From the dread darkness of Chthonian slumber, from the maddening whispers of voiceless space, comes today’s story of doom.  DOOOOOM!  And makeovers.

An Outsider’s Perspective
[Comedy] [Slice of Life] • 5,475 words

A freakish abomination from beyond the fringes of the rational universe emerges from the trackless depths and finds himself in Ponyville.

FROM THE CURATORS: Like last week’s feature, An Outsider’s Perspective was an entry into Equestria Daily’s Outside Insight contest, and quickly rose to stand out from the pack.  “If Moonlight Palaver was the Outside Insight entry I found the most entertaining, this is the one I found the funniest,” JohnPerry said.  “Its absurd premise belies its wit; it looks like a piece of featurebox bait from the cover, but inside is something really clever and wonderful. It’s not often that you come across something that’s this absurd yet feels so true to the tone of the show.”

But when that wit and show-feel are mere supplements to perfectly on-point comedy, it’s easy to understand what makes this fic exemplary.  “This story is so hilarious,” Present Perfect said, and Chris agreed: “It’s fun, funny, and left me in a better mood after reading it.”  Its whimsical melding of Lovecraftian horror and the magic of friendship won Horizon over: “Everything about this brought a smile to my face.  The core idea is so clever and the execution is just so spot-on that you can’t help but like it.”

Ultimately, it was that tongues-in-the-many-cheeks-of-the-gibbering-faces-of-horror tone which sold us on the piece.  “I’ve never seen comedic juxtaposition done so well,” Present Perfect said.  “It really stood apart on the merits of using such a dark non-pony character and playing it for laughs.  This was one of my absolute favorites from Outside Insight.”

Read on for our author interview, in which Kavonde discusses grandiose monologues, death rays, and Lovecraft hats.
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