Adagio found herself back in the Cubs classroom where she, Aria and Sonata had made their first actual friends. Everything looked exactly the same as she remembered it. Everything that they'd played with and drawn over the time they'd spent in that classroom was still there, looking like it was only yesterday that they'd been accepted into this class.

"I remember this place..." Adagio said as she examined every little detail, right down to the scribbles on the table and the little drawings that littered the walls. She could feel a great sense of nostalgia from this place alone, as she felt each and every chair, every coat hook, and every toy that could be seen. "It seems like yesterday when we had our first classes together..."

"Adagio. Do not dwell on your nostalgia for too long," Symphonia said once he'd reappeared in front of her. "The Song Seekers now know that you're in a Memory; a certain spacial room in the Rhythm Realm with multiple Furen Fragment pieces, but is also a beacon that shall attract them. Gather the Furen Fragments and escape to another section of Rhythm Realm before they catch you!"

Sparing no time at all, Adagio quickly found faint red glows from cracks in cupboards and from toy chests. Adagio quickly scrambled over to those areas and began shuffling through things as rapidly as possible. She'd never been so eager to stick her hand into toy chests before, but this test was an exception for her.

Not long after Adagio grabbed the final Furen Fragment in this Memory, the door that she'd entered through was now shaking wildly, and things on the other side were violently banging against it. She began to panic when the beasts began to assault the locked door, and the sweat began to fall from her brow in fear.

Eventually, she remembered that there was another door that led outside to the little playground that she and The Dazzlings used to play in. She ran over to the door just as the Song Seekers punched giant holes in the wall and door, revealing their menacing visages to Adagio before she opened the second door.

When she opened the door, Adagio was consumed by another burst of white light. Only this time, she was now floating in the depths of the Rhythm Realm once again, and could see even more red lights and platforms in the distance. Looking back, she saw the door close behind her rather hastily. But she knew that that door would only be opened in a few seconds, so she decided to get moving once more.

"Alright, let's just do a quick check on how many pieces I've got so far..." Adagio picked her pendant up and looked down at the red shards she'd collected in the Rhythm Realm. She actually began to count each piece that was inserted into the case already before looking out into the Rhythm Realm once more. "Five down, fifteen to go..."

"Do not get cocky, Miss Dazzle. The Song Seekers might be blind, but they are wise beyond their years..." Symphonia reminded her as she closed in on another Furen Fragment. "They will eventually adapt and will be able to identify you through such traits as your smell alone..."

"So basically, just keep running and grabbing Furen Fragments?" Adagio asked when that information had been delivered to her.

"That is the logical answer, Adagio Dazzle. As long as you keep moving and grabbing Furen Fragments, the Song Seekers will not be able to find you in this place..." he then vanished so that Adagio could return to her task.

Within seconds, Adagio grew her Hippocampi wings so that she could traverse the Rhythm Realm much quicker. She smiled with how quickly she was maneuvering across the Rhythm Realm, and she smiled with how quickly she was closing in on the next group of Furen Fragments.

Swooping through a number of Equestrian houses, Adagio bagged two more Furen Fragments, taking her total up to seven. Looking back for a brief instance, she noticed that the Song Seekers were still far behind her, but were gradually gaining speed. With their sudden increase in velocity, Adagio picked up her own pace and grabbed the eight Furen Fragment.

The next thing she knew, she fell into another Memory. This time, it was of the Christmas that she and the rest of the family had spent when they were only six years old. It was a special place, still rather majestic with all the snow that had fallen in those days. She smiled when she felt the white wonderland, and then saw some red lights buried underneath the snow.

Digging her hand into the snow, Adagio suddenly felt a rather frigid sensation run up her arms. Despite it all being a part of her test, the snow was still rather cold. She shook her hand in an attempt to warm it up, and dug down to find the red Furen Fragments. With every piece that was found, Adagio could see the red shockwave leave the snow and alert the Song Seekers. Panicking that the beast were catching up once again, Adagio just winged it and grabbed all the red snow she could find.

As soon as the Song Seekers descended from the white skies above, the four Furen Fragments flew into Adagio's case and welded themselves into it. They were about to capture Adagio and make her fail the trial, but she was long gone the second they'd even landed. One of the Song Seekers let out an alien screech as it cursed in its' native tongue, furious that it let Adagio out of its' senses.

Meanwhile, Adagio was back in the Rhythm Realm once more, graciously swimming across the sea of stars without a care in the world. She hummed a rather relaxing tune as she swam through the cosmos whilst being sure to find the next pieces of her new pendant. With the low threat the Song Seekers posed to her at this moment, she was quite complacent with the situation at hand.

"Well, let's get back to running..." She picked up a thirteenth Furen Fragment and unfurled her Hippocampi wings once again. Seeing the Song Seekers dash out of the Memory at rapid speeds, Adagio picked up her own pace and hurried along the cosmic plane once more in the attempt to collect the final seven pieces of her new pendant.

This time, the Song Seekers were much faster, and they were beginning to close the gap on Adagio. Despite all this, they were still blind as bats, and had to rely on Adagio picking up Furen Fragments in the attempt that she'd stall to leave the platforms where the fragments were located.

Adagio was bolting along the spacial world once more, seeing the Song Seekers actually destroy the platform that held the most recent Furen Fragment she'd picked up. She could see how riled up and desperate they were to capture her and make her fail the trial. Adagio could see the final seven pieces of her new pendant in the distance, and began moving towards them with vigour and gusto.

"Well, they certainly are getting faster, that's for sure..." Adagio nimbly weaved through a Lyrican village that drifted through the cosmic world around her. She watched as many different doors and windows opened up as she flew graciously through one of the villages that she'd once grown up in. "And this is getting harder and harder..." she said whilst avoiding contact with all of the houses, doors and windows.

Finally, Adagio's stealth was broken as the whole village suddenly changed its' layout with a massive burst of spacial colours. The sudden flash of light made her suddenly crash into a fruit cart, causing all of the spilled fruits to make resonations that would alert the Song Seekers to her position in the Rhythm Realm.

"Dammit! Why does there always have to be a fruit stand?!" Adagio cursed as she quickly rose to her feet and saw the Song Seekers closing in on her. She yelped in fear as she leaped out of the way of the charging Song Seekers, then immediately took to the air to avoid being caught by them.

The Song Seekers all screeched in fury once more, their instruments stretching as they made a rather anguished pose as they'd once more missed out of catching Adagio Dazzle. Eventually, they caught a whiff of Adagio's scent, and consumed the smell with their nostrils. Then, from their point of view, they could see a golden blur materialize and take on a humanoid form. They watched as the blur then flew towards another section of the town. Skittering quite maliciously, the Song Seekers took off and began pursuing Adagio once again.

"Miss Dazzle, I'm afraid that I have dire news for you..." Symphonia said as Adagio dashed through a revolving house and leapt off of walls to give herself boosts in her speed. His appearance almost made Adagio stop in surprise, but she still pressed on and swindled another Furen Fragment, bringing her total up to fourteen.

"Let me guess, that fruit stand alerted them that I'm right in front of them?" Adagio took a wild guess as she flew back out of the house and saw the Song Seekers flying right behind her, and flanking her like a battalion of fighter jets.

"Not precisely, but the Song Seekers have picked up on your scent. They now know where you are at ALL times," Symphonia vanished, letting Adagio see the Song Seekers following her perfectly now. "Now it shall be impossible for them to lose you, since they've assimilated your undying presence. If you do not keep moving, you shall fail the trial, and shall have to lose all of the fragments you already collected..."

"No way! I didn't come this far for nothing!" Adagio said, showing a sudden burst of confidence. Charging forward, she flew straight through another house and grabbed the next Furen Fragment, making it fifteen in her collection. As she escaped from the house, she watched the Song Seekers smash through the walls so that their heads were visible. Paying no mind to the Song Seekers, Adagio charged out of the house and flew underneath the spacial town, as she couldn't see any more Furen Fragments around her level.

Adagio might have been fast, but the Song Seekers now knew where she would be at all times, so they began pursuing her once more, determined not to let her out of their sights. Each one of the Song Seekers screeched victoriously as they relentlessly hounded Adagio, swerving as hard as she could with each sharp turn.

Adagio now began to panic as she found that she couldn't shake the Song Seekers off of her tail. They constantly pursued and screeched at her, an omen that she couldn't keep running from fate forever. When such noises bored deep into her mind, she suddenly shook off all of her worries and flew out and underneath the Lyrican village. She swooped through a series of stalactites that hung from the underbelly of the village, hoping that not even the Song Seekers would be able to follow her through there. Finally, she grabbed the sixteenth piece of her new pendant and watched as the village suddenly vanished in a massive burst of light.

Seeing the final four Furen Fragments appear far away in the distance, Adagio charged towards the pieces, with the Song Seekers directly above, around, behind and below her. With the speed that she and the Song Seekers were travelling, she knew that this would be a very close confrontation.

Adagio watched as the Song Seekers slowly closed the gap between themselves and her, inching towards her whilst also flying close towards her. They were trying to sandwich her into them, making them collide and crush her completely. If she didn't act now and grab these final four Furen Fragments, it would be curtains for her.

Adagio let out a small scream that only grew in pitch as she and the Song Seekers all dashed towards the final four Furen Fragments. Closing her eyes and reaching her hand out to grab them, Adagio's voice got louder and higher-toned the closer and closer she got to the last pieces. However, her space was also getting smaller and smaller, since the Song Seekers were within touching distance now. As Adagio finally touched the pieces, she was consumed by a bright light for the third time...

When Adagio opened up her eyes, she found herself flying back up the pillar of light she'd originally entered the Rhythm Realm in. Suddenly, something bizarre happened in front of her eyes...

The leather case that hung from the golden cornerstone suddenly vanished, and all twenty Furen Fragments bonded together on their own, making red flashes when all of the different fragments magically welded themselves together. At the end of it all, the twenty pieces were now shaped into one giant jewel, that depicted a treble clef combined with a gem-shaped portion of the new Furen crystal. As the new gem clipped onto Adagio's golden cornerstone around her neck, she was enveloped in a red light and was launched out of the pillar of light...

All of the other patrons in the Halls of Composia were seen talking amongst each other. Each one of them had many things to tell each other, and everyone was rather eager to hear what they all had to say to each other.

Whilst everyone talked to each other, Symphonia watched from atop his dais, seeing a great balance of harmony within the group. He stroked his beard and looked at each of the ponies, humans and Dazzlings with intrigue and wonder. He truly wanted to discover what friendship could be all about.

Suddenly, he watched as the circular cover that had opened up for Adagio to jump down opened up once again. He rushed over to the edge of his dais and watched as a red light left the pit, making the circular cover return once more. He showed a smile as the red light slammed down on top of the cover, revealing to everyone a rather magnificent sight.

Adagio appeared in the red light once it had died down for them to see her. Her hair was extended, and her Hippocampi wings were visible for all to see. The only major difference was that she was now wearing her new Furen pendant. It looked exactly like her old one did, but the gem was now shaped like her Cutie Mark, which was a treble clef and gem combined into one sigil. She looked over to Symphonia, who walked down the dais to congratulate her.

"Congratulations, Adagio Dazzle. You have successfully completed your trial, and have earned your new Furen pendant..." Symphonia said as a speck of light made Adagio's gem shimmer. "You showed a great deal of courage, confidence, and wisdom amongst the Rhythm Realm, three things a leader must have to make them the leader they truly are."

"By overcoming adversaries such as the Song Seekers, who are masters of striking fear into a leader, toying with them, and making them lose all confidence, you truly have proved your worth to your fellow Dazzlings..." he said, pointing Adagio towards Aria and Sonata, who looked quite proud of her accomplishment.

"Thank you, Lord Symphonia." Adagio walked off of the cover and sat down with the rest of the group once more, showing some inner euphoria when she caressed her new Furen pendant.

"Now then, the next one to take their trial in the Rhythm Realm shall be..." Symphonia climbed up the dais, stood at the edge and pointed towards the next of The Dazzlings to undergo their trial in the Rhythm Realm. "Aria Blaze..."

Author's Notes:

Me: Finawwy, got anodew chaptew out fow yoo aww...

Night Mist/Peanut Butter: Yay! (Begin reading it)

Lauren: Well, you have been working hard at this, haven't you, Shadowmane?

Me: Oh, yes, Gwandma. I just finished giving Dagi hew new pendant...

Lauren: Well, I'm glad that my little ones are learning to write at this age... (Tussles my mane with her hoof.)

Adagio: I agree with you, Queen Lauren. He truly is coming along wonderfully in the writing department...

Sunset: Yeah, Shad! You'we quite smawt at witing!

Twilight: And cwevew at it, too...

Me: Tanks, giwws...

Lauren: Now how's about we give our three little playmates a nice, clean bath?

Me, Twilight and Sunset: Yay! (we giggle)

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QUESTION: What is the Rhythm Realm trial referencing? Leave a comment if you know...