Manehattan's Lone Guardian
Luna, Won't You Cry For Me?
Previous ChapterNext ChapterWhen all was said and done, the thieves were taken back to the R.P. station.
Leviathan reversed what damage she could with their portions of Reddocite, both to herself and to the warehouse, but it was still far more than she could fix on her own. The Police promised to try and get in contact with the building's owner (though that wasn't promising on account of its abandonment), and opted to put out a notice in the newspaper notifying those who had items stored there: recompense was on the agenda.
It was only after repeated reassurances that they'd done nothing wrong that Maverick and Magnum freed themselves from the rafters. They took a few moments to retrieve a few personal belongings that they'd been forced to abandon a month ago. Magnum was especially pleased to find a case of black eyeliner exactly where she'd left it, and it turned out that the book with the fox on its cover had belonged to Maverick since her early childhood.
It wasn't lost on Leviathan that she owed her life to her two assistants. Deep inside, she promised that she would find some way to pay them back for what they'd done for her.
To summarize the day's events up until that point:
The immediate threats in the city were stopped. The Midnight Castles were defeated once and for all, Bushwhacker was telling the authorities everything he knew about his ex-Queen's plans, and Calico Driftwood---wherever she was---was no longer a threat. The staff at Sunrise Laboratories would be questioned and treated for injuries, with those at Ocean Guard's workplace following suit. The ever-vigilant journalist Honest Crow would catch wind of the ordeal, prompting another rush of story-seekers from the Manehattan Minutes.
Not everything was coming up roses, though. The submersible that was packed with drones was long gone, and while it could still possibly be tracked, Leviathan was forced to put that on the back burner out of her desire to rest. Too, the stolen materials from the laboratories were nowhere to be found. Third and final, Gray hadn't yet reported back from whatever mission she'd gone out on, so whether it was a success or a failure wasn't yet known.
The Ghost-Guard children congregated at the hospital so they could support Fiver, with Ocean eventually following them thanks to a note Ebony had the foresight to leave behind at their apartment. They decided to stick around: whenever Gray re-surfaced, they knew she'd want to be there for Fiver too. Juniper Leaf went home, having been relieved of her task, but would later return in the hopes of talking some more with Gray before the day was out.
And elsewhere, those with problems much more severe paid the world around them no mind.

As the hours and days passed, Hazelnut Mocha continued to persist.
Had she been conscious of it, she would've thought it was an odd choice of words. "Persist" by itself commonly meant 'to continue', so saying 'continued to continue' sounded awkward. Yet, that was what she was doing: fighting to keep going, to keep her head above water however it took.
And much to her relief, it was slowly getting easier.
Having nothing else to do, Hazelnut chiseled away at the morass of memories. She only paid attention to the present when something important was happening, focusing more on the past. There wasn't anything she could do about the present anyway beyond using her ancestor's personal trauma to keep herself going.
For now.
It had reached the point where, as with Quarter's dreams, Hazelnut could see the memories directly. She did not need to wait for Quarter to summon them herself. The perpetual fog was beginning to clear. If only she could free herself from the swamp she was still trapped in... but that would only happen if she'd come to terms with all of the memories, she'd decided.
Dealing with the most pertinent ones seemed the best course to take at present. She'd suffer the monotony of the others when the time came.
...
She remembered how jarring White Rook's first biggest perspective shift had been. Decades after he had received that locket from a costumer and experimented with it, he lay dying from illness and age. His wife had long since passed and their youngest son was elsewhere, so only his oldest son and grandchildren were present.
The locket was around his neck. He'd taken to wearing it almost constantly in his later years, if only so that he would always be able to keep track of it. It had seemed important to do so, even if he had never nailed down exactly how it worked.
When it had happened, it had taken place quickly. Rook had breathed his last, his heart had stopped beating, his brain ceased to function... and the next thing he knew, he was staring at his own dead body through his son's eyes. He'd experienced a freak-out, though much of it was mental. His grandchildren saw their father spasming and trying not to cry, but mistook it for grief.
The spasming wasn't just due to his shock at being three decades younger. When his mind settled into his son's body, he had experienced a sudden influx of knowledge and memories. Everything that his son had known and experienced was now his. This included a passable knowledge of magic: his first child, owing in part to Rook's choice of wife, was a unicorn. It was as if he'd always lived that life and had just now returned 'home', in a sense.
He would later count himself fortunate that his son had been wearing clothing that covered his flanks. Otherwise, there was no way he'd be able to explain why he had two different Cutie Marks struggling for dominance. After he fully realized what had happened and came to terms with it, he made it a priority to find a means of separating the Marks. The manipulation of "Stratos" in the modern day indicated that he eventually succeeded.
...
Hazelnut felt sorry for Rook's first victim. The poor stallion probably didn't know what had happened. One moment he was grieving, and the next he was a prisoner in his own mind. He was long gone by now, and in light of the number of memories that smothered him compared to what she'd experienced, the process probably wasn't a short one.
She wondered why Rook had never disposed of the locket after its powers had become evident. He had to know that he was effectively killing his own children each time he used it. Was there a part of him that didn't care? Or did he always care, but wanted to experience a longer lifespan anyway? She didn't know; the revelation that Quarter did in fact care had bypassed her completely.
...
Quite some time had gone by since Rook's first transfer. During those years, the events of Hearth's Warming had taken place. The family farm that Rook had purchased had become too cold and inhospitable, putting their livelihoods in danger. Everypony would abandon it to settle at what would become known as Equestria. The negative connotations of an earth pony marrying a unicorn eased up some after the windigos were dealt with, and the family's credibility started increasing.
Hazelnut shivered at her core, understanding more than ever what made Hearth's Warming so important. Cocoa Mocha had always warned that the windigos were real; she wasn't convinced before, but she was now. Despite not actually feeling the cold, she didn't want to see their brand of desolation again.
...
Her first day back in the fold, Quarter had claimed to have been an eyewitness of Discord's defeat; Hazelnut was dealing with her initial struggles and terror, but she recalled that much at least. She didn't really know who Discord was beyond a few odd tales.
Coming across Quarter's memories of him convinced Hazelnut that she had not been exaggerating about the 'ringmaster of the chaos circus' bit. Checker-boarded landscapes. The sky occasionally shifting between normal---if oddly colored---sky and assorted fractals. Trees happily pulling themselves out of the ground and painting pictures of poofy-haired personages. A wild-haired colt being pursued by a stuffed tiger. Stones descending on inclines before singing. Heads of lettuce taking turns jump-scaring each other. Wings detaching from birds, sprouting feet, and walking off... and all of that was just the start. Hazelnut couldn't even begin to comprehend everything that was happening.
And in the background of it all was the silhouette of a throne and its occupant: a mix-and-match dragon-like figure who could be faintly heard waxing lyrical about the joys of chaos.
White Rook---who at this point was in his fifth body, an earth pony named Potato Bread---stumbled across a purple cloud that was raining buckets of a strange brown liquid. That wasn't figurative: actual buckets were dropping out of the cloud, most of them falling onto their sides and spilling their contents. After a short time, the cloud moved on.
Potato edged near the liquid cautiously and gave it a sniff. Noticing that it had a pleasant smell to it, he tentatively lapped out of a bucket that had managed to stick the landing. The sweet taste of it enthralled him; he immediately grabbed the bucket and proceeded to drain it dry. "This is delicious!" he exclaimed upon finishing (ignoring a screw-shaped ball flying past him that had been thrown by a meal ticket marked 'No. 11'). "What is this, and where can I get more?"
He didn't have time to say or do anything else before the loud sounds of a confrontation reached his ears. He realized that it was coming from where he'd sighted Discord, and he rushed to get as close a look as he could without being sighted.
Discord was having a heated exchange with two alicorns... or rather, the alicorns were heated; Discord was having a ball laughing at them. Potato had heard of Celestia and Luna, of course---kind of hard not to, given their status---but this was the first time he'd ever seen them up close. He wondered how they planned to stop the chaos bringer.
At first things didn't seem to be going too well; Celestia inexplicably lost her tail to Discord for a time, which gave Potato a start. Then both alicorns pulled a set of six gemstones out of their saddlebags, one of which was in the shape of a six-pointed star. A thick whirlwind of power surrounded the sisters, a wave of rainbow radiance smothered Discord, and a laughing statue was left where he'd been sitting.
It was one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen.
Even as everything around him reverted back to their previous states, Potato was galloping towards them. As they turned, he slowed to a stop and prostrated himself before them. "Everything's normal again!" he declared, laughing joyously. "Thank you! Thank you both so much!"
The alicorns beheld him, their poise regal. It was not lost on him that their coats were marred, and he wondered what they'd gone through to get to this point. "Stand up," Celestia told him kindly. "Discord's brand of suffering is over and done. You will never have to worry about him again."
"It is now a time of recovery," Luna continued in the same tone. "Go home, rest, and may your dreams be pain-free."
At that point, Potato didn't believe that his newfound sense of loyalty towards them could ever be shaken.
...
Hazelnut separated herself from the memory, shunting it aside. She felt rattled from what she'd just witnessed, and she needed a moment to summarize to herself what she'd seen.
Alright. So this is where our family's infatuation with chocolate milk got its start, but never mind that. The tales that Cocoa---no, Quarter used to tell have a basis in reality: Discord did actually exist, and the darker alicorn---Luna---has somehow been reduced to being the subject of fairy tales.
Why'd Celestia see the need to cover up her sister's existence? Why'd she relegate her to being a non-entity? Judging from that memory, the two were on good terms! How did things go so badly? Why did Luna change like she did?
More important is Quarter. If you take away the fact that she never stopped stealing her descendants' lives to keep living, she's nobody special, though loyal. What happened to make her so determined to off Celestia...?
...!
A large part of her cringed in horror as she realized she'd forgotten something important. Oh no... I'm not going to have to wade through that incident, am I...?
She determined that yes, she would need to. Her thoughts manifested as whimpers. Never mind seeking therapy later; I wish there was a therapist in here already, because this is going to be the biggest nightmare ever. And I've been living a nightmare, for Celestia's sake!
Ugh, I just know this is going to rip the years away from my life...
With a great deal of hesitation, Hazelnut went back to shifting through the inventory of memories. Days, weeks, months, moons, years... they were all set aside for later, their relevance to the situation lacking. It was around the time that Quarter and Ignition's thunderstorm gambit was commenced that she found what she was looking for.

One of Potato Bread's descendants, a unicorn named Turquoise, got it into his head to work for the Princesses directly as a soldier. The family was strongly loyal to them, so his mother didn't have any objections to his chosen career path. "It's what papa would've wanted," she had told him when he stated his intentions.
He would progress through his training as normal before eventually being assigned to Luna's detachment of night guards. Later, he had a squad of his own assigned to him. He possessed a reputation as being strict but fair, only doling out punishment when it was required and being generally congenial when not giving orders. The squad as a whole liked him, and both Princesses expressed their approval of his work at different points.
It was shortly after this that Turquoise's mother passed away. Being the oldest child of the family, he became the next unfortunate soul to inherit White Rook's will.
...
It happened one late evening shortly after the shift change was completed. Without a single warning, the world shook violently and roared. Night briefly became day without Celestia being responsible for it. All throughout the sisters' castle, ponies panicked and made loud exclamations as they wondered what was happening, with the Princesses being no exceptions to this.
As soon as everything stopped shaking and the light dimmed to more suitable levels, Turquoise was quick to respond. Before Luna could order him to investigate, he was already summoning his squad together. Once he was positive that they were fully prepared, he led them out into the surrounding Everfree.
But nothing could've prepared them for what they saw when they arrived at their destination.
"GrrrrRRAAWWWRRR!"
Nopony had any idea what was standing in the crater they found. Whatever it was, it was the most horrendous creature they had ever seen. It stood on two legs well above the heights of those present, and was adorned in maroon and white armor over a charcoal-colored suit of some kind. Its eyes glowed red as it snarled and screamed in pain and rage. Held in one hand was a purple blade that to the squad's eyes was made of purest magic.
Most shocking to them was that the creature was pure metal. It was burned, half-melted in places, and severely damaged across its entire front. Electricity flickered around its wounds, all of which showed that the creature should not be truly alive in any way. It was disconcerting: beings that were made of things other than flesh and bone were known to exist, but the impression that at least a few of the soldiers got was that this one should be able to walk among organic life with none the wiser.
The creature seethed and growled, not noticing them at first. "That fake... That fake...! That fake! This is not our battleground! With all that encouragement... the least you could've done is finish the job!" It threw back its head and howled at the sky. "Zeroooo!"
That last word was articulated in a way that the squad had trouble discerning it, sounding to them like another scream.
(Hazelnut would've blinked if she could. Did that thing say 'Zero'? she wondered. 'Zero' like the warrior Leviathan mentioned in the newspaper?)
Unfamiliar it might've been, Turquoise recognized a monster when he saw one. He ordered his soldiers to engage the enemy.
It finally took notice of them. With a wicked smirk, it gathered himself and jumped out of the crater straight at them---
...
...
Pure berserk fury. That's all it was. The monster was much too strong, and even in a weakened state it was still fast and agile enough that none of the squad's attacks exacerbated its wounds.
If Hazelnut had the faculties for it, she would've gotten violently sick. She settled for an internal scream that matched the external one Turquoise was emitting as his squad evaporated before the entity's onslaught. For as long as she existed, she would never be the same pony again.
...
...
At the end, there were only two left.
Turquoise stammered out the names of his soldiers, taken back at how badly they were blitzed by the creature and his magic blade. He believed he'd known fear before, when the likes of Discord and Tirek had threatened Equestria.
It took the deaths of his squad for it to sink in just how wrong he'd been. Discord wanted to enjoy himself and have fun. Tirek sought to grow stronger by stealing ponykind's magic. This monster desired nothing more than destruction. No other ulterior motives. "Everypony..." Turquoise managed to gasp. "Why... WHY?!"
The monster looked up from the carnage he'd caused, meeting Turquoise's eyes directly. It chuckled darkly. "Strange circumstances. Nothing is familiar here. But I guess you're too far gone now to answer me... oh, well. I might as well finish what I started. I can always find my answers at wherever you came from."
No... the Princesses! I cannot let it reach them!
"Die with this reality on your mind, creature. You should not have dared to fight me!" Its chuckling escalated into a crescendo as its bound carried it towards him. "I AM THE MESSIAH!"
It was pure desperation that sparked Turquoise into action, both for himself and those he served. A spell that was tailored to damage inorganic materials shot from his horn, striking the monster squarely in mid-jump. The spell's mechanics recognized the target as consisting of earth-born substances and wrapped around it, consuming the entity entirely.
The snarling grin and mad laughter as it was disintegrated would stay with Turquoise forever.
A pile of dust dropped to the forest floor. The monster's magic sword fell near it; the blade vanished as it hit the ground, leaving only the hilt. The dust would blow away on the next strong breeze.
Turquoise collapsed at the close call, but he felt no relief. For a time he paid no mind to his surroundings, caring only for the irreversible losses he had incurred. He wept, and continued to do so even while Princess Luna arrived at the battleground. He paid no mind to her shocked exclamation or her inquiries, only managing a weak “they're gone” when she finally succeeded in getting his attention.
At the end, there were only two left.

It took Hazelnut a few minutes to realize that she was crying just as loudly as she had when Cocoa had died.
Therapy might be able to ease the trauma, but she was never going to forget what had happened to those soldiers. Martial arts training and at-times crass manners notwithstanding, she counted herself as a peaceful law-abiding citizen who had never been subjected to the horrors of war. What she'd seen pained her deeply.
She couldn't push the memory aside fast enough. Anything, anything at all, was better than living with those sights emblazoned on her heart.
She didn't notice that the mindscape's fog was substantially clearer than it had been just a short time ago.
…
A comparatively minor experience coalesced shortly thereafter. Luna would soon deem Turquoise unfit to lead and relieved him of his duty. He didn't protest, instead thanking her for accepting him as long as she had.
“You're not the only one who feels sorrow from recent events,” Luna would answer. Her voice was quieter than normal; she knew better than to raise it in this scenario. “This experience is something that no right-minded pony wishes to face. It's my fervent wish that you're able to move on from this to whatever extent is possible.”
“I'll admit that I'm not looking forward to notifying all of their families, your nightship,” Turquoise confessed weakly, his eyes and mind elsewhere.
“'Tis a troublesome duty, but one that must be done. Consider it the final order I can give you as your direct superior.” Luna's features softened. “I shall keep an eye out for any nightmares that come about from this. In the meantime, I will discuss memorial arrangements with my sister. Go peacefully, Turquoise. I hope the next time we meet will be under better circumstances.”
He bowed and left to get his belongings together.
When he left the castle, he took the magic sword with him. He recognized it as dangerous, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to destroy it. Like with the locket many years before, there was something about it that intrigued him...
…
He's crazy, Hazelnut kept repeating to herself. He's crazy! He's taking that monster's weapon as what, a trophy? You'd think that with what happened, he'd have zero hesitation about destroying it too!
She huffed. That pony's mind is all sorts of wrong.
Hazelnut resumed scanning through Quarter's memories. For the next few years there was little to nothing of note. Then, one fateful night...

When he woke up, Turquoise knew right away that something was terribly wrong. This was about the time when the moon was supposed to be lowered to make way for the sun. But when he looked out the window, the shining orb was still a gentle silver, not a fiery yellow. Darkness still lay on his abode.
There had been a few odd times when the celestial bodies were a few minutes late for mundane reasons, but this felt like something more serious. He told his wife—who herself had just awakened—that he was going to check on something, then he was galloping away from his home as fast as his hooves could carry him.
His instincts hadn't failed him. Before he could reach the Everfree, bright flashes of light were visible over the treetops. Moments later a magic blast soared into the sky before eventually fizzling out, briefly stalling him. A battle was taking place at the Sisters' castle.
And he was not there to protect the Princesses.
Turquoise continued to run along the marked trail that led to the Castle. The forest's foliage was thick, but not so thick that he couldn't see the sky or the moon's gentle light. So when the light momentarily became less gentle, he had a clear view of it. He stopped for a short time, both to catch his breath and see what was happening.
A multi-colored stream was barreling high into the sky. Gravity refused to claim it, citing irreconcilable differences in ideology. It struck the moon, a brief rainbow shock wave flaring from it.
Neither the form the magic took nor the shape of the cratered scar that had been left behind were lost on Turquoise. “No,” he whispered. “Please don't let it be...”
...
Turquoise's chest was heaving as he exited the forest some time later. His first thought was to keep going, but the ruined state of the Castle gave him pause. What prompted a conflict such as this?
It took him a few minutes to catch his breath. As he recovered, he noticed the lack of activity around the ruins. The night patrols should've been active, but so far he hadn't seen a single pony. Did they flee, or did they end up on the wrong side of the battle?
At last, the scarred moon slowly and hesitantly dropped below the horizon. Everything was pitch-black for a few seconds before the sun rose. It seemed to quaver in its movements...
Turquoise's jaw fell open as the pieces started falling into place. He turned his eyes away from the sky back towards the ruins, his vision narrowing.
…
“PRINCESS CELESTIA!”
In what was left of the throne room, Celestia forced herself to re-assume her regality as the unicorn galloped up to her. “Turquoise? It has been a while. I apologize for my current state, but I assure you---”
Turquoise didn't let her finish. “Where's Princess Luna?”
Celestia was caught off guard by his vitriol, not knowing him to have possessed such. “...She is not here. Not anymore.”
Turquoise was close enough that she could see the patterns in his irises, far too close for proper decorum. “What did you do to her? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!”
Celestia flinched, but got enough of her act together to answer him. “Turquoise, calm yourself!” she bellowed in an attempt to make him back down, voice powered by Ye Olde Royal Canterlot.
Before, Turquoise would've been turned aside by the order's magnitude. Now, it only drove him to anger and tears. “She did nothing wrong! BRING HER BACK!”
To her credit, Celestia didn't try to escalate it once she realized he wasn't going to be deterred. She turned away to face the wall... or rather, a gaping hole in it caused by one of Nightmare Moon's magic blasts. “...I did what I could for the well-being of Equestria. There's no going back from this. She let herself fall, and I was too preoccupied with myself to see the warning signs.”
“...You used them, didn't you?”
By 'them', she knew he was referring to the Elements of Harmony. “Yes. I did. This was not a decision made lightly. I realize that she helped keep your trauma under control, but---”
It was at this point that communications between them suffered a complete breakdown. “That's right, she did. You used the Elements on your own sister, Celestia. Your own sister. I was there when the both of you demolished Discord. For somepony who claims to care about Equestria, you're sure not keen on channeling that care responsibly!”
Celestia caught his slip of the tongue, but didn't understand what he meant. Turquoise hadn't even been born at that point. “What are you talking about?” she questioned him, confused.
Turquoise mistook her confusion as being directed towards his accusation instead of his accidental claim to longevity. “You know full well what I'm talking about! I'm not deaf, Princess. I've heard the rumors. I didn't want to believe them.” Turquoise turned away from her and walked towards the exit, still talking. “But you just confirmed it for me. You wanted attention and love so badly that you drove your sister off course. I respect you for your power, Celestia. But that's all I respect you for.”
He came to a stop as he neared the exit. “Wield your power as you wish. I'll continue to live in the Equestria you and Princess Luna helped forge. For everything she did, I owe that much to her. I imagine somewhere down the line, my descendants will forget what happened here last night.” His head turned to glare at her, eyes full of hate. “But I never will. I promise you that.”
And then he was gone, leaving Celestia with both the pain of having exiled her sister and the unease of his final statements.

Coming into the memory nearly a millennium after the fact, Hazelnut was able to keep a clear head. There were several details she had caught that Turquoise had not.
The biggest one was that the space around Celestia's eyes had been red and puffy. Far from just banishing Luna for the good of Equestria, it suggested to Hazelnut that she had taken Luna's loss just as hard as Turquoise had, if not harder. Unknown to both herself and her ancestor, she'd been grieving both during the battle and in its immediate aftermath; she only got herself back together when she heard her subject's approach.
Another detail involved Celestia's physical state. She might've done an excellent job of hiding it behind her poise and authority, but she was hurting to some degree from the battle. Hazelnut had enough spars with her grandfather and Caramel to recognize when somepony was trying to act tough, most of all herself.
The scion wondered how much things would be different if Turquoise hadn't been so quick to judge Celestia, or if the solar alicorn had been more open with the events of that night. But neither of those things happened, she sighed. And now my ancestor's got a grudge bigger than the city itself. I hope the Princess learned anything important from that...
She blinked and gave her surroundings a look. Wait a sec. This space here wasn't always so well-defined, was it? And was the lighting always this terrible?
On account of her coming to terms with the memories that meant the most to Quarter, the mindscape's fog had almost fully cleared. Conditions hadn't improved, though; they'd only worsened. The only light was from a pock-marked silver-white disc high above, a mirror of the orb that floated far, far above Equestria. Oddly, the left side was fluctuating between total darkness and complete brightness like that of the sun, the light never reaching her---
Hazelnut wasn't stupid. With a rapid-fire series of clicks, all of the puzzle pieces fit together. With a heart of fear, Hazelnut realized what Quarter's ultimate goal was. All of the meetings and clandestine conversations with Ignition and others were making sense now.
It was not enough for the long-lived body snatcher to see Celestia dead and gone. Quarter was fully intent on taking on all of her power for herself, leaving herself Equestria's sole ruler with full control of the sun and moon. She was going to use the technology that she had reverse-engineered from that monster's sword, backed with the full power of the Crown Jewels and Mocha Martial Arts, to accomplish that goal.
And all of it was being done to carry out a misguided justice for somepony that had lost her way a long time ago.
Author's Note
Music links include: Alex Vith's "Borrowed Memories"; King Meteor's covers of "Exiled One - Omega" and "Omega Battle", from Mega Man Zero 3; "Why", by APC Beats; and "Darkness", from Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective.
So, yeah. Quarter's true motives are revealed at last: she's trying to get vengeance for Princess Luna's banishment to the moon. Fairly cliche, I suppose, but then again I'm already writing an HiE-style story. Might as well add to it.
I've made no secret of the fact that my knowledge of MLP's canon tends to be spotty at best. As such, there's a very real chance that I might've gotten the timeline's wires crossed somewhere. If you see anything off about it, please let me know and I'll look into it.
You can understand that I have no desire to change the story's rating, right? If I'd depicted the events past what I did here, I would've needed to do so. Just take Quarter and Hazelnut's reactions at face value: what happened was about as ugly a sight as you can get.
Omega is capable of speech in his source game. He just didn't use it much beyond his pre-battle quote and an exclamation in the post-battle cutscene. His appearance in X DiVE gave him some more lines and fleshed out his personality a little more beyond "Dr. Weil's attack dog".
The “Ye Olde Royal Canterlot” bit was probably inappropriate for the scene, and I want to apologize to all of you for including it anyway. My entire rationale for it can be summed up as “I couldn't resist.”
EDITED on 2-7-2025: Had Juniper Leaf return to the hospital to account for a discrepancy in her presence in later chapters.
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