Twinken gasped as his eyes opened, a stymied scream escaping his lips as he bolted up... and was stunned to find himself in the grand hall of the Castle of Friendship!

He laid upon a bed, as did his friends! Apple Bloom, Rumble, Scootaloo, Button Mash, Sweetie Belle, even Dreamer as the wolf was nuzzling against Apple Bloom! He also saw Midnight, Twilight, Spike, Princess Luna, Starlight, Sunburst, the rest of the Council of Friendship, a unicorn named Astral Ink, who was helping Luna get up as the moon princess looked exhausted and suffering a headache, the way she held her forehead.

"Wha- You're all alive?!" Twinken was relieved but still confused, still wound up and uncertain of what was going on while Apple Bloom was checked on by Applejack, Macintosh and Fluttershy, Rumble by Thunderlane, Scootaloo by Rainbow Dash and Soarin, Sweetie Belle by Rarity and Blueblood, while Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich looked after Button Mash.

"What happened in there?" The question came from Midnight who was helping Astral check on Luna.

"The test, it... it all went wrong!" Luna uttered as she held her head.

"Test?! What test?" asked Button Mash.

Midnight gave each of the Crusaders a serious look before he said, "Try to remember... What the six of you just experienced was a test, issued by Princess Luna to Twinken as well as the rest of the Cutie-Mark Crusaders. She bridged your minds into a shared dream where the object of the test was to discover a solution to a problem, you all knew this before you fell asleep.

"What you didn't know... was that the true purpose of the test was to accept failure by giving up. No matter what the Crusaders accomplished, the scenario was designed to grow worse... Still, you were aware, the deaths of the alicorn princes and princesses, the defeat of the Knights of Harmony, the loss of the Council of Friendship, all of it was only a dream!"

"This is why you hardly grieved for anyone, even when Dreamer was turned to ashes before your very eyes," confirmed Luna after she'd shaken some of her headache off. But then her tone took a dark turn as she then said, "But everything went wrong... when Apple Bloom perished."

The Crusaders turned to look at Apple Bloom, seeing she hung her head, looking scared and uncertain despite AJ and Mac trying to comfort her as Luna continued.

"Though consciously, he knew it was not real, his subconscious mind could not make that distinction. Witnessing the death of Apple Bloom in the dream, Twinken forgot it was only a test, so his subconscious took control, which caused the rest of you to forget as well."

Now all eyes turned to Twinken as the colt was starting to realize, all that horror, all that despair they'd experienced. It was his fault!

"Uh- I'm... I'm sorry!" Twinken uttered, confused and not understanding the full scope of it all.

"This isn't his fault!" Button spoke up in his friend's defense.
"Yeah! Why didn't you end the test and wake us up?!" demanded Scootaloo.

"We tried!" Luna answered earnestly before continuing, "But Twinken had... a death-grip on the scenario. Even Apple Bloom, who should have awakened upon her death in the dream, was so convinced she had passed she slipped into a coma! I knew I would have to seize control from Twinken's subconscious from within.

"But upon entering the fantasy, I was overwhelmed by your collective emotions! My mind was... in a fog. I couldn't think clearly. I couldn't remember why I was there! The deaths of Rumble and Scootaloo helped, but it was only after the volcano fortress erupted, and Button Mash and Sweetie Belle were silenced, that my mind cleared enough that I remember what had to be done - To shock Twinken into awakening and so end the dream altogether before your comas became permanent."

A cold and terrible realization fell over them all, especially Twinken as the poor colt realized and understood what he had almost done. To himself, to his friends! And the guilt was more than he could bear, even as his mentor, so full of remorse all her own, apologized, "Forgive me, my little ponies... I never imagined a simple test could turn out to be so dangerous! So damaging..."

Twilight went to comfort her little brother-in-law as the colt broke down into heart-wrenching sobs. He had almost destroyed his friends! Not killed them, but may as well have had Luna failed to stop him. He'd almost done to them what had been done to his mother, a dark oblivion from which they might have never awakened, and Twinken thought with deepest remorse and a loathing of himself, I'm... I'm a monster!

Luna tried to stand on her own but felt so woozy she almost fell over. Midnight and Astral Ink gently helped her stay on her hooves before Midnight worriedly asked, "As bad as all that?"

"Perhaps worse..." Luna responded grimly.

"Yet this is not what troubles you," Astral sensed, worried for his princess.

"Please understand, my apprentice, your brother," Luna said to Midnight, "He is young and inexperienced; he cannot be held responsible for this- For our oversight..."

"Nopony blames him," Midnight assured, feeling his heart hurt to see his little brother, crying his eyes out as Twilight hugged him, uncertain of what to say or do other than just hold the colt as warmly as she could.
"But obviously we haven't considered what he's capable of."

"You understate it!" Luna corrected as they saw the look she had in her eyes as they were trained on Twinken. "Of all the telepaths I have ever encountered, Twinken, even at his fledgling stage, is the most powerful of all! Even more powerful than... myself."

Luna's words brought a chill to Midnight's bones, while Astral gulped and nervously shook in realization by the fact that Luna, a powerful alicorn princess, was afraid of her own student whose raw power was eclipsed only by his potential.

Not that anypony cared to point that out, as the Crusaders all began to weep and shake despite the literal nightmare being over. Because, thanks to Twinken, it might very well have been a nightmare from which they'd have never awakened.

Horrifying, isn't it...

I hated putting the Crusaders through all this, especially Twinken, but my plans made it necessary to emphasize that Twinken's telepathic powers are a force to be reckoned with, and this experience is necessary for his growth and for what I have in mind for him

All will be made clear soon enough