Nine kids at the DWMA fail their final exams. Nothing could be worse. They're going to be expelled.

"I'm sorry, children, but you did fail the exam," Death said apolegetically, looking at his son and his friends.
"Y- you're going to expel us?" both Maka and Sakura said at the same time.
"No, I have something more fun planned!" Death replied in a jaunty voice.
"Don't make me asymmetrical!" Death the Kid warned, linking hands with Liz and Patty.
"Oh I won't." Death's hands glowed with magic and then their world faded to black.

Sweetie Belle's friends are away on a beautiful Saturday morning, and Sweetie Belle wants to surprise them with a Cutie Mark. She knows the perfect place, the Evening forest, where she could find lots of things to do. But it's up to a certain mare and the motion of a single ax to decide the choice of life or death. But here's the question:
If a tree falls in the woods and there is somepony to hear it, will that pony survive?