//------------------------------// // October 31st: The Candy Colt // Story: MLDC: The Batmare - The Long Nightmare Night // by littleman001 //------------------------------// "Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!" The cheerful chanting of fillies echoed through Manehattan as they went from door to door in bright and colorful costumes and collecting candy as it was costume on October 31st. More commonly known amongst the fillies and colts of Equestria as Nightmare Night. This night was the dream of every foal come true. Lots of candy, no bedtime and spending the night hanging out with their with their friends, telling scary stores, laughing at each other's costumes, pulling spooky pranks they normally would have gotten in trouble for and watching scary movies their parents thought they weren't old enough to watch yet. While the spirit of Nightmare Night was always well known among them, the parents living in the city were reluctant to let their foals out at night to go trick or treating. Which was understandable given the city's notorious reputation as the most crime filled in the entire country. But everything changed once the Batmare showed up in town. The consumed vigilante sent dozens of mobsters and hundreds of street thugs into prison and made the streets infinitely safer for them. So much so that the parents now let their foals go into the night without much concern, knowing that their guardian angel - or guardian bat to be more precise - was out there, looking out for them. Perhaps it goes without saying, but the caped crusader was the most popular choice among the foals to dress up as for the holiday. So much so, that even the they were getting upset with each other for so many of them having the same costume. Eventually, the foals of the city made a silent vow between each other that none of them would dress up as Batmare. Partly because of their respect for the hero and partly because they didn't want nine out of every ten foals to look the same. Even the appearance of the several consumed rogues in the city wasn't able to deter the candy hunters and their parents. The Joker's rampage put everypony in the city on the edge, but almost a year has passed since then and with the Dark Knight foiling all the superpowered threats that emergered since then, the populace has grown largely complacent. Besides, the costumed criminals usually went after bigger prizes than a few foals on the street. The unicorn stallion known as Sweet Dreams should know as he used to be one of them. He had a bright future ahead of him. He was one semester away from finishing summa cum laude at the University of Psychology and already had a clinic that was awaiting him with open hooves. And then Caramel Falcon destroyed his life with a swipe of his hoof. His father refused to pay Falcon the protection money for his bar and so he took revenge by having him thrown out of university. That is why he adopted the mantle of the Scarecrow. He used his knowledge in psychology and various magical illusions to create havoc and fear across the city and rob the stores connected to Falcon's criminal empire. It all went well until he crossed paths with the Batmare. Their battle ended in the favor of the latter and he went from a promising university graduate to an incarcerated criminal. He was no lawyer, but he was certain he was facing a lengthy prison sentence. But then he heard of the Joker and how she escaped prison by the insanity plea. As a last ditch effort, he decided to pull the same one himself and to his surprise, it actually worked. He ended up in the psychiatric ward along with the Joker and the rest of the psychos rounded up by the Batmare. After a few months of therapy, he actually started to question his decisions that lead to him becoming a supervillan. At first, he felt satisfaction from getting back at Falcon, sure, but after he gave it some consideration, he honestly had no idea what he would have done once he was finished. In the end he decided to accept his therapist's help and take his first step on the road towards reformation. A few weeks ago, he's been released from the psychiatric ward, gotten a job that paid enough for him to rent a small house in the suburbs and one of his professors from the university he grew very close to even offered to him that if he behaved as a model citizen for a few years, he could help him get back in university and get his degree in psychology after all. To put it plainly, things were looking up for him and he was close to turning his life around. Suddenly, he heard the doorbell ringing and his lips curled up into an amused smirk. Given the current day, it could have only been another group of trick or treaters. He was prepared for them of course but he wondered if the same could be said for them. While he did his best to reform, some aspects of his Scarecrow persona must have rubbed off on him because he found himself still taking amusement from spooking others. It was all harmless fun now, of course and Nightmare Night was the one time in the year he could indulge in this passion without his parole officer's disapproval. He picked up a bowl of candy that was running so low that this would probably be the last group he will be able to satisfy with it and went to the door. When he opened it, he saw four foals standing outside. One dressed as a cowcolt, another as an astronaut, a third one as a ballerina and behind them was a fourth one dressed as a cliché bedsheet ghost. "Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!" The group sang, holding out their baskets to him. Sweet Dreams smiled. He reached into his bowl and put one candy into the baskets of the first three foals but when he reached out for the last one, his hoof stiffened. His eyes widened in panic as he shook his hoof vehemently in an attempt to make it move again, but suddenly the limb fell off of his body in front of the foals followed by a huge gush of red liquid flowing out his sleeve. The foals screamed in terror and ran off into the night, almost dropping their candy in the process. The stallion laughed heartily as he watched them go before sticking his actual hoof out the sleeve holding a ketchup bottle. He reached down to pick the plastic hoof up and noticed that the bedsheet ghost was still standing there with his basket reached out, expecting their candy. "Wow! You must have nerves of steel." He complicated with a soft smile before reaching into his bowl again. "Here, have an extra piece for that." The bedsheet ghost thanked him with an appreciative nod before turning to leave but as they left the porch, a piece of candy fell out of their basket. Sweet Dreams picked it up and was about to call out to them but they were in such a rush that they completely disappeared from view before the stallion could open his mouth. He looked down at it and saw that it was a caramel bar, which just happened to be his favourite treat. He shrugged. 'Oh, well. Lucky me, then. And after such a long night of giving away free candy, I think I deserve a little reward like this.' He then gathered his props from the porch, cleaned up the mess he made before heading inside and locking the door. He still had a bit of energy left in him so he decided to do some reading before heading to bed. He sat down in an armchair in the living room and picked up a book he was in the middle of. As he read, he helped himself to his leftover candy from the night. He's probably been visited by all foals from the neighbourhood at this point so he didn't think any more would come and there was no reason to let them go to waste. He started with the caramel bar dropped by the bedsheet ghost and gently unwrapped it. He began to consume it as he resumed his reading and found himself surprised at how bitter it tasted, but he didn't think anything of it and quickly finished the treat. He then reached for another one before he felt a sudden wave of nausea overcoming him. The whole room started to spin with him as he grabbed his head. He dropped his book on the floor as a heavy coughing fit came over him. It was so bed that he was afraid he was gonna throw up. He tried to get out of the chair and head to the bathroom, but he found all of his strength leaving him. He couldn't do nothing but fall back in his chair as everything around him went black. Captain Jam Garden of the Manehattan Police Department really hated his job sometimes, but never was that so prevalent than when duty called him away from the side of his family. It was supposed to be an uneventful, relaxing night. His two foals would be out there collecting candy with their friends like everypony else on Nightmare Night, he would spend a quiet evening at home with his wife that only should have been interrupted by the occasional trick or treaters. Instead, it was interrupted by a call from his partner, Hardy Bulldog about a murder case. Just his rotten luck, the psychos of this city couldn't wait for him to be back on duty before they started killing each other. At times like this, he really regretted not listening to his mother - Faust rest her soul. 'Police academy? What's wrong with dentist school?' At least then, he'd only need to worry about the state of his foals' teeth instead of another psycho killer roaming the streets and their potential body count. With a sigh, he put out his cigar and crossed the police line tapes to enter the house that served as the crime scene. Hardy was already waiting for him at the door. "You're not making my life easy, partner." He said gruffly as he followed the earth pony inside. "Finally I get a night off with my wife and you can't find anypony else to bother with this case." "I'm sorry, partner." Hardy retorted. "I'm gonna go ask the homicidal maniacs of the city to start offing each other at more considerate times regarding your work schedule." The unicorn rolled his eyes. "Let's just get this over with. Has the victim been identified?" "You're never gonna believe it?" Hardy said as he lead his partner into the living room. "You remember Sweet Dreams? AKA, The Scarecrow?" Garden's eyes widened as he saw the former fear mongering super criminal sitting in an armchair in the middle of the room, pale, stiff and dead as a doornail. "Looks like his crimes have caught up with him." Hardy finished. It took Garden a few moments to get over his shock. He was well aware of the crimes of the unicorn stallion in front of him but that didn't mean he believed he deserved to die like this. But even more so, he was shocked that somepony was able to murder this former criminal mastermind like this. Speaking of which, he saw nothing that indicated foul play here. "What makes you think it was a murder?" He asked. His partner gave him a questioning look. "Can't you smell it?" It was the unicorn's turn for a questioning look. "Smell what?" Hardy pulled a robber glove onto his hoof and picked up a candy wrapping. "Cyanide. It's so bitter it stings my nostrils. The candy he ate was bathed in the stuff." This earned an angry frown from the captian. "Poisoned candy on Nightmare Night. Is nothing sacred anymore?" Garden fumed, thinking of his own foals trick or treating out there. "Where did he get it anyway? If he was the one who poisoned it, he wouldn't have eaten it." Hardy shrugged. "Probably thought he'd eat the leftovers from the trick or treating himself. My guess is it was already poisoned when he bought it." Garden looked down at the dead body in the armchair, already knowing that this investigation was gonna be a pain in the flank. "Uh, listen, Jam..." Hardy started nervously. "I know you're buddy-buddy with you know who. Don't you think we should let her in on this investigation? Given the identity of the victim, this case could be bigger than we realise." But Garden was unconvinced. "I don't think that's necessary, Hardy. So far, we have no reason to assume this isn't an isolated case." Hardy sighed and looked down. "Yeah, that's what I thought too. Until I checked the inside of the wrapping. You should take a look too." Garden did as he was instructed and picked it up with his magic. He raised the wrapping under the lamp's dim light and he saw the writing on the paper. I gave him something sweet to bite. The Candy Colt. She still hasn't gotten used to it. Though she probably should have, given how many times it was used in the past few months. But she still found herself surprised whenever she saw that bat symbol appear on the sky, reflected from the police headquarters. She was being called again. Captain Garden was putting the Flash's creation into good use. Because, heaven knows, the city needed it. It's been over a year since she began her crusade against crime and while the mob may have been all but wiped out, the costumer rogues were thriving. It was like fighting a hydra, no matter how many of them she put away, two more took their place the next day. She still hasn't managed to track down Killer Croc, the Clayface killer or the newest addition to the bunch, the crossbow huntress picking off criminals on the street. This wasn't exactly the example she wanted to set when she donned the cowl. But that was a problem for another day. Right now, she had to make her way to the police station to see what was the problem this time. She felt bad about leaving Spike alone at the library to deal with the trick or treaters by himself, but since they were giving away candy and not gems, she knew he won't be eating them all himself. And she also knew the captain wouldn't summon her unless it was important. When she reached the roof of the station, she was greeted by the familiar image of Captain Garden standing with his back to her, smoking a cigar. She landed on the top of the reflector, making a loud clanging sound that got the attention of the officer. "Happy Nightmare Night, Captain." The vigilante greeted before hopping off of the device and standing in front of him. Garden sighed. "I wish I could say the same, but it looks like it's gonna be anything but. At least for us." He then put out his cigar and turned back to the costumed crime fighter questioningly. "You took your time. Is everything OK?" Batmare nodded. "I'm still getting used to the signal. That's all." She said, motioning at the reflector. "You and me both." The captain replied. "Imagine my surprise when two of my subordinates barged in to the courtyard, carrying this thing. They tried to pass it off as their own creation. Maybe I would have even believed it if they weren't two of the most dimwitted cops I've ever met." Of course, Batmare told him the device's real story when he first summoned her with it. "But let's get back to business." He sighed and reached inside his coat, pulling out a dossier. "Somepony murdered the Scarecrow." Now, that caught her off guard. She was aware of the former psychology student's release from prison and she's been monitoring him long enough to know that he was no longer a threat. He was really trying to reintegrate into society so why would anypony do this? Unless... "Revenge?" She asked, unable to think of any other possible motive. "We don't know, but our guess is somepony trying to make a name for themselves as a supervillan killer." Garden answered, pulling out the signed candy wrapping in a translucent evidence bag. "He was poisoned with a caramel bar. One specifically meant for him. The poisoner signed his "work"." Batmare held up the wrapping and saw the Candy Colt's message. "If that was the case, the killer would have sent this message in a more public way. This was meant for the police to find." She told him. "Scarecrow was the specific target. This has to be more than just a psycho's cry for attention." "I really hope you're right because the last thing we need is another Joker on the loose." Garden said as he pulled out another cigar and lit it with his magic. "All the details are in the dossier. How are you going to..." When the captain looked back at the vigilante, he found that she was gone as if she never stood there. "...start?" He sighed before taking a puff. "At this point, why am I even surprised?" It was way past midnight by the time the Batmare got back to her own headquarters in the old abandoned tunnels beneath the Atheneigh Library. As she entered her crime lab with the dossier in her hoof, she pulled off her cowl to reveal Twilight Sparkle, former student of Princess Celestia before she lost her horn while protecting the princess from a magical assassination attempt, forcing her to leave her side. She moved to Manehattan to start a new life where she met and fell in love with a unicorn stallion who ran this library before her. But one fateful night, her fiance was murdered by a hitpony sent by the city's the biggest crime lord, Caramel Falcon for his meddlings in his affairs. Ever since that night, Twilight spent every waking hour to make sure that this tragedy will never happen to anypony else again in this city. She owed her love's memory that much. She clapped her hooves together twice and the entire place was suddenly illuminated with bright lights. She turned around to access the large computer behind her but before she could sit down in her chair, she was greeted by the angry scowl of her young dragon assistant, Spike. "You owe me big time, Twilight." The purple drake growled. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to withstand the siege of hordes of greedy little foals on a sugar rush?! It was like a zombie apocalypse up there! I almost wished there was another big case I could be helping you with instead already!" "Well, Spike, your wish is granted." Twilight replied as she held up the dossier. "The Scarecrow is dead." Spike's anger faded away and was replaced by shock. "Really?! How?!" "Poisoning. By somepony who calls himself the Candy Colt." Spike's fear exploded into full blown panic. "Poison and candy?! On Nightmare Night?! But all those foals out there! Have the ponies been warned?" Twilight shook her head. "From what Captain Garden told me, they don't want to cause mass panic." "I fail to see how dozens of foals dying from poisoned candy is any better!" "Calm down, Spike!" Twilight shouted, finally silencing the frantic dragon. "I'm more than certain he was the only target. The killer left a message for the police in the wrapping of the candy he ate." The mare then sat down in front of her computer and opened the dossier. "But I share your urge in catching the killer. Captain Garden believes somepony might be after the costumed rogues who have been popping up in the city." "Is it wrong not to feel too concerned about that?" Spike asked cynically. "At least you won't have to risk your life out there so often in stopping them." Twilight turned to glare at the young dragon. "You know that's not what I believe in, Spike!" She said harshly, perhaps harsher than she meant. "Whoever did this is just another killer! A criminal no better than the ones they're targeting! And they need to be brought to justice!" Spike winced at her tone and decided it would be better to make himself useful. "So how should we start?" Twilight looked down at the documents. "We have no leads, no suspects, no motive. I can only guess this was done by somepony as revenge. Seeking their own form of justice." "You do realise that doesn't do much to narrow it down, right?" Spike asked dryly. "That guy terrorised the entire city." "Maybe not." Twilight replied before her gaze landed on the autopsy report. "But perhaps the murder weapon could help us. They identifed a very specific form of cyanide in his stomach. Let's check the list of ponies who have access to it." Spike nodded and pulled up a seat next to the mare and began his own search on a separate computer screen. The duo have been at it for hours and the list of ponies who could have access to such a substance was only growing longer. Twilight found herself becoming groggy by the time the clock struck 3 am. Spike tried to get her to go to bed, but her stubbornness refused to until the list was complete. But eventually she realised that she won't be able to do solid detective work if she was exhausted and finally gave in. As she shut the cave down and headed back upstairs, the last words shared between them before they headed to bed was Spike joking about how they'll finally have a good excuse for sleeping through the day.