mochibuni:

Dear Fandom,

Above are images from Act 25 (taken from MangaFox.com) where Demando tries to touch Usagi and NQS Silver Crystals together. We can see Usagi takes both away during Pluto’s Time Stop.

In the second image a Silver Crystal is given to Venus to hold.

In the third image Chibi Usa’s tear (shed because Pluto died) forms a Silver Crystal. She then uses it to transform into Sailor Chibi Moon.

Usagi turns into Sailor Moon, this means that the Silver Crystal she was holding in the second image is her’s. This is furthered by the fourth image from Act 26 with Venus still holding a Silver Crystal, which means the one Venus holds belongs to NQS. Note that Chibi Usa is still Chibi Moon, meaning that her Silver Crystal and NQS’s exist at the same time.

What we can take from this is that there are three Silver Crystals present in Act 25 and 26, each belonging to Usagi, NQS, and Chibi Usa respectively.

So, did Chibi Usa inherit NQS’s Silver Crystal?

Based on the images above, I don’t think she does.

Interesting! This scene is more complicated than I initially remembered. It does open a lot of possibilities for headcanons about multiple Silver Crystals.

I personally still believe that Chibi-Usa’s crystal is Neo Queen Serenity’s. Regarding the scene where Venus is holding a “third” crystal, I think Chibi-Usa has returned the crystal and Venus is holding it. The page is all about Chibi-Usa apologising to her mother for taking her crystal; I think it makes sense that she would try to give it back at that point. Sailor Moon could draw the crystal physically out of her body and still be transformed all the time; in fact, for the second half of Classic, that’s how she fought.
The other reason I don’t think it’s a third crystal is that Venus would have to have been holding it the entire time, from when Sailor Moon transformed to the scene where Chibi-Usa apologises. Naoko’s art can make it difficult to tell, but I don’t think she is:

(From Miss Dream’s translations of Chapters 26 + 27, between the two mentioned scenes)

It’s hard to get a clear/detailed view of her hands, and they could potentially be holding something, but I think Naoko would’ve made something like the Silver Crystal more visible. I also think Venus would be holding something as important as that much closer to her body. So it seems more likely to me that when Venus is holding the crystal in Chapter 27, it’s because Chibi-Usa has drawn it out of herself to return it.

At the same, there’s a scene in Chapter 27 that could support the idea it is a third, separate Silver Crystal;

If Chibi Moon has powers of her “very own” it could be implying that she doesn’t have to use her mother’s crystal because she has a new one. And the fact that they can “both fight” might mean NQS still has her own.
Or, she could be referring to the fact that now that Chibi Moon has finally transformed, she has made her mother’s Silver Crystal her own; but that NQS still retains some power over it and that they may use that power together as a team if Chibi Moon should ever need assistance.

The reason I still think Chibi Moon’s Silver Crystal is the same one as her mother’s is because there is precedence within the series for it. Princess Serenity’s Silver Crystal is the original Queen Serenity’s. Queen Serenity still had the power to use it, but it was passed down to Serenity and ultimately became her weapon, which feels exactly like the situation with NQS and Chibi Moon.
I also don’t believe that there can be more than one Star Seed for the same planet/celestial body at the same time. Everything in the series seems to point in this direction. The fact that Usagi has lost the ability to transform into Sailor Moon when she became Neo Queen Serenity - which is established to be the same time she became pregnant with Chibi-Usa (which, for the people asking, is what I mean when I say that she “gave” the crystal to her - ownership passed down upon conception) - would indicate that it’s because she no longer has possession over the Silver Crystal, even if she can still use it.

But I hadn’t taken these chapters fully into consideration. I either had forgotten, never noticed, or dismissed Venus holding a crystal in chapter 27. The idea that Chibi Moon has her own Silver Crystal rather than inheriting Usagi’s is very powerful and positive for Chibi Moon as an individual, so I’m glad to see merit for this headcanon. I just think both are valid interpretations.