Veins and Arteries

by Rhino

Chapter 1: New Resident

Purple leathery wings split, buffet, and cup the air as a mare soars through the sky to her destination. One might think between the large bags in each hand and the backpack nestled between her wings, she might have a tough time flying. Yet, as she glides on another thermal, she shows no signs of strain or worry as purple slitted eyes scan the ground below her.

Ponies of all kinds and colours mill below her, though their ages are roughly the same. As a nearby clock tower chimes out, suddenly all of them have somewhere to be, every colourful dot abruptly making a beeline for their destination. Such is life at college, the University of Fillydelphia no exception to this rule.

With a small giggle to herself, the mare gives thanks that she doesn’t have to worry about classes today. Instead, she tilts herself and angles towards the residential area just off the edge of campus. After a few more minutes of flight and a playful dive through a cloud, keen eyes bred and used for detail hone in on her goal. With only a slight downward tilt, she dives, pulling up and giving her wings a solitary flap before her hooves clack quietly on the sidewalk.

Double-checking a slip of paper she pulls from her pocket, the mare nods at the home in front of her. Fairly identical to those around it, the two-story building does nothing to draw the eye away from anything else in the neighborhood, simply doing its job of providing shelter. Walking up to the door, the winged mare quickly slips a small mirror out of her backpack and checks herself.

A few swipes of the hand and her dark purple mane is smooth once more, curling at the ends of the strands. A quick look downward ensures her white blouse and blue pants are free of insects, leaves, and other various flying debris. Finally, she swishes her tail to get the hairs in place as she stows the mirror away, raising a demure hand and knocking on the door.

After a moment, the door opens, revealing a tired-looking light blue mare. Her dark pink mane looks as though she just rolled out of bed, which is entirely likely given her appearance otherwise, and a black robe seems to be the only thing she has on. She blinks at the stranger, trying to keep her eyes open. “...can I help you?”

The yellow mare blinks at the other female’s appearance, but still smiles, revealing fangs. “Hello, I’m here about the room for rent.”

The earth pony blinks again before sighing and stepping back to let her in. “Winter’s the one you wanna talk to.”

Nodding her head gratefully, she walks in, carrying her bags and looking around. “I take it you’re another housemate?”

“I guess. I’m his sister.” She yawns and rubs her eyes as she walks over to the couch. “It’s just easier to live with him than to find my own place. Still gotta pay rent, though.” She looks to the mare. “What’s your name?”

Setting a bag down, she gestures to herself. “My name is Silk Tease.” She offers that same hand to the other mare. “You?”

“Limelight.” The earth pony takes the hand and shakes it, albeit hesitantly. “No offense, but what are you? A pegasus?”

“In a sense.” Silk giggles lightly as she shakes her hand. “Some call my kind ‘lunar pegasi’, or some might say ‘bat ponies’ for quick slang. But if you wish to be accurate and inoffensive, I am a thestral.” Her words are quick and informative, but with an undertone of amusement.

Limelight slowly nods. “Thestral… right.” While she seems to comprehend, her expression is still one of uncertainty.

Taking advantage of the pause and making a mental note to ease Lime into her presence, Silk cranes her head around, looking about the living room. “So… where is this ‘Winter’ then? I’m very much looking forward to seeing where I’ll be staying, and who with.”

She sighs and shrugs. “I dunno, upstairs? I’ve been awake for ten minutes.” She turns to the stairs and calls out. “Winter! Somepony’s here!” The sound of something heavy falling over is the response she gets, and she turns back to Silk. “He’ll be down in a minute.”

Resisting the urge to raise an eyebrow, the mare instead cocks her head to one side. “You just woke up ten minutes ago? But it’s almost noon!”

“I’m a growing girl, I need my sleep.” She smirks. “Besides, I don’t have classes today, so might as well make the most of it.”

Smirking right back, Silk shrugs and nods. “A fair point, hun. Nothing quite like hanging out in your comfiest outfits.”

“Yeah, but Win gets annoyed when I walk around nude.” She chuckles.

The eyebrow springs up, but Silk’s smirk only gets wider as she laughs. “Oh, I think you and I will get along fine.”

Finally, they can hear a door upstairs open and close, and Limelight looks over to the stairs, waiting. “I think so too… let’s see if you get along with him.”

Silk turns as well, and both of them watch as a cobalt blue unicorn descends the stairs, rubbing the base of his horn. His yellow-and-brown mane almost hangs in front of his eyes, being quickly brushed to the side by his free hand. Aside from a pair of black-rimmed glasses, he only has on loose dark green sweatpants and a white t-shirt, indicating he clearly isn’t planning on going outside today.

His eyes meet with Silk’s, and he smiles welcomingly. “Hey there.”

She smiles back at him, waving since he stands out of arm’s reach. “Hey yourself. Winter, I presume?”

He nods, stepping closer and finally taking his hand away from his horn, offering the other one to shake. “Winter Solstice. I’m guessing you’re Silk Tease?”

“That’s me.” She shakes his hand. “I didn’t wake you up too, did I? I wasn’t aware this was a house of late risers.”

“No, Lime’s the only one in the family who sleeps in a lot.” He ignores his sister sticking her tongue out at him. “I only sleep late if I haven’t slept in a while. I’ve been up since about seven or eight.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” She picks back up the bag she had set down to free a hand. “So, to focus a bit more on business so that I’m not just standing here with my bags all day; what’s first? Tour of the house or showing me my new nest?”

Winter tilts his head. “Nest…? Oh, pegasus terms. Well, thestral terms, but you know what I mean.” He shakes his head, trying to refocus. “Well, your room’s upstairs, along with basically everything besides the living room you’re standing in, the kitchen, and the basement. Could probably do the tour on the way up to your room.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” She turns around to the robed mare. “Will you be tagging along, hun?”

Limelight shrugs and stands up. “Already awake, might as well.” She gestures grandly with her arms. “This, Silk, is the living room.”

“I think she noticed,” Winter remarks. He glances around at the room; a couch, coffee table, TV, and a couple family photos on the wall are all the decoration it has. “Sorry if it’s a little bare.”

Rolling her eyes playfully, Silk waves one wing. “It’s college living, hun, standards are low. Though I think things look very cosy so far.”

“Glad you think so.” He smiles before starting to lead the way over to a doorway across the room. “The kitchen and dining room are right in here.”

Peeking her head inside, she nods. “Do you have any fruit?”

“Apples, bananas, and oranges mostly,” Limelight answers. “Help yourself, but if you clean them out, you buy more.”

“That seems fair.” Silk looks regretfully at her full hands, but turns back to the siblings. “I’ll just grab a snack once we get done.”

The unicorn chuckles, lighting his horn. “I’ll take those for you if you want. You already carried them all the way here.”

“Well, aren’t you just the gentlecolt?” She smiles at him, not resisting when she feels a small pull on the bags in her hands.

“He isn’t,” Limelight remarks with a smirk as her brother takes the bags in his magic. He just rolls his eyes in reply.

“And why might you say that?” Silk queries, looking between the two attentively.

Winter sighs. “She grew up with me and moved into my house less than a year after I had finally moved out to live on my own. Stay near anypony for that long and you’ll grow to despise them.”

“You’re exaggerating. I don’t despise you.” The earth pony scratches her rump idly. “It’s just fun messing with you.”

“While it is typical of siblings to have differences, you must remember to hug and make up.” Silk giggles as she spreads her purple wings, nudging each pony towards the other with one curled around them.

Winter squirms a bit before managing to duck away from the wing. “Please don’t do that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Limelight assures her, not bothering to try and worm her way out. “We do this all the time, and we’re fine the next day. That’s the kind of brother-sister deal we have going on.”

Frowning a bit, Silk’s left wing swats at the now empty air within it a moment before retracting. Her other one gives Lime a friendly squeeze before doing the same. “If you say so… next room?”

Winter nods, making sure he still has the bags before going back out into the living room. “We’re about to head upstairs. Feel free to grab a bite before you follow.”

“Oh, right!” Ducking into the kitchen, Silk rummages around, trying to get a feel for where things are as she searches. “Did you two want something?”

“No thanks,” Winter calls back in response.

Limelight shrugs. “I’ll take one of whatever you get.”

The thestral returns with a pristine red apple in each hand, offering one to the other mare. “Here you are, hun. A nice start to your delayed day.” As if to demonstrate, she opens her fanged mouth, biting down into her juicy fruit with closed eyes and wagging tail.

The earth mare takes her apple, biting into it as well, though not with quite as much enthusiasm. “Are you part fruit bat or something?” Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Winter facepalm.

Eyes opening and peering at Lime, Silk keeps her mouth on the apple a moment before opening it a bit wider and taking her teeth out of it. The apple still seems to be in one piece, minus the many puncture wounds, though the usual drip of juices from a fresh one seems to be absent. “That’s… not an uncommon comparison.” She giggles sheepishly. “We do have a taste for fruits and juices, some stronger than others.”

“...huh.” Limelight just takes another bite of her apple, looking only slightly intrigued. “Cool.”

“Moving on...” Winter catches their attention again, looking to Silk. “Upstairs is where the bedrooms, the bathroom, and the medical cabinet are. That, plus the kitchen, should take care of anything you need, right?”

“There’s only one bathroom?” she asks to be sure before taking an actual bite of her apple, tearing off a piece.

He shrugs. “The bathroom upstairs has a sink, toilet, and shower. There’s a powder room down here with only the first two, but we usually don’t use it.”

Turning to Lime, Silk raises a playful eyebrow. “Will we need to fight over who showers first like in most cliché stories?”

“Unless you wake up after ten, probably not.” She nods towards Winter. “Might have to scuffle with him, though. He’s the one with morning classes.”

Turning to the male, Silk appraises him thoughtfully. After a moment, she smiles. “I think he and I could find a way to be reasonable.”

He tilts his head. “What do you mean, exactly? I was just gonna let you take first dibs in the mornings.”

“Well, that’s very nice of you.” She gives him a winning smile. “But I like to take my time some mornings, so it’d be best if you went first those days.”

“How do I know the difference between days when you like to take your time and days you don’t?” he questions as he starts ascending the staircase.

The train of two other ponies follows him. “I’ll let you know. The days I take more time are the days I run my shop first thing in the morning.”

Limelight blinks. “You run a shop?”

Grinning, Silk turns her head halfway. “That I do. You should drop by sometime. I’m sure I have something that’d interest you.” She winks.

The earth mare tilts her head. “Really? What sorts of things do you sell?”

She thinks of how to say this, seeing the curiosity on Lime’s face and grinning. “Hmm… I sell clothes of the unusual, useful, unique, and fun variety. I make all the clothes myself, though some items I order from other places, so don’t be surprised if you walk into my room and get a sample.”

“...duly noted. What do you mean by ‘fun’?”

“... I feel that should be a very complicated answer to a simple question,” Silk muses before shrugging. “I mean many things by it, suffice to say… fun in all ways.” She nods, satisfied with the summary.

Winter looks back as he steps off the final stair. “You know, you can just say they’re to be worn in the bedroom.”

Huffing, the thestral puts her hands on her hips as she arrives upstairs as well. “I’ll have you know mine can be worn outside the bedroom, thank you very much.”

He chuckles. “For the purpose of leading somepony else to the bedroom?”

Instead of answering, she counters with a smirk. “Much like you are now?”

His face goes red and he turns away awkwardly. “...y-you know what I mean...”

“Perhaps…” she speaks that single word in almost a purring tone. “You’ll just have to actually see some of my wares before you jump to any more conclusions.”

“Careful there, you’ll scare him,” Limelight intervenes. “Though I’m interested too… any chance you could show us?”

“Wouldn’t be much point in owning a shop selling them if I said ‘no’.” She titters, stopping as they come to a door. “I didn’t bring my supplies with me today, though, they’re all at the shop. I just have my clothes, toiletries, and a few other things today. You’re always free to drop by though, both my room and shop.” She pats Winter on the back. “Same goes to you, although do remember to knock here. We could be doing girl things.”

He pauses. “...I think I just threw up a little in my mouth from the mental images...”

“Good thing we’re at the bathroom, then.” Limelight gestures to the first door they come across. “Silk, this is… well, the bathroom. You’re free to look around inside, but don’t expect to find much.”

She peeks inside but doesn’t linger. “At least the shower looks roomy.”

Winter nods. “Should be wide enough to spread your wings, at least enough to clean them. As a side note, don’t worry about using all the hot water. I shower in cold anyway and it’ll heat back up long before Lime takes hers.”

“Oh… well, that makes things easy.” Silk smiles, looking towards her backpack. “I’ll just unpack my bathroom things last.”

They continue down the hall for a moment before getting to another door. Rather than open it, Winter just taps on the handle with a finger. “This is my room. If you can’t find me, chances are this is where I’ll be if I’m not out of the house. General rules of privacy apply; knock and wait for response before entering, and don’t go in when I’m not in here. In fact, please don’t go in at all unless I’ve given permission.”

She nods, respecting his wishes. Limelight starts leading the way over to a door at the end of that stretch of hallway, just as it turns. “And this is my room. Same rules as his. Yours is the door at the end of the hall.” She nods in the direction of the only untouched door.

Walking to it, Silk opens the door and walks inside. A moment later, pleased humming comes from the room. “Oh yes… this will do nicely. Plenty of floor space for me to work.”

Winter walks over after her, carrying her bags. “Everything suit you just fine? Anything you need?”

“Hmm…” Flicking the lights on and looking around, she shakes her head. “No, everything seems fine to me. Thank you again for letting me rent this.”

He smiles. “No problem, Silk. If you have any questions, I’m always willing to answer.” He glances back at his sister, just as she walks into the bathroom. “I’d say the same for Lime, but knowing her, she’ll just give you permission to do whatever as long as it doesn’t involve her stuff.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She looks curiously to the door to the bathroom, but shrugs.

He glances back at what she’s looking at, then chuckles. “She’s just taking care of her morning shower… well, almost afternoon shower, but you know what I mean.” After a pause, he turns back to Silk. “Oh, and… one last thing? Don’t go in the basement.”

This easily raises an eyebrow. “Got your secret magic lab down there?”

“...sure, let’s go with that.”

“Well now I’m just curious.” She flutters her eyelashes at him. “Surely you can give me a hint…”

He blushes, rubbing the back of his neck. “Uh… i-it just has some fragile stuff stored down there. Don’t want it to get broken, you know? And it’s really dark… no lights, so it’s easy to just bump into stuff...”

“Oh...” She shrugs. “Well, alright then. I’m not much of a fan of basements anyway.” Her wings stretch a bit as she finishes her apple, having been taking bites periodically. “Since you’ve been such a good host so far… any questions for me? Lime was the curious one so far.”

Winter thinks for a second. “Well, I guess I should go for the obvious… you’re fine with sharing a house with a stallion, right? Not gonna bother you or make you feel awkward if you see me with just a towel around my waist after a shower, or in my boxers after I’ve just woken up?” He blushes at the thought. “N-Not that it should happen, that is...”

Giggling, she pats his shoulder. “Hun, I’m fairly certain you’ll be far more flustered than I could be if I’m reading that blush right. In my line of work, one tends to know exactly how everypony looks, so it’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Plus, we’re both adults here. Just don’t go swinging your sword out of its sheath in heat weeks and there shouldn’t be any problems.”

His blush increases as he thinks of that, slightly crossing his legs instinctively. “I’ll k-keep that in mind...”

Seeing this, she tilts her head at him, giving him a small smile and a knowing look. “How about you then? Are you comfortable living in the same house with a mare who isn’t family? Not worried about what I wear to sleep or if I forget to tie my robe?”

He squirms in place, blush not fading. “W-Well… didn’t really think about that… but, um, i-if you’re comfortable, I guess I am too...”

Her tails swishes in an almost predatory way as she grins wider. “Good… although I doubt I’ll be getting as comfortable as your sister talked of being in the past.”

Winter blinks, then groans and covers his face with his hands. “Too many mental images...”

She giggles, patting his hands. “Oh, you’re going to be fun…”

Comments

[Moongaze14]

Wow, this story looks interesting. Nice to see a story focused only on Silk String. Although I wonder if this is a prequel or an alternate universe where she'd meet Rhino and Gel later on, if at all. Thanks for making another entertaining story. Have a fav and a like.

[Rhino]

5423429 Much appreciated! It's Silk Tease though. This is considered a separate universe from my other ones, but I won't spoil the character roster for now. ; P

[tsaukpaetra]

Ooh! New characters!
Silk is still Silk. Never change!
Keep going! ;)