Later that evening, Styxx had finally sobered up enough to go and see the princesses. She left her room, still carrying her water bottle with her magic. She went downstairs to the throne room, only to not see the princesses anywhere. She looked around for a minute, then spotted a stallion guard. "Excuse me, sir?" she said, hoping to grab his attention.
The guard looked up at Styxx. "Yes, Miss Rivers?" he asked.
"Where are the princesses?" she inquired.
"Her majesty Luna has gone to her chambers, and Celestia has gone to the garden. Why, is everything alright?"
"Oh, yes, just fine. I was just wondering." Styxx replied. "Where is Luna's chambers?" she asked.
"Downstairs, take the east wing." he said, and Styxx nodded, thanked him, then turned and left. While she left the room, she could feel his eyes staring right into her plot. Unfortunately for him, she was not interested in stallions. She even dated Pinkie Pie when she was a teenage mare, but they ended up breaking up after a few months. However, they remained friends. Styxx did not call the stallion out on his staring, but she did silently roll her eyes and keep going.
Once downstairs, she reached Luna's chambers, and saw two dark guards standing at her door. "Uhm, sirs," Styxx said upon approaching. "may I enter and see Luna?" she asked. The two guards looked at one another, then one opened the door and escorted her in while the other stayed outside. The guard told Luna that Styxx had come to see her. The lunar princess was sitting on her bed, facing a monitor and playing a video game. She set aside her controller and headphones, got up, and dismissed the guard.
"Styxx," she began. "good to see you sobered up." she remarked with a sly smirk.
"Yeah, well, thanks to your hospitality." Styxx replied with a smile. "And a couple times with my head in the crapper."
Luna laughed, and trotted over to her bed, and sat down. "I was just playing Outlast." she said. "Wanna play?"
Styxx looked at the monitor to see the title screen of a creepy looking game. "I've never played..." she said. "and I'm not big on ghosts. I'm kinda afraid of that kind of thing." she admitted sheepishly. How embarrassing, an undertaker pony afraid of ghost and the undead.
Luna seemed surprised, but then just nodded. "Yeah, not a lot of ponies like that kind of thing. I can teach you how to play. We can take turns every time we die or something." she suggested. Styxx chuckled, and nodded. She proceeded to sit with the princess. For about ten minutes, Luna explained the controls and told her that whenever there is a bed or lockers, that it's imperative that you not take chances and to hide. So, after Luna purposely got caught by the pig-boy, she handed the controller to Styxx. The princess seemed thoroughly amused by the undertaker pony screaming and talking to herself as she did things. She especially liked the stupid voiceovers she gave the crazy people they had to avoid.
This went on for a few hours, Luna eventually suggesting a more light-hearted and fun game: Guitar Heroes. Styxx gladly accepted, her heart pounding against her sternum. The two played against each other with songs by Fall Out Stallion, Panic! At the Palace, and Black Veil Mares. Styxx won against Luna in Black Veil Mares' song "In The End", and Luna beat Styxx in "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" by Fall Out Stallion and "Fillies/Fillies/Colts" by Panic! At the Palace. Styxx was still proud of her efforts.
Before the two knew it, it was almost two o'clock in the morning. Celestia was surely asleep by then, and the girls had had the time of their lives playing together. They eventually took a break from all the gaming, and just sat on Luna's bed, talking about some embarrassing moments in their lives. "So, my sister Halo and I were just fillies at school, when she started telling everyone I was great at speaking Spanish. I tried to call her out on it, but nopony believed me. When someone told me to prove it, she proved to be lying through her teeth and I looked so stupid." Styxx told Luna, who laughed.
"I didn't know you had a sister!" she said with a smile. "What's she like?"
"We're twins." Styxx said, thinking to herself about how much irony is in her life. "Halo was a huge liar when we were fillies, but she was super popular. I was truthful, but a shadow in my sister's popularity. In high school, we finally got on similar social statuses, but she was still more popular." Styxx told her. "Halo and I don't see each other much nowadays, but we write to one another. We're really close now."
Luna nodded. She understood just how Styxx felt, and felt a twinge of that in her heart. "I know just how you feel," she said. Styxx nodded.
"You know, we should do this type of thing more often." she remarked with a chuckle.
"Well, now that you live here, maybe we can." Luna said with a smile.
"I'd like that."
The next morning, Styxx found herself in her guest bedroom, which was honestly a little disappointing. She had hoped she had hallucinated going back to her room late at night and just falling on her bed, but that was far from the truth. She got up, and went to her bathroom. She looked at her reflection, and noticed a couple of her stitch threads in her face had come loose. She sighed, and decided she would shower before she took care of it.
She climbed into the shower, and turned on the warm water. She had to wash her mane, and she brushed her hair back to do so. It was unusual to be able to see through her right eye. The truth of the matter was, she was not perfectly visioned in her right eye. It was also a lighter shade of red than her other eye, but she assumed it was due to her being fairly nearsighted in her right eye. Needless to say, she has kept her mane covering her bad eye since she was a filly. What was the use of trying to see out of one good eye and one bad eye? Though, it did still burn to get hair products or soap in general in her eye.
After her shower, she took a towel from the rack and dried herself off. As she was carefully drying her face, she felt two more pops of her stitches. Styxx cursed to herself, finishing drying off quickly so she could find a needle and thread. She was never afraid of needles, since she constantly had one stuck in her cheek. She searched through drawers and the wardrobe, but found nothing. Discouraged, she left her room to try and find a maid at least.
To her luck, she found one. "Excuse me, miss?" she asked. The maid turned to her, and smiled. She was an attractive mare, really. Ivory coat, blue mane, green eyes.
"How may I be of service, Miss Rivers?" she asked. Before Styxx could answer, she noticed her cheek and gasped. "Oh my, Miss Rivers! Your cheek!"
"Yes, don't worry." Styxx sighed. "It's a common issue. I just need a needle and some thread." she told the maid. The alarmed maid nodded, and left to retrieve the items. Just as she left, Luna came passing through. She happened to notice Styxx. She opened her mouth to say hello, but her eyes caught her cheek as soon as her voice escaped her throat.
"Oh my Celestia, Styxx!" she exclaimed. "What happened to your cheek!?" she asked, alarmed as she went up to her friend and examined the wound.
"By your sister's beard, Luna, calm down!" Styxx said. "This is a common thing and I just need a needle and thread to fix it."
"Doesn't that hurt!?"
"Not when you're so used to it that the nerves in your left cheek are almost dead."
Luna stood in silence for a moment, eyes still wide. "H-How did you even get a scratch like that?"
"I got it when I was a filly. I had gotten my first scythe, and I accidentally scraped my face one time when I was carrying it. Horrific at the time, but nothing much now. It's now just a bloody scar." she explained vaguely.
Luna bit her lip. "Do you want me to see if a nurse around here can fix it?" she asked. Styxx shook her head, and by then, the maid returned. Styxx thanked the lovely mare, and took the needle and thread by her magic.
"If you'll excuse me, princess, I'm going to repair myself." Styxx said with a smile, and turned to trot away.
Luna felt compelled to follow her. Styxx did not mind this one bit, and she even sparked small talk with her. Once back in Styxx's bathroom, she noticed why everypony was being so weird over her scratch: it had started to drip and bleed. "Oh," Styxx said, eyes wide. "joy." she groaned. Styxx had to pull out the old stitches, and start repairing it. Luna watched, wincing every time Styxx poked the needle back into her face to fix another thread.
Once Styxx finished, Luna was a little amazed and horrified. "How do you not see that as such a big deal!?" she asked.
"Well," Styxx began. "I guess I'm used to it. The first few times it happened, I was a little filly. Naturally, it frightened me. But as I grew older, I learned to do it myself. Only when I did it, I never bothered to numb it. I just got the worst over with. By the time I had graduated school, I couldn't feel anything in my cheek anymore. I visited Nurse Redheart over it, and she told me it was simply because my nerves just died from it all. I barely -if even- feel it at all anymore." she explained.
"Wow..." Luna gasped. "that's...kind of awesome." she remarked with a small smile. Styxx chuckled, and the two mares trotted out of the bathroom, and went to do their own things.