New Gilda chapter 4000 words long and growing... · 6:46pm Oct 26th, 2020
Given the way it's developing, it's possible I'll split it into multiple chapters before all is said and done. I'll come around with a teaser when release day gets closer, but until then... I'm going to shamelessly attempt to entice some fresh Midnight Rising readers over to Nightmare Night with an excerpt. If you liked Midnight in Midnight Rising, wait until you get a load of her in Nightmare Night, as the Friendship Map summons Sunset and Sci-Twi to the pony realm for as yet unknown reasons.
Reasons that may or may not have something to do with curing the sexually transmitted curse that's in danger of overtaking all Equestria.
[Adult story embed hidden]
The teaser picks up in Chapter 30: The Taking of Peregrine Pacil Part 2, as a recently arrived (and ponified) Sci-Twi and Sunset make plans to cure the curse at its source along with Lady Delta Requiem, the Spellsinging Bard of the Royal Court of Canterlot:
“Is something wrong, Twi?” Sunset noticed her friend’s consternation. “You look worried. Don’t be. We’ve got this. That curse is as good as cured,” she promised with a reassuring grin.
“It’s not that.” The formerly human Twilight Sparkle shook her head. “I’m not sure, but…” she told them her fears, causing Sunset to blink and Delta to frown.
“I see…” the latter stated, eyeing Twilight’s pendant warily for a moment; noting it seemed to bend and warp the magic around it. “So you believe your evil half will emerge at just the wrong moment and undo our efforts for her own gain, even despite your precautions, which includes that magic-siphoning amulet around your neck?” she recited with a glance at Sunset, who she quickly noted seemed equally troubled.
“Yes,” Twilight confirmed with a swallow. “And, well, I was hoping you could help me. I know this isn’t the time, and I don’t really understand your particular form of magic yet, Lady Requiem but…” She took a deep breath before continuing, standing up straighter before the older mare, whom she had already gathered had both high station and the power to match it. “I was hoping you could use your powers to help me purge Midnight?”
“Purge her?” Delta Requiem repeated as Sunset’s frown deepened.
“Yes. Please.” Twilight let the other mare see her fear. “She’s a constant presence I have to check. She’s all my worst impulses rolled up into one evil entity, and I’m terrified she’ll someday take me over and hurt all my friends!”
“Twilight…” Sunset gave her a disapproving shake of her head. “No matter how much you may fear her, she’s a part of you! And for all the times she’s been free, she’s never actually hurt anyone! Not the Shadowbolts. Not Gloriosa. Not even Chrysalis, from what you said.” She reminded her friend, wincing mildly at the latter, knowing that she was probably the most deserving of it for the lengths she’d gone to in invading the human realm.
“Maybe not physically, but—”
“No buts, Twilight. Defeated? Yes. Humiliated? Occasionally, but always with good reason. Punished sensually by turning them on and then turning their own desires against them? I’ll admit she’s a little too good at that, and much too willing to resort to it,” Sunset admitted with a hoof to the back of her head. “Look, I’m not denying she’s power-hungry and potentially dangerous because of it, but—”
“Power hungry?” Twilight repeated in disbelief as her hoof hurriedly went to her amulet, checking it was still in place for the hundredth time that night. “Sunset, she’s completely mad! She thinks she’s a goddess and wants to rule as one! She’d turn the two worlds into her own private playpen and everyone who lives in them to mere toys for her pleasure! Or have you forgotten she sundered the walls between our two worlds and didn’t care what damage she did to the very fabric of all reality?”
“I haven’t forgotten. But I also know that she acts out because you don’t, Twilight,” Sunset told her gently in a conclusion she’d reached long before. “Because you’re afraid to let go or see to your own needs. She did what she did because the magic overwhelmed her—in the end, she was like an impoverished girl who suddenly had more wealth and power than she knew what to do with, and lost all inhibition for it. That girl was you, Twilight. Ultimately she’s just a product of your deepest and most unmet desires. She even admitted it herself a couple hours ago when Zesty made her emerge.”
“Enough. We don’t have time for this, so if you’ll excuse me…” Delta Requiem sang so softly under her breath that neither Sunset nor Twilight could hear the lyrics, but they felt a weak wave of magic wash over them for the better part of a minute. Twilight could feel the other mare’s presence poking gently at her mind from several different points but carefully not invading it, which she knew would immediately provoke Midnight.
She wasn’t sure what was happening, but whatever the robed pegasus mare was doing, she eventually opened her eyes and shook her head.
“I’m sorry, Twilight Sparkle, but I believe Sunset Shimmer is correct. A dark presence though this Midnight is, she is indeed a part of you, and I cannot wrest her from you without ripping your very soul asunder,” she explained as Twilight’s lips began to quiver. “I feel the solution to your quandary is not to suppress her… but to accept her. I am a counselor among my many other roles, so if you wish, I can assist you with that at a later time.”
Twilight Sparkle shook her head violently. “Please, Lady Requiem… you don’t know what she’s capable of! You don’t know what it’s like living with this… this thing inside me that might take me over at any time!”
“Don’t I?” Delta looked away for a moment in some pain. “Take it from me that we all have light and dark within us, Twilight Sparkle. Harmony is ultimately found in the balance of both. But if it is her intentions you are worried about… we can find out. Using my power, we can bring her forth and speak to her right now.”
“Right… now?” A wide-eyed Twilight took several steps back and stumbled hard, not used to walking backwards on all fours. “No! No! We can’t let her loose! Not now! Not here!” Her hoof went to her amulet again.
“Delta, I’m not sure that’s such a good—” Sunset started to protest, worried that the last thing they wanted to do was introduce Midnight to such a sex-charged atmosphere. Then again, it worked out fine before…?
“If this ‘Midnight’ is going to interfere with our plans, better to know now than later,” Lady Requiem replied in a level tone. “If I need to counter her or help Twilight assimilate her in the future, then I’ll need to know precisely the pony I’m dealing with and what her capabilities are. Don’t worry—with her pendant and my power, I believe we can contain her if the need arises.”
Sunset looked down for a moment and closed her eyes, considering her former guardian’s words. As much as she hated conceding anything to Delta Requiem as a filly, she’d finally learned that nothing she did or said was ever impulsive or ill-considered—completely unlike ME back then!
“Twilight? Let her do it,” Sunset directed. “I think she’s right. And don’t worry—between your siphon amulet and Delta’s spellsinging, we’ll be able to contain her and restore you after. I promise.” She laid a reassuring hoof on Twilight’s back.
Twilight swallowed hard, considering briefly teleporting away only to worry that she’d be lighting a beacon for corrupted ponies—or worse, her corrupted pony counterpart—by doing so. “Fine,” she said in defeat as for the first time in her visit, she felt Midnight’s presence perk up within her, in both interest and anticipation. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Noted. Now do not fight me, Twilight Sparkle—or her,” she directed before closing her eyes and taking a breath, centering herself to use her replenished powers.
“Spirit of song, set Midnight free; bring her forth to speak to me!”
Twilight reeled and cried out, falling to the ground. Sunset tried to steady her with her aura only for it to be turned aside. “Don’t interfere,” Delta warned her as Twilight suddenly smiled. When she rose again, she had acquired her trademark glowing magical spectacles as her physical ones were left on the ground beside her. She opened her eyes to reveal they had turned to feline slits, though she otherwise looked normal and nothing like the full alicorn form she’d acquired during her initial appearance so many months earlier at the Friendship Games.
Ignoring Sunset except for a momentary and very appreciative leer, she turned to Delta and looked her over from head to toe, giving her a smirk and a nod.
“How do you do, Lady Delta Requiem, Bard of the Royal Court? I’m Midnight Sparkle. So tell me, just how may I be of service to you this fine and wonderfully sensual Halloween night…?”
As you might guess, Midnight has a very unique perspective on things, including the curse and even Princess Twilight. As you might also guess, she's going to figure very prominently in the story's conclusion, for how could I not bring the two corrupted forms of Twilight together for a final battle to determine who is the Supreme Sensual Queen?
I emphasize that Midnight does not have her full power available at this point (thanks to Sci-Twi finding a means to contain it through that amulet she's wearing), which is why her form is barely different than Sci-Twi's. But that will change in due course. Want to know more? Then you know where to look! 
Well, Twilight finally found a therapist who won't just think she has a more mundane condition. Unfortunately, they really can't afford to give her the therapy she needs. If nothing else, Sunset clearly needs to cuddle her more.
Granted, I assume that's usually the case for those two.