They say that politics is like making sausage — and today’s story puts Equestria’s neighbors through the grinder.

Moonlight Palaver
[Comedy] [Slice of Life] • 6,851 words

Upon Nightmare Moon’s return, the leaders of other nations gather to discuss the situation. 

They’re not especially happy about it.

FROM THE CURATORS: “This might have been the most entertaining story I read in Equestria Daily’s Outside Insight contest, which is saying a lot,” JohnPerry told us when he nominated this story. “The worldbuilding is exquisite, with brilliant little details scattered throughout.  The dialogue is superbly written.  And even though the ending is a foregone conclusion, it’s an absolute delight. Start to finish, this one is just a whole lot of fun.”

It didn’t take long for us to agree — in fact, Moonlight Palaver set a record for our fastest-approved nomination (at 6 hours, 37 minutes).  “I bumped this up my reading list, and I’m glad I did,” Chris said, while Present Perfect found it immediately memorable: “I haven’t read this story since round 2 of the official Outside Insight voting, and I can still remember it perfectly. … There’s always something missing when writers start making their own species, or giving show races nations, but not this time.”

Beyond the marvelous worldbuilding, Moonlight Palaver also distinguished itself as “one of the best examples of non-pony politics I think I’ve ever read,” as Present Perfect put it.  Ultimately, the intricate interplay between the personal and the political brought both the politics and the story to life.  “This does a great job of showing that greed and habit are the cockroaches of sentience, outlasting even the grandest thermonuclear blasts,” Chris said.  “And yet, the fic never loses its essential humor, nor does it trivialize the potential disaster facing the delegates — except, of course, to show how they have trivialized it.  It’s funny, it’s clever, and it never lets those two things get in the way of its respect for its characters and the setting.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Carabas discusses ploutering, Perralt, and prompts promoting plausible political pondering.

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