It was the eve of another Festival of Friendship. It had been years since Princess Twilight Sparkle had come into power, and she and her Council of Friendship had presided over a new golden age of peace over the Equestria. This new age also meant the inclusion of the many other races throughout Equestria, including the Hippogriffs of Hippogriffia. The hippogriffs had previously lived in the underwater kingdom called Seaquestria before the climatic defeat of The Storm King.

Seaquestria had prospered in this new age, greatly expanding its borders and buildings in thanks to new discoveries and its attractive qualities. Right now, a social gathering of the who's-who of new Equestria, including Wonderbolts, celebrities, leaders, and other assorted famous individuals, was taking place within the prestigious Novo Lounge.

The crowd of creatures stood in front of a curved wall entirely made of glass, giving a view into Seaquestria's globular city beyond. Glasses clinked and light conversation chattered around a large metal statue of a rearing Alicorn. Classy music emanted from a small orchestra of instruments magically floating through the air.

Gustave le Grand, the esteemed griffon chef, walked up to a group of chatting ponies with a covered silver tray. "May I, Gustave le Grand, present to you, my especially exquisite éclairs!" He lifted up the cover to reveal... an empty tray. The partygoers feigned expressions of surprise. Gustave le Grand beak turned up in a smirk as he snapped his claw, causing a swirl of magical green flames to appear, filling the tray with éclairs. "Voilà," the griffon kissed his claw, "très magnifique!" The partygoers gaily laughed as they picked out éclairs with magic.

It had been a whole new fad to show off one's magic skills in Seaquestria now that anypony or creature could do it. Thanks to scientific discoveries and rigorous testing by the Princess herself, any earth pony, pegasus, griffon, or other non-magical creature could gain their own magical abilities.

Seaquestria had been the logical first choice for the application of this magic, with its modern infrastructure and wide variety of magic-supported services. As such, Seaquestria had become well-known as the magical capital of Equestria, attracting an influx of visitors and residents which had helped to grow the city ten-fold since the old times. In fact, the city had made its own magical guardians through unknown means; these "mechanicals" regularly patrolled the waters outside the city.

One of the partygoers, a unicorn named Fancy Pants, politely wiped his mouth after finishing his éclair, "I do say, it is a shame I'm missing the Princess's ceremony this year."

"It's her fault for having the Friendship Festival Ceremony in Cloudsdale," Fleur de Lis, another unicorn, snootily replied, "Imagine, choosing a boring floating city when she could have chosen an underwater city!"

"It's her choice," said Hoity Toity, "Not matter how droll it is." The earth pony's hooves glowed a faint pink as he levitated another éclair into his mouth.

"Never mind the Princess," Fleur de Lis dismissably waved, "Did you hear who's attending this party?"

Hoity Toity gulped down the éclair, "Anypony noteworthy?"

"I heard there's royalty here tonight!" Fleur de Lis whispered excitedly.

"Fleur my dear," Fancy Pants, "Of course Queen Skystar would be here tonight. She is the ruler of the city after all."

"No, not one of the hippogriffs," Fleur de Lis continued, grinning like a filly, "One of the sitting members of the Council of Friendship!"

Hoity Toity choked on his éclair, ruffling his mane in the process, "Really? Who?"

"I haven't gotten a good look at her, but I think it's-"

She was interrupted as the magical lights above suddenly cut out. Clatters echoed from nearby as creatures dropped their drinks and the floating instruments fell to the ground. Quiet complaining bounced amongst the partygoers as Fancy Pants stepped forward with an indignant expression, "What is the meaning of this?"

His question was quickly answered as metal alicorn exploded into a blue fireball, sending partygoers ducking to the ground. Fancy Pants stared in horror as magical blasts shot out the kitchen, scattering creatures while incapacitating several others. Mask-wearing individuals swarmed out of the kitchen. Most of them were ponies, but several were hippogriffs and at least one was a dragon; but they all shared one trait, they were all completely insane.

Fancy Pants ducked as the dragon shot out a blue fireball from his hands, vaporizing a nearby table. He crawled underneath a table and began to desperately send out a communication spell, his horn beeping out a code. It was only moments until the table was flipped over, and the shaking Fancy Pants found himself looking at the cracked hooves of pegasus with a stylized mask of Nightmare Moon. The pegasus flapped her wings, charging up a magic spell, and...

Meanwhile, Fleur de Lis had galloped straight out of the Novo Lounge. While being crushed in the throng of fleeing creatures, she looked up. The attending Wonderbolts had taken to the air in an desperate attempt to keep the peace. Several of them used magic against a large, disheveled yak that had burst out of a nearby clothing store. Screaming incoherently, the yak shot a beam of electricity from between his horns, distracting them. The two remaining Wonderbolts looked around in a panic, until one wickedly grinned, vanishing a blaze of green fire. The changeling revealed herself mid-air, her exoskeleton sinewed with orange cracks. She promptly launched herself at the last Wonderbolt, shoving him into the wall overhead Fleur. She screamed as the tussling pair fell straight at her...

At the same time, Hoity Toity had shut himself in a nearby broom closet. "Gotta make it out," he sputtered to himself, drinking down another magical potion, "Gotta survive!" There were guidelines for the magic of course. "Don't overindulge", "Don't use more than two spells at once", "Levitation spells can be hazardous when mixed with elemental spells"; Hoity, of course, ignored these suggestions. His hooves shook as they pulsed with pink energy. But it wasn't enough. Luckily, Hoity always brought extra potions with him, the allure of magic for an earth pony was simply too much. Another bottle clattered to the ground, then another, and another, until he was all out, and was sitting in a small pile of empty bottles. But it wasn't enough! He still felt weak, he needed more power! He glanced around until his eyes met that of Zesty Gourmand's, another unicorn that had been in there the whole time. Sweating profusely, she met his hungry eyes in silence. Slowly, Hoity got to his hooves, maybe he could? Yes, yes he could. Anything to satisfy his hunger, his need...

This was the beginning of the end of Seaquestria.

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