“Places, places, every pony.” A massive, buff Pegasus walked towards the entrance to the coliseum. “We’re going to do this by name. Your adjudicators are on the east side of the field. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT fly too far west. If they lose sight of you for any reason, you’ll be failed, immediately. Take deep breaths. Stretch your wings one last time. The test will consist of three sections. Weather clearing, Agility, and finally Recovery. Clear the clouds, fly through the hoops, and then fly to the marked elevation. Close your wings for at least three seconds. Any less and you’ll fail, but keep in mind there’s no ‘extra points’ for extra seconds. Finally, recover before you hit the cloud floor. Understood? Any questions?” The instructor paused, and carefully glanced at every single pony in the room. Everyone’s eyes were completely focused on him, and none were creased with confusion. “Alright. Aurora Dawn. You’re up first. Clear, Fly, fall, complete.”
The yellow pony nodded and walked quickly up to the starting ramp with purpose. She stared at the watching judges, waited for a nod from all three, and then took off with powerful force. The ramp bounced slightly from the force of the takeoff.
Every pony watched as Aurora quickly reached the starting altitude, and then began a direct and purposeful attack on the positioned clouds. With expert timing and intelligent angles, the sky was soon empty of any moisture. Scootaloo and Orion watched with open mouths as they watched the first test taker pull fast and tight turns, expertly shooting dead center through each and every hoop. Finally, Aurora pulled herself up to the proper altitude, hovered, and closed her wings.
The group of students gasped as she started plummeting, down towards the clouds, and counted breathlessly. One... Two... Three. They sighed as they watched her wings open in the correct amount of time, collectively holding that relief.
Suddenly, Aurora’s wings whipped upwards, and the group of students flinched in horror as they all heard the loud, hollow SNAP, only to be suddenly replaced by an unending, piercing scream. Many, like Orion, shielded their eyes with their wings, as others like Scootaloo could only watch, terrified, as the blur of yellow, green, and red plummeted into a cloud with a dull ‘thump’.
All Scootaloo could think was ‘Crap my dream is coming true so fast. What happens if I really do fail?’ She already knew the answer to the question, but did not let it come to her mind.
Many ponies’ turns passed before Orion’s. And when it was Orion’s turn, Orion didn’t go to help Aurora Dawn, like in her dream. Orion cleared the skies, flew through the hoops, and fell without hitting the ground. She had just completed her test almost flawlessly.
At that moment in time, Scootaloo realized, ‘I can change my future’.
When her turn came, she too passed the test with Orion cheering her on. She was the last test taker of the class. But she noticed that Aurora Dawn was still down and had failed her test. She was the only pony in the class who failed her test.