looking around, she notices that these volcanic mountains stuck out in all directions, completely enclosing the lava scorched lowlands.

Looking around, it took her a second to make out two brightly colored shapes that stood out from the rest of the background. Flying over, she saw these shapes become clear, taking the form of a pair of ponies; a stallion and a mare, to be specific. As she got closer, she was able to make out distinguishing features. The stallion had a light indigo coat with a rainbow-colored mane, clad in a green collared over shirt with a white one underneath. The mare was a light cyan with a mane made from two shades of orange, wearing an orange sweater. She recognized them from Rainbows' exile and the immediate aftermath. They were her parents: Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles.

She stopped, hovering over both of them. Following their gazes, she saw the object, or rather, pony of their focus. Just below them, in a shallow crevasse, sat a third pony. She was far from what an Equestrian would consider healthy though. Her cyan coat was almost completely black from the ash and what looked like burns, while her spectral mane and tail were also darkened, if not completely burned away. She was gaunt, with bloodshot eyes and yellow teeth. Dream Rainbow looked almost more like a corpse than a real pony, yet the shuddering gasps and wheezing changed this theory.

As the three watched, Rainbow looked out of the crevasse toward the darkened sky. Her voice, raspy and hoarse, said, "P-p-please. Mo-mommy. Hel-hel-help m-me." As she did, she stopped talking, breaking down in a fit of coughing. "Any-pony. H-he-help m-m-m-me."

Both the Pegasus's parents cried into each other's shoulders, choked sobs sending a twang into her soul. "ENOUGH!", she shouted, her horn lighting up and ripping away all of the dark scenes around them.

The two ponies looked around in shock, eyes finally coming to rest on her, who had now set down in front of them. They pulled into low bows, yet still held their gazes with Hers. "That is enough, my little ponies," she said. "You may rise. This is your dream, after all. And quite an unusual one, at that. It is quite rare for two ponies to naturally share a dream."

"W-well, we were always close," said Bow.

Windy added, "To both each other and to our little Dashie. We're just worried about her."

"Y-yeah," Bow said. "Wait, if you can enter dreams like you are now, can you look in Dashies!?"

Both looked at her, looks of hope replacing their former downtrodden faces. Luna put on a poker face, for she knew it was useless. The system of exile had been standardized, for lack of a better term, by Princess Platinum the third, shortly before the reign of Discord. Much of it was unchanged, even after she and her sister took control after imprisoning Discord. The level of the crime, the spell used to transport the pony to who knows where. However, the part that was important for their request was another aspect of the exile: the Brand of Excelsior. A powerful spell; one created by a famed unicorn spell caster in the original Princess Platinum's court, Excelsior. The spell rendered the subject basically unable to be located or communicated with by magical means of any kind. Including dream magic; even as powerful as hers.

She didn't want to disappoint them, however. "I shall see what I can do. Know this, however: If your daughter were here, would she want you two to be unhappy for her sake?"

Both looked at one another, before looking back at her. "N-no. You're right, your highness. Thank you!" With that, her horn glowed again, and she left their dreams. She sensed that day time was drawing near, and so prepared to awaken to lower the moon for her sister's day.

Canterlot Throne Room
Three hours later

Luna trotted along the corridor, heading toward the throne room. After lowering the moon and getting some breakfast, a royal guard had come to her. Said her sister wanted to see her in the throne room. And so, she pushed open the door to see her sister looking at one of the stained glass panes along the wall. "Dear sister," she said, drawing her sister's attention from the window. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

She sighed, then looked back up at the glass. "The Crystal Empire had returned."

Luna gawked at the news. "Pray tell, then. Why are we still here, and not at the empire now!? Sombra could already have-"

"He hasn't, sister. I have already sent Cadence and Shining armor to go assist the Empire, and Twilight is on her way now. She and her friends should be enough to help them."

Luna gawked again, then straightened up. "Sister, you do know that, with Rainbow gone, the Elements are useless. And Sombra is easily as powerful as all of them."

"I didn't intend for the Elements to be used." Before Luna could protest, she elaborated, "Sister, I am certain you have seen the potential of my student. This is to be her tri-"

However, before she could finish, Luna had had enough. She said, "Sister, I know you have good intentions, but this is ridiculous! Yes, I have seen the potential of young Twilight, yet that potential can't be realized. The Elements are useless. You know as well as I the Elements, or some other especially powerful artifact from before Discords reign is need for ascension." Celestia tried to respond, but Luna carried on. "You know this as well as I. So, why send them into the jaws of a tyrant, for a TEST, if both of us know nothing will come of it?"

"That is another reason why we must remain here. We must search for a new bearer to the Element of Loyalty."

Luna just looked at her. "Sister, have you gone mad!? You know it doesn't work like that! We can't just 'assign' the Element a new bearer!" A sharp, calming breath, then continuation. "I say we put them back. The tree is a safe location until we may need them again, and for all we know, they won't work again. You know how the heart works; it needs to be charged in order to work. I suspect the Elements are the same. And with Rainbow gone, we can't use them."

"Luna, I still think-"

"And look where your thinking has gotten us! Discord nearly started a new age of chaos, all while I was bound to bed and you to your throne! An Element of Harmony, exiled from Equestria, likely never to be seen again. And now the crystal tyrant returned with no real opposition to his return! I 'think' that you have made a grave error, Tia!" Another calming breath, then, "I merely think you haven't thought things through. Or, if you have and see the problem, then you are merely desperate for your plans to come to fruition."

The sound of a throat being cleared drew both of their attentions. Twilight stood in the doorway, saddlebags filled to the brim with supplies, a sheepish look on her face. "I, uh, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No," Luna said, taking the initiative over her sister. "My sister and I were just finishing up something. Now, might I ask what those saddlebags are for?"

"Well, Princess Celestia said that I was to come here for a test, so I brought all my own materials." As she said this, she opened up the saddlebags, pulling out a piece of paper. Which she promptly dropped and it unfurled, the end coming up just shy of her front hooves. "Sorry, sorry", she said as she began to roll it back up.

Luna sighed before her horn flashed. She teleported both the paper and all her other supplied back to her home in Ponyville. "My sister didn't intend for that kind of test, and either way, she, miscalculated. There will be no test. Now come, we have much to do." As she said this, she walked with Twilight out of the room, as she began to tell her all she knew of the Empire and of King Sombra.

Just to make certain everyone knows what happened and how this will correlate to events in the Canon timeline, here's a quick rundown:
1. Luna gets off her flank and helps the main 5, Shining, Cadence, And spike save the Crystal Empire.
2. Discord is still in stone.
3. Twilight doesn't become an Alicorn.
4. The Elements are being returned to the tree before the plunder vines become an issue.

All in all, time moves on. As for Tirek, he comes later.