Cryo-7

by Metal Pony Fan

In for a Bit, In for a Haircut

Stormy Skies stared silently at her reflection. She could hardly believe what she saw.

"Doth it not please you?" Asked the pony outside the dressing room, dark, silky voice soothing despite its odd vocabulary and meter.

"Oh, no," the young pegasus answered quickly, "it pleases me just fine." She stared some more. The dress she wore was a relatively simple thing,a dark cream colored, and of a deceivingly simple fabric. It was a simple open weave, and any darker, would look like burlap. But, the fabric was layered together before sewing, so any shifting movement caused the dress to shimmer like a hologram. And it covered her scars, except for one or two at the neckline. "It's beautiful."

"Yet thou deign to keep us in suspense? Is thy reflection truly that enchanting?"

The young pegasus smiled. She could hardly believe the entire situation. Radio had been called away shortly after the start of their so called, "first date," mere minutes after they left the clothing shop. But they decided to meet up again for dinner. She gave him the number of her temporary dorm, so he could find her, but it wasn't him that knocked on her door when evening rolled around, it was the pony currently outside the dressing room.

Stormy Skies took a deep breath and opened the door. "What do you think, miss Luna?"

An older unicorn looked her over, midnight blue coat a stark contrast to the younger mare's golden-wheat hue. The unicorn lifted her glasses, and balanced them atop the respectable bun her greying black mane was tied in. "Wonderful."

To the left of the door, another unicorn, maybe in her twenties, rolled her eyes. "Yeah," she scoffed, "wonderful." She fiddled with her long, reed-straight mane. Its dark, blue-green color matched her hole-ridden socks, and stood out against her slender, black-furred body. "Why are we foal-sitting this teenager again?"

"We are not foal-sitting anypony, Chryssy," the older mare admonished. "We are merely getting to know Radio's friend."

"Of course," she said, standing up with a sigh, "which one's Radio again?"

"Cece's new pen pal," Luna reminded her, "the colorful colt."

The black pony's green eyes lit up. "Oh," she said excitedly, "the one you pile-drivered through the floor!" She slowly stood up and looked at the pegasus for the first time that evening. "Oh," she said with some surprise, "a bit young, but definitely a form I will have to remember. Anyway, you spoke with the colt? He must have mentioned it. What floor did he end up on?"

Stormy Skies chewed her lip for a moment. She wasn't sure how this pony was friends with Luna, headmistress of Luna's Academy, but something about her set off the young pegasi's threat radar. "He landed on my desk. Fourth floor. Smashed my pad to pieces."

"Fourth floor? Halfway through the building?" Chryssy laughed hard, a cackling, witch-like sound. "Oh my gosh, Lulu, were you trying to kill the kid? That's hilarious!"

"That's not funny. Holding back was not among his skill sets, and prompted a slight slipup on my part." Luna lowered her head to Stormy. "The destruction of your personal property has resulted from my actions." Her horn lit up, and the tag popped off Stormy's dress. "This dress shall be my recompense. Excuse me a moment."

"It's not a big deal, really," Stormy tried to explain, "it was an old pad, and I needed a new one anyway."

Luna nodded as she walked towards the checkout. "Then we shall seek out an electronics store with all feasible immediacy."

Stormy opened her mouth to refuse, but the black pony stopped her. "She's having fun, let her be."

"But..." Stormy Skies watched the older unicorn trot happily to the counter, hoof over the price tag, and swipe her card. All with a smile on her face. "I didn't even check to see how much it was."

Chryssy trotted over to a rack of similar dresses. "Seven hundred bits," she read off an identical price tag. "I need to try this on."

"S-seven hundred?" Stormy stammered as the other mare nudged past her, heading into the changing room without any clothes. "That's twice the price of a new pad!"

The black pony laughed, sticking her head out the changing room door so she could fix the pegasus with a condescending stare. "Is the word peasant still part of the modern vernacular?" She shut the door without giving the Stormy the opportunity to respond, and a faint green light escaped the seems of the door. "Oh, yes, definitely a look to add to the repertoire."

Stormy glanced back at the nearest clothing rack. "But, you didn't bring the dress in with you... how..."

"Minor detail," Chryssy said dismissively, "ignore it." There was another green light, and the door swung open, but the only change was that she didn't look quite as bored as before. "We need to do something about your mane," she said confidently, "do you have shoes that match the dress?"

Stormy found herself backing away. Her danger meter was pegging at eleven right now, but she couldn't rationally explain why. "Uh, no?"

The black mare suddenly looked confused. "Any shoes at all?"

"With me?" The pegasus shrugged. "Nothing. At home, maybe a pair of rain boots?"

"You poor thing." The unicorn stalked towards her. "We must remedy this situation," she whispered, "my treat."

Stormy only realized she was walking backwards when she bumped into a clothing rack. She glanced back, and by the time she turned back around, the black unicorn was standing snout to snout with her.

"You seem... nervous," the unicorn said with a smile, revealing sharp-looking fangs where most ponies would have flat teeth. "Do I creep you out?"

"No," Stormy said with an uneasy chuckle, "why would you say that?"

"Because I can smell the fear." Their noses touched as Stormy's eyes went wide. "You're a smart pony."

The pegasus broke away, restoring her personal space. "And you're a creepy pony."

The unicorn didn't pursue her, and instead turned her back on the pegasus. "No, I'm not."

"You are pretty creepy," Stormy insisted as the other pony started walking over to where Luna was discussing reward points with the clerk.

"Yes, I am," Chryssy agreed, looking back at Stormy. "Just, not a creepy pony." She stuck her tongue out, its forked tip rattling with the raspberry she blew, and eyes flashing with alien green light as they shifted to a sharp, alien form for a split second. "Come along, shoes await!"

Luna looked up. "Shoes?"

"Shoes," Chrysalis repeated as she reached the counter, "What's-her-name doesn't have any."

"Stormy," Luna corrected before looking back at the clerk. "How many points do I still need?"

"A bit under four hundred, ma'am," came the timely answer.

"Perfect!" Luna tapped the price tag on the counter. "Hold this for me, and we shall finalize the transaction upon procuring elegant hoof-wear."

"Of course, ma'am."

Chrysalis glanced back at Stormy, and whispered to Luna, "I'm thinking those lacy sandals that go halfway up the leg."

---

"Rejected!" Chrysalis grabbed the scissors out of the barber's hoof, and tossed them. Somepony shrieked as they were forced to dodge. "I clearly stated that her mane is too short already." Her voice had a fancy accent to it that wasn't there before they walked in to this little salon. "Did you listen to a word I said? Bring another stylist, this slender-waisted stallion is no good at following orders, and possibly not eating well enough."

"I'm right in front of you," the stallion reminded her.

"Yes, you are, aren't you?" She regarded him for a moment. "Why?" She looked over at the salon's owner. "Please, dispense with this rabble, and bring in a proper stylist."

"Um, I'm sure he isn't that bad," Stormy said from her seat. She was already in the chair, facing the mirrors, sink, and counter full of tools of the trade. A cape was wrapped around her, and her mane lightly misted and combed to prep for cutting. "Do you have to make a scene?"

"Trust me on this one." Chrysalis smiled confidently, as the stylist tried to explain the process behind mane extensions. He was completely ignored. "I've been using mine and others looks as weapons since before..." She stopped and cleared her throat. "Since before you entered highschool." She looked over at Stormy. "This puny stallion may have sufficient skills to tend to the average college girl and boy, but I assure you, he is not up to my standards."

"Okay, so... Why is it so important that my mane be styled to your standards?"

"Call it a quirk of mine," Chrysalis shrugged. "I prefer to see those whose forms I am familiar with in as many mane-styles as possible. Cuts down the work I have to do down the road." She inspected the stylist that came trotting up after the last one tromped away grumbling. "Good heavens, did you do those highlights yourself? Shoo. Shoo! You're surrounded by mirrors in here, why didn't you use them?"

"That's it," Chrysalis decided, taking up a stance behind Stormy's chair, "I'll just have to do it myself. Lulu! Purchase the store, or whatever it is you established influential types do to get your way." Luna walked over to the counter, the designer saddlebags she found while they were shoe shopping sat upon her back. Leaving her to it, Chrysalis leaned in to whisper in Stormy's ear, "I'd do that myself too, but Cece frowns on unnecessary mind control."

Mind control? She was just saying that to mess with her, right? Stormy felt herself sweating, even though being anywhere close to this unicorn made her feel cold. "W-who's Cece?"

"Lulu's older sister," Chrysalis answered before spinning the chair halfway around, jarring the poor pegasus sitting in it. "Going down!" With the tap of a control, the chair jerked back, and Stormy was staring at the ceiling and an excited black unicorn who was making a drawn out show of peeling her socks off. "Stallions have paid your weight in bits to see me do that. We'll start with a good shampooing."

Chrysalis turned on the water, running her hoof under it to check the temperature. She adjusted it a bit before manipulating the chair to center Stormy's head over the sink. "That's it," the black pony cooed, voice suddenly calm and soothing. "Just lay back, relax, and don't think about the fact you don't really know what I am, or what I'm capable of."

Stormy's eyes had slowly been closing until the not-pony finished that sentence. Now, they were glued open.

"Water." As if that was enough warning, Chrysalis pulled the faucet wand off its stand, manipulating the hose with magic. Warm water sprayed Stormy in the face, and her eyes were once again closed. She was also sputtering, and trying to free her hooves of the cape, but whatever. "Calm down, if I wanted to hurt you, there are easier and far more satisfying ways than drowning you in salon water."

In response, Stormy spit-sprayed some of that salon water in the general direction of her voice.

The counter attack was another blast of warm water to the face. "Respect your elders."

Shaking the water off as best she could, Stormy scoffed. "You aren't that much older than me."

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow. "Sure about that, are we?"

"No," the pegasus admitted, "but, even if you are, you don't act like it."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," Chrysalis chuckled, taking the water to Stormy's mane. She was careful with it this time, avoiding getting any in her ears, or any more in her face. "How's the temperature?"

"Kind of nice, actually," Stormy sighed as Chrysalis pulled her forelock back to continue the gentle rinsing, "really nice, actually."

"Don't fall asleep on me," Chrysalis cautioned, "you might end up with a Mohawk."

Stormy's eyes started drifting closed again. "That might be kind of cool."

"Ew, no, I was joking," the black mare said quickly, "that would be a terrible style for the shape of your face."

Stormy heard the pop of a shampoo tube, and nearly jerked out of her chair, throwing warm water everywhere. "Wait! Don't!"

Bottle clutched tight to her chest, Chrysalis had to remind herself to breath. "Now what's wrong?"

Stormy blinked the water out of her eyes, and noticed the other ponies in the salon staring at her. All except for Luna, who had summoned a magic mop, and was sweeping up the puddles around her. "Um, I have allergies," she admitted with a good deal of embarrassment, "could I see the ingredients on that?"

Chryssy gave a forceful nod, and a bottle of every shampoo in the building started floating over. They lined up in front the pegasus, label up. "Be as picky as you need to."

"Yes," Luna agreed, "We have free reign over this chair and station, so long as we clean up after ourselves."

Stormy picked a bottle shampoo out of the lineup, and after working her hoof free of the cape, held it out. "I'm still a little confused as to why you're going through all this trouble just for me."

"I had the day off," Chrysalis shrugged, "and nothing better to do, really."

"Radio mentioned you in passing, and I wanted to meet you." Luna summoned a magic bucket to wring the mop out in. "It has been most enjoyable thus far." She looked over at the salon entrance with a sudden smile. "Ah good, it's here."

A second Luna entered the salon, and trotted over to the first, drawing the eyes and whispers of many guests. She reached into her identical pair of designer saddle bags and pulled out what looked like a smooth piece of glass. "That took much longer than it should have. They did not wish me to leave without the extended warranty."

"Not to worry," the original Luna said as she took the transparent item, "Thank you."

Luna looked over at Stormy as her double dissolved into a swarm of countless silvery blue lights and started flowing into the old mare. "This is for you," she said, completely ignoring the cascading points of energy being absorbed into her body, "along with my sincere apologies."

Stormy looked down at the offered item, and resisted the urge to reach for it. "No, no, I can't accept this." Layers of optical coating caught the light like a lens, drawing Stormy's eyes even as she pulled her hoof back. "I'm sorry."

Luna looked down at it with a slight frown. "Should I have purchased the next size up?"

"No!" The pegasus clamped her hooves over her mouth. She didn't mean to shout. "I mean," she squeaked out between her hooves, "it's too much. That's a Crystal©, isn't it? A real one? I've never even seen one in person. How much did it cost?"

Luna frowned deeper. "It seems I forgot the receipt." She shrugged it off. "Price tag was a hundred bits."

Stormy shook her head. "It had to be more than that."

"The pad itself, yes," Luna agreed, "but the price tag was a hundred bits. I know this for sure."

"You... you have to pay for the price tag?"

Chrysalis nodded quickly. "Oh, yes," she laughed, "I've had several of them purchased for me, and they are not cheap."

"I could've given her one of yours!" Luna scoffed. "Well, they won't let me return it without a receipt. Thanks a lot, Chryssy."

"Hey, don't blame me for your bad memory." She whispered to Stormy, "I think she's going senile in her old age."

"I heard that." She dumped her magic bucket out in the sink, and the bucket itself melted and flowed out with the water. "You're only a year younger than I am."

Stormy's eyes went wider than they had yet. She looked over at the black not-unicorn. No matter how you looked at her, she couldn't have been much more than twenty-five. She was slender, smooth-coated, her face was young and most importantly, her horn didn't have anywhere near enough growth spirals to be Luna's age. "No buckin' way."

Squinting at Luna, lips smushed together and twisted to the side, Chrysalis shoved Stormy back in the chair, and blasted her in the face once more with the sprayer. "Language," she calmly cautioned, "it's unbecoming for a young pony to swear."

Sputtering and spitting once more, Stormy tried to fend off a constant stream of water. "I'll sho-gblh- Peh!" She scrambled to grab the sprayer. "I'll show you unbecoming, you fucking alien bug!" Stormy managed to wrest the device away from Chrysalis, and grab the unicorn by the mane. "See how you like this thing when it's shoved up your-" Chryssy's wide eyes, and a rapid blink-blink stayed the young pegasi's words and actions. "What?"

Chrysalis blinked again before replying, "How'd you know I was a bug?"

Luna raised an eyebrow. "That's what you're focusing on? Everypony's staring."

Chrysalis glanced back , and noted that, yes, there were several pairs of eyes locked on them. "Eh, no matter." She covered Stormy's eyes with her hoof, and a bright light flashed from her horn. "All better!"

Luna, having managed to duck at the last moment, groaned quietly. "Chryssy... Please, tell me you didn't..." She looked over at the salon owner without finishing her sentence.

The poor mare was staring at a pad screen in confusion, glancing over at a paper receipt as her brow furrowed deeper and deeper. "When did I enter all this?" She muttered to herself.

"You did." Luna threw her hooves in the air. "I'll go make sure nopony outside saw that."

"Saw what?" Stormy asked as she pulled the not-unicorn's hoof away. "What was that flash?"

"I erased everypony's memory of your little outburst," Chrysalis pushed Stormy back down, and took the sprayer back to her mane. She was back to working seriously, and heaved a disappointed sigh. "Fun time's over, it's not good to do that multiple times in one day. You wouldn't believe how cranky a mare can get when her husband forgets that they've been married for twenty years, even if she was cheating on him the entire time. Quite pathetic actually."

"What are you?" Stormy finally just had to ask the creature massaging her scalp.

"Immortal shapeshifting bug monster," she answered happily as she added shampoo. "I feed off the excess emotions you ponies are constantly leaking." Stormy went pale as her barber smiled again, sharp teeth on full display. "Don't worry, Lulu knows, and I assure you, there will be no side effects from the feeding process."

"Wait, are you feeding off me right now?"

Chrysalis shushed her, glancing back to make sure nopony heard that. "As a matter of fact, no. Fear is, eh, meh?" She shrugged. "It's tricky. It only tastes good when it's well deserved, oh but when it is, it's one of the most satisfying emotions. Especially the creeping fear that shakes anger and confidence when some evildoer realizes his or her plans are crumbling around them." She licked her lips, savoring a memory. "Oh, I might still be evil myself if it wasn't for that taste."

"Still?" Stormy asked cautiously.

"Heyyy..." The not-pony's smile changed, it looked kinder, more genuine now. "The fear's going away, knew you could do it. Curiosity's good. It's easy to gorge yourself on it though, even for a pony, so it must be tempered, but it's better then pointless fear. I'm going to use a tiny bit of magic." Stormy's scalp felt pleasantly cool as shampoo was worked in, with just the faintest tingle. "Yes, I used to be evil. Not objectively evil, I suppose, but subjectively so? I cared for my ponies the way any ruler might, but I was ruthless. Woe befall all who stand in my way, and all that good stuff. Revenge was a hobby of mine. Conquered a few kingdoms, laid waste to them slowly as they were drained of resources. Nearly conquered the largest kingdom at the time by taking the place of one of their princesses and draining power from her soon to be husband, but had my flank handed to me by the very power I sought to steal."

Stormy felt a distinct lack of fear now, and much more overwhelming curiosity. How old was this creature? What planet was she from? There haven't been kingdoms in the Assembly for hundreds of years. There were still some on the outer worlds, was she from one of those? "What sort of power?"

"The power of love." Stormy started rinsing the shampoo out of Stormy's mane. "I know, totally cliche, but love is probably the most powerful emotion. Most filling for sure. Also the most nuanced. It can be a fickle flower that crumbles in a breeze, or it can be a mighty pillar. It can be the strongest shield, or the sharpest blade. Worse yet, it can be nourishing water, or bitter poison. I've tasted them all."

"That's-"

"Hey," Chrysalis bopped the pegasus on the nose with a wet hoof, "no pity. It tastes like sulphur."

Stormy frowned, but couldn't find it in her to get angry like earlier. "Well, what type of love tastes best?"

Chrysalis sighed. "You know, in my entire life, less than a dozen ponies have ever asked me that." Chrysalis slowly adjusted the chair a little more upright, slicking water of Stormy's mane, and into the sink. "Familial love is great, it's solid and filling. That's not to say every family actually contains familial love, sadly, but when it's real, it's a powerful thing. Still, it only gets the bronze in the love rankings. Friendship, the unlimited supply of platonic love, is next, it's what most changelings survive on nowadays. This may lead to rather bizarre and unfortunate appearance issues, but hey, we're shapeshifters. The flavor can vary, but even when it's bad, it's kind of good, like pizza. It gets the silver."

Stormy felt concern creeping back. "There's more of you?"

"Probably no more than any other type of pony," she shrugged, "but not all changelings are immortal. I'm a bit of a special case, a hive queen, and the strongest one ever. Most of us just blend in, and go about our lives. Jobs, families, friends, mortgages, all the same as the rest of ponykind, except for maintaining hives and cocoons in the basement. You've probably met several, and don't even know it."

"Not if they're anything like you," Stormy boasted, "I've felt something off about you from the second we met."

Chrysalis raised an eyebrow.

Stormy felt it again, that feeling of something being off, and it was intensifying at an alarming rate. She was even starting to feel nauseous. "Whatever you're doing, please stop."

"Ok," Chrysalis said quickly. Stormy's odd feeling disappeared entirely. It didn't just subside, it was gone, erased. "You seem to suffer from ultrasonic sensitivity, irritation by sounds you can't hear." The changeling gave a guilty look. "My bad."

"You were emitting ultrasonic waves..." Stormy nodded to herself. There was lab equipment at work that annoyed the hell out of her, and she could never explain why. She would have to make sure she was tested for that when she got back to work. "Why? You seem to have control over it, does it serve some sort of function?"

"Of course it does. It's the communication basis for the changeling hivemind." There was a slight pause. "But, there aren't any other changelings around, so I was just sort of humming to myself."

"Humming?"

"Yes."

"What song?"

"Oh, shush." Chrysalis cranked the chair fully upright and spun it around so Stormy could see herself in the mirror. "Clever distraction!"

The pegasus took one look, her eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "What the f-"

A black-furred hoof clamped over her mouth. "Now, now," Chrysalis reminded her, "I can't do another memory wipe."

Stormy sat in stunned silence even after the hoof pulled away. What had happened to her hair?

"Say something," Chrysalis prodded, both verbally and physically, poking the young mare in the shoulder, "Your mouth is hanging open."

The pegasus looked over, her confusion rather flavorful to the changeling. "It's long."

"Thank you, Captain obvious." Chrysalis grabbed a comb and scissors, and started working the comb through the now flowing mane. "It's roughly three times longer than it was. I said I was going to use magic, didn't I?"

"But, I- I thought you were just using magic to get tangles out or something!" Stormy kept staring at her reflection. Her mane had never been this long before. She had always kept it pretty short, like her mother's. She wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

"If you don't like it, we can always cut it back," Chrysalis said, as if reading her mind, which Stormy was only now registering as a very real possibility. "But, this way, we have room to experiment. Oh, and you may be a little extra hungry after this. Good thing you have that grand dinner coming up."

Stormy tried to look back, only for the not-pony's hooves to grab her head and point it back at the mirror. "What grand dinner?"

Chrysalis shrugged keeping herself focused on detangling the young mare's mane. "So, I never finished answering your earlier question. The best type of love, the tastiest, the gold standard. I felt a little hint of it from you earlier. When Luna knocked on your door, you were expecting somepony else."

"So?" Stormy was a little worried where this was headed. "Who would expect the headmaster of their school and a bug pony to knock on their door in the middle of the afternoon?"

"Look, little filly, this isn't about who you weren't expecting, it's about who you were expecting." Chrysalis leaned in close, whispering in her ear. "Radio." Stormy blushed, and Chrysalis laughed, licking her lips with a normal pony tongue. "There it is, the best type of love. Not the most filling, or the most abundant, but the tastiest."

"That's crazy," Stormy protested, "I don't love Radio, I just met him today. Sure, he's nice, but-"

"Nice story, dear." Chrysalis patted her head before going back to combing. "You do. Or, maybe not. Maybe you love the idea. But either way, there is something there. Some ponies call it a spark, a seed. I call it a morsel, for obvious reasons. It's the root of all romantic love, the very start. It's fragile, and doesn't last long on its own, but maybe that's what makes it so special. There isn't much of it. But, sometimes, it can grow into something more. And when it does, that root sometimes remains. It can die, and often does, but that doesn't mean what was built around it must go with it."

"Have you ever fallen in love?" Stormy asked in a combination of deflection and curiosity.

" I have a daughter about your age," Chrysalis answered quietly, "or perhaps a little closer to my apparent age. I love her very much, and I loved her father more than I should have."

Stormy didn't like the sound of that past tense. "What happened?"

"He was bound to another, and his love was pure. As was hers. It was only through my trickery that he and I were ever together. And it was only through her love that I am even alive." Chrysalis managed a weak smile. "I loved them both very much."

"That sounds complicated." Stormy wondered if there was a difference between pity and sympathy, and how they tasted to a changeling. "What happened to them?"

"Time." Chrysalis started working with the scissors, trimming the very ends of Stormy's mane so every hair had a fresh tip. "Time happens, to everything. They died of old age centuries ago."

"What?" Stormy's brow furrowed deep. She had to wonder now, how much of that was even true. "I thought you said your daughter was my age?"

"Changeling eggs take a while to hatch." Chrysalis shrugged. "They can't hatch without love. And the more powerful the changeling, the more love required. The only daughter of the immortal Queen? It took centuries to store up enough love, and then she comes out of her little egg smaller than a loaf of bread. She was puny! Half the size of a normal hatchling, and perfect in every way. She knew my love from the first moments of her life, but I wish she could have known her father's."

Chrysalis sighed as she moved onto the forelock, combing out to the side before trimming even. "I haven't even told her she's my daughter. I felt so guilty that she wouldn't know her father, that I raised her thinking I was her grandmother. Does that even make sense? What's better? Not knowing one parent, or not knowing either?"

Stormy wasn't sure. This was all much more complicated than she was expecting. But, it didn't seem like Chrysalis was as bad she first thought.. "I'm sure she still loves you the same."

"Careful now, I'm starting to feel something, and it's directed at me."

Stormy rolled her eyes. "Bon apetit. It's not every day you get to make friends with an immortal bug monster. What kind of idiot passes up an opportunity like this?"

"Only the most foalish of fools."

Comments

[HF Fury]

Love it! Although Luna confuses me only because I could've sworn it was earlier explained every so many years there's a new one and this one reminds me way too much of the original not to mention the dialogue in this chapter about age.

[KeePony]

Luna is like the moon, New moon, quarter moon, Dark Moon, Quarter moon, repeat.......

[Blaster M]

9238504
This is true. OG Luna's the one here.

[cheetored20]

"He was bound to another, and his love was pure. As was hers. It was only through my trickery that he and I were ever together. And it was only through her love that I am even alive." Chrysalis managed a weak smile. "I loved them both very much."
Oh my.... poor chrysi.

[Equinox3141]

9238504
I think it is the original Luna. It's shown in 'Luna Eclipsed' that Luna is either a shapeshifter or really good at illusions

The headmistress at the school gets a new Luna every few years so that no one questions why the headmistress isn't aging.

[Equinox3141]

9238610
New moon is completely dark

[HF Fury]

9239265
The problem I have with this is the pony who is in training to be her replacement. Which from previous dialogue and scenes is an actual thing not just a cover. There are ways I could see it working but those seem way to convoluted and unnecessary.

[KeePony]

still a thing even if I got that new thing wrong. Still old Luna, quarter ,new Luna,quarter repeat :)

[Timuri]

Chrysalis is having so much fun here. I'm a little surprised at her candor, but at the same time this is a Chryssy who probably has grown to appreciate having new friends.

Poor Stormy...she's going to ffeak when she finds out that the dinner Radio casually invited her to is with the president of the Galactic Assembly.

[Ytak]

Chrysalis in this story is interesting in good ways. I don't like her and like her in turns. She's complicated and I enjoy that. :p