Things have been… difficult, to say the least. The night terrors never stopped- I just got used to them. Dee says I only whimper and cry silently in my sleep nowadays- which is an improvement, to be sure.

My doctor even tried to prescribe me laudanum, once. I told him to fuck off- I’ve seen enough opium junkies in my life to know where that road would lead. No, I just started doing what any sensible person would do- that is, drink myself into an alcoholic stupor before bed every night.

A crude solution, to be sure… but at least Dee can sleep mostly uninterrupted. She’s quite worried about me, though- and understandably so. It doesn’t help that I’ve recently taken up drinking in the morning.

You gotta do what ya gotta do.

Honestly- the tongue parasite isn’t bad at all. Functionally, it’s basically a normal tongue. I could still taste things with it somehow, and it truly does feel and look like a normal tongue- aside from the yellow hue. I do occasionally get questioned about it, but most people are decent enough to hold their tongue… pun not intended.

When someone does ask me about it, I just tell them that I ate a banana popsicle not too long ago. Works every time.

Speaking of which- Emmie has been researching tirelessly into this parasite. You’ll be happy to know that he’s discovered…

Fuck all. At one point he was working so much that I had to threaten him with brain-suckage if he didn’t slow down. He’s my best friend, but I don’t want him working himself to death for my sake.

Actually, he did discover something. We found out that the creature in my mouth functions very similarly to another parasite featured in a Neighponese comic; the major difference being that instead of sucking brains, they uh...

I discovered a kink I never knew I had.

When we contacted the author to ask if he’d heard anything about the creature in real life, we received no response. I heard the guy lives in Manehattan- so if we’re ever out that way, visiting him is somewhere on my priority list- just not very high.

Shit, we’ll take whatever leads we can get at this point.

On the topic of Emmie- I made sure to pay his boyfriend back with several rounds of shots at the pub, considering the fact that he saved my ass.

I ain’t a fink, dig?

However, that’s not to say that the search has been futile. In fact, I’ve learned a good bit about what this creature does.

You know what? It’s probably wrong, but I’m calling it a louse from now on.

As I was saying- I’ve learned a decent bit about what this louse does and how it functions.

Mainly via hunting.

The last bounty I did, I’d spent a few days tracking this guy in the mountains to the west.

Despite the horrible, horrible nightmares, the louse comes with a couple benefits.

---

We were in a mountain cave, and I had the guy cornered. He was an earth pony that, despite the lack of food, still looked quite strong. He was working as a farmhand, and apparently raped and strangled the owner's daughter to death, for some reason. He was glaring at me, daring me to take another step closer.

I smirked.

Thwish!

That’s the sound my tongue made as it burst forth from my beak. His act of bravado fell instantly, the look in his eyes being one of pure terror and confusion. I ran forward and he screamed as I swung it at him like a whip- it collided with his side and knocked him to the ground, so I jumped to keep him pinned there.

Controlling the louse’s movement was as simple as controlling my tail… yet it felt different at the same time.

“W-what are you!?” if I could speak, I would’ve been laughing.

Despite what I thought originally, jamming the louse in their eye doesn’t destroy it or their brain- at least physically. Before I did that, I thought of trying something. I still don’t know where I got the idea.

The pointy end shot towards his face with a swish and he screamed. His struggle grew immensely and I thought of something to ask.

“Why did you do it?” I asked him… I don’t know why, but it’s like our consciousness was connected. His breathing evened out a little bit as he answered me.

“We were in love… we kept it a secret from the farmer. She loved being choked, and I went too far. I’ve been on the run since.” I cocked an eyebrow… then another voice could be heard in passing… a female voice, as though it were a memory rising to the surface.

“Please! Please, stop! Why are you doing this!?” I cocked an eyebrow at my target, and he began to sweat.

I’d heard enough. It was time to feed.

It was a weird sensation- like sucking something through a straw, but as soon as the liquid hits the apex, it disappears. Once I finished, I sucked my tongue back in with a slurp and he just laid there- eyes wide open and still breathing… but not at all there.

The lights were on, but no-one was home, as it were.

I took a swig from my flask and got to work.

I… don’t like doing it. It comes with many advantages, sure, but something about it just… icks me out.

You may be wondering why I continue to abide the louse- simply because I worry what will happen if I don’t feed it. Will it start to consume my intelligence? Will I wake up as a mute one day?

I had no clue, and it fucking terrified me.

---

Anyways, back in the present, things were somewhat looking up for us. Our wedding was planned for the end of summer, so I had that to look forward to.

In fact, we were gonna spend that last month with our families in Ponyville. We decided to keep it a relatively small affair- despite the fact that the entirety of Ponyville would show up regardless.

I promised Emmie that he’d be my best man- when I told him that, he was so overcome with joy that he started to cry.

I was more than happy to have him there- really, he was the only person I’ve met at the college who I consider to be a close friend. Yeah, I get along, and I’m acquaintances with some of the others… but I rarely speak to them outside of school.

But the plan was that for the week before the wedding, he would be getting a room in Ponyville until the actual event.

The actual planning was taken care of by my wife and her parents, thank fuck.

I never was one for grandiosity.

“Boarding train 102 to Ponyville!” the speakers at the station blared. I looked over to Emmie with a smirk.

“See you soon?” I asked, and he wrapped me in a friendly hug.

“Indeed, friend.” I looked over to Heavyweight, who was standing nearby.

“Keep him entertained, wouldja?” and he chuckled in response.

I turned to Dee and asked with a smirk, “Don’t forget to go potty before we get on the train this time, babe.” She elbowed me and I laughed at her expense.

We grabbed our suitcases and boarded the train, but not before I took a good swig from my flask. Not even gonna lie, I had a decent buzz going.

It felt good.

When I sat next to my beloved, she said-

“You know, I really wish you wouldn’t drink so much.” I just rolled my eyes.

“Oh, please. It’s not like I’m drunk. I’ve only had a couple drinks, hun.” I smiled and wrapped her in my arms, which did make her smile.

The train ride was relatively uneventful- especially since there was less of a risk of having to pay to have the seats reupholstered. We just chatted about what we planned to do when we got there. Dee wanted to spend some time with Silver Spoon- even though they weren’t best friends anymore, they were still pretty good friends since they made up.

I planned to… get drunk. That’s about it.

I mean, shit, it’s a vacation, why not? Although, I did plan on taking her to the spa tomorrow.

I also planned to spend the night catching up with Mamma. I never told her about my… louse issue… so that would be a fun conversation.

Mamma was waiting for us at the station. I gave Dee a parting hug and kiss and we split up for now.

We walked, and Mamma had her wing around my back. It was nice, really. When we got to the house, we were just chilling on the couch next to each other.

Not much changed, and I was totally fine with that. I then decided to address the elephant in the room.

“You’re probably wondering about my tongue, yes?” she looked off to the side.

“I did notice it was an odd color, but I didn’t want to point it out in public. What’s wrong, baby?”

Honestly… where do I even start with this? “Well it’s… not my actual tongue. It acts like it, but it’s not it. It’s like… well, let me show you.”

Thwish! I let it hang in the air for a few seconds before I slurped it back up.

Her jaw hung open and I chuckled. “You might wanna close your beak. Wouldn’t wanna catch a louse.”

I just sat there and explained everything I knew about the creature. What little I knew, that is.

When I was done, she just pulled me in for a hug.

“Oh, my poor baby… what’ve they done to you?” I couldn’t help but sniffle.

“It’s no one's fault, Mamma…” I sucked in a deep breath of air. “I’m fucking terrified, if I’m being honest… Nothing about this makes sense!” I began to shudder in her arms. “I-I just don’t know what to do! I don’t want to feed it, but what happens if I don’t? Is it gonna start sucking out my brains? Am I gonna wake up one day as a mute?”

My voice was cracking terribly as the tears began. “I can barely even get any sleep anymore… every night I have these awful nightmares where… where everyone I care about is either dead or comatose- because I… what if I lose control?!” I couldn’t take it anymore- I took out my flask and took a deep swig.

Mamma just wrapped her wings around me.

“Baby… you’re gonna be okay. I know you’re not gonna lose control, because I know damn well you wouldn’t let that happen.” I was just crying into her shoulder, just… just feeling done with it all. “You’re gonna be alright. You’re gonna be okay.”

I know she didn’t have anything to back that up… but it was just so damn comforting. I calmed down not long after that.

“Come on, baby. Let’s head to bed.” I sniffed and smiled.

“Okay, Mamma.” It doesn’t matter how old I get- I know Mamma will always be my rock in the storm.

I decided to sleep in her room for the night- my hopes were that since Mamma was there, I’d hopefully get decent sleep. She had her wing on my back and sang me that wonderful lullaby from my childhood.

I felt safe.

---

The next morning, we were having breakfast together. She told me I’d been crying in my sleep again- but it’s better than screaming. It was a simple ordeal of scrambled eggs and toast, with a cup of Irish coffee.

It was more Irish than coffee, though.

“Baby, do you really think it’s a good idea to be drinking this early in the day?” I just looked off to the side and shrugged.

“Probably not, I guess.”

“Sweetie, I understand you’re going through a lot, but drinking isn’t the answer.” I don’t know about that- it’s been working well so far. In fact, I felt better already.

“Ohh, it’s no big deal. It’s not like I’m getting drunk- Really, all it’s doing is adding some flavor to my coffee.” Mamma just sighed.

“Well… whatever you say, I guess. You’re a big girl now, I suppose.”

We finished our breakfast in silence, and Mamma left not long after that. Said she wanted to talk to Twilight or something- I wasn’t paying attention, though.

But in the meantime, I had some shopping to do. I hope Berry’s liquor store still opens early.

“Ayyy, Berry! Long time no see, huh?” I spread my arms wide as I walked through the door. The proprietor gave me a soft smile.

“Heyyyy, Leona! How’ve you been, huh?” I could tell she was quite drunk already- not like I had any room to judge anyone for that. She looked at me and squinted. “What’s… what’s with your tongue?” I just shrugged.

“I ate a banana popsicle not too long ago.” Works every time.

“Oh… Well, what you lookin for?” she asked with a stupid looking grin. I just waved her off, knowing exactly what I needed.

I grabbed a bottle of bourbon. A bottle of scotch. And a six pack of beer… in fact, better make it three. She gave me a laugh. I also grabbed a pint bottle of whiskey- for the hell of it.

“Gettin’ the tuesday night special, I see?” I gave her my bits and laughed.

“You take care now!” she yelled towards me. My saddlebags packed with liquor and three cases of beer on my back, I was ready to…

I don’t know what I was getting ready for. But I was in a rare good mood, nonetheless.

I think this vacation is just what the doctor ordered.

Oh wait! I gotta get ready for our spa date!

I dropped my booze off at the house and refilled my flask- but not before taking a couple swigs from the bottle.

I was feeling… pretty damn good. And it was only noon!

I grabbed my spa robe out of my suitcase- Just like all my clothes, it was jet black, and the floofy bits around the edges were colored gold. I threw it on and put that pint bottle in one of the pockets, figuring I’d just chip away at it.

You’d think it’d be considered weird to walk around in a robe like that, but the ponies really didn’t give a shit. Clothes just don’t mean as much to them as they do to humans- at most, ponies would see it and think “Man, that looks comfy.”

But today, I was high in spirits.

I was also full of spirits. Shit was so cash.

Well, Leona found a way to cope. I'm sure it won't spiral out of control- after all, what harm could a couple drinks really do?

As always, thank you for reading! Likes and comments are encouraged and appreciated greatly :3