The crystal ponies have captured a trespassing diamond dog, but for Electra, there's more at stake here than simply wondering how best to treat an old pest in a new world...

As if dying of embarrassment in the middle of a Crystal Empire celebratory dinner wasn’t bad enough, now Shining Armor has to entertain the worst guest imaginable. No, not Lemon Hearts. The one with the inexplicable agricultural tool. No, not Crazy Lace Agate. The one with the ominous powers and the unstoppable determination to – No, not Cadence. Look, Death, all right? It’s Death. Death’s the worst guest imaginable.

And when the spectre at the feast wants you dead and can’t die in turn, not even love and friendship are strong enough to stand in the way of grim destiny.

Not that this will stop them. Love and friendship are funny like that.

An entry in Imposing Sovereigns IV, using the prompt "Princess Cadence and Shining Armor/Harmony".

Lemon Hearts is an Equestrian matchmaker. That's sort of like a doctor for ponies with a very specific and persistent disease. And like most doctors, she hasn't picked the soft option.

In the magical land of Equestria, even love isn't a fairy tale. Not all the time. Certainly not forever after.

Of course, she's got the backstage pass to love: the black, unsavoury-looking one that lets her access all floors, including its classy penthouse apartment. And its rotten underbelly.

Mad couples, unhealthy habits, lots of cider, and a princess who's a little too perfect... You gotta laugh, because you're not allowed to cry...