Day 16: Week 3|| FaceTiming

"Dash! Get out of the storm!"

"I can't control this fucking character!"

"Use your controller!"

"Pssh. OBVIOUSLY."

Dash and Soarin took up the last half of their Monday morning and afternoon playing video games. They started at around ten am, initially starting with the game NEA 2k20. It's a game based off the national basketball league in Equestria. They played for about two hours before getting bored of watching their players lose.

Then they moved onto a more frustrating game, EquiNite. They should have finished playing two hours ago if Dash hadn't been such a sore loser. The couple played together online as a team against other players, but they lost every time. Sure, Soarin was upset about losing the first five times, but after the twentieth game, he just couldn't care less.

Dash hates losing with a burning passion. To others, it may seem like she's just being a bad team player, or even a sore loser. She always ignored these comments from others because her hate for losing was what drove her to do better in every aspect of her life. Yes, even in video games.

"Can you just quit the game? You're low on health and you're not even halfway through the storm. Face it, you're dead," Soarin groaned as Dash continued to attempt at pulling her character into the safe zone. The "storm" is a part of the game that keeps players from hiding out in the outer edges of the game map, causing the game to move forward and forcing campers to move around. Unfortunately, Dash has forgotten about the storm feature, and found herself trapped inside.

"But I wanna win!" Dash whined, not taking her eyes off the television screen. She noticed her health bar was at an extreme low, and yet she still hadn't made it out the storm. She decided she was taking it a little too seriously and accepted defeat, no matter how much it hurt. "YOU DIED #15 PLACE," read the screen.

"Wow. You didn't even make top ten," Soarin deadpans as Dash fumes in her seat. She crossed her arms and pouts as she stared at the screen.

"I hate you." She throws the controller behind the couch and slouches in her seat. "Six hours of my time wasted."

"Uh, you're the one who kept us here!" Soarin exclaims, clearly upset. He knows about her competitiveness and hate of losing, but at times it just got to the point where it became so frustrating. He is desperately trying to keep calm, but it didn't seem to be working. "If you didn't get so competitive-"

"Yeah, I know. It's my fault. I get it," Dash cuts him off before he could scold her. She wasn't in the mood to hear it, considering she was pissed off for dying in the game for the millionth time. She releases an exhale as she stares at the television that still hard the large words of defeat onscreen.

Soarin was busy on his cell phone texting his best friend about the wonderful day he had (note the sarcasm). He's bummed about not being able to do something more productive, but at the same time, what else could they possibly do? They aren't allowed to leave the house and go anywhere exciting because of a deadly virus spreading around the world.

Thunderlane had texted first, asking what he was doing at the moment. Soarin found it unusual because Thunderlane would only text him something like that when he wanted something. He sighs as he punched the letters on his cell phone screen. He had lost interest in the conversation that had barely started after he made his realization.

"I just got off the game with Dash. What do you need?" He wrote.

"Can you join the FaceTime call with the other guys? Bros before hoes," Thunderlane texted back. Soarin rolled his eyes at the last statement. He doesn't know how to feel about it because he loves Dash, and if he has to put her before his "bro's", then he will. Sure, he'd join the call, but only because he doesn't have anything to do.

"Yeah gimme a sec." Soarin turns to Dash, who's eyes were locked on the television screen, still upset about losing the round. He taps Dash on her shoulder, snapping her out of the trance she was in. "I'm going to join a call with my friends. Is that okay?"

"You know you don't have to ask for permission, right? They're your friends," she replies with a bright smile on her face.

"Oh okay. Talk to you in a bit, baby girl." He kisses her cheek, jogs out of the room and up the stairs.

After Soarin left, Dash realized that she hadn't spoken to her friends in a week. She's been having the best time with Soarin that she didn't even realize how much time had passed! It would be a good idea to call them now, considering it's not too late or too early during the day. Last time she had called them early in the morning, things didn't go so well.

She stood from her slouched position on the couch and made her way up the stairs and to her bedroom. It's where her laptop was, and she prefers doing video calls with a larger screen rather than her cell phone. If it was a one-on-one call, she wouldn't feel too inclined to get her laptop. But she would be on a call with five of her friends. Imagine five friends taking up the screen of a small phone.

Dash plopped onto her bed and pulled her laptop out of her nightstand drawer, moving Mr. Purple out of the way to pull it out quicker. She then navigates it to the FaceTime app and dials all five of her best friends' numbers. She waited with patience as the tone rang through her ears, though she was so eager to speak with them.

First to answer that call was Fluttershy. She didn't appear to be doing anything prior to answering.

"Hello, Rainbow Dash! It's been a while, hasn't it?" She waved as she pet the sleeping bunny on her lap. "How have you been?"

"I've been alright. Heh, I actually have something to tell you." Dash wears a sheepish grin, poking her fingers together. Two more of her friends—Rarity and Pinkie Pie—joined as well. Unlike the last time, Rarity's face was caked in makeup, and she looked well rested. Pinkie wasn't high on sugar to keep herself awake, so Dash was certain she called at a reasonable time.

"Good evening, darling. Is there something you need to tell us?" Rarity asked as she filed her nails.

"What makes you think I have something to say?"

"You only call us when you need to tell us something that happened to you," Pinkie jumps in.

And she was right. The first time Dash had called them during quarantine, it was because she wanted to tell her friends Soarin had teased her. The second time, she had told them she thought Soarin likes her; and she wasn't wrong. Unbeknownst to her though, she caught feelings as well. And recently, she called her friends early in the morning to tell them she and Soarin had put their differences aside and became friends.

Not only did every call have to do with her having to tell her friends something, they were all about Soarin. She's starting to wonder if she talks too much about herself now. She has no idea how her friends have been doing considering she's been hogging all the time during their group calls. Maybe she should wait to tell them later . . .

"Oh, heh." Dash stares off into space and fidgets with her wristbands. "It can wait. I talk too much about myself anyway." Her friends tried to reassure her that it was fine, but she didn't believe a word coming out of their mouths. Dash was certain that her constant talks about herself were annoying them, and she didn't want to push it any more.

A few moments later, Applejack and Twilight joined the call around the same time. They exchanged hellos as Dash sat in silence. She was nervous about Applejack's reaction to being called. Sure, it wasn't as early as last time, but Applejack had said to not call again unless she and Soarin were dating. She met up to the requirement, but she's still nervous.

"Howdy, Dash!" Applejack tipped her hat to the rainbownette. "I reckon you got sum' to tell us?" Was it that obvious that there was something she needed to say? Was she really that self-centered? She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could get a word out, Rarity spoke up.

"Rainbow Dash, what is that on your neck?"

"UH . . . I—" Dash knew exactly what Rarity was pointing out. She had completely forgotten about the love bite that Soarin had given her on her neck. She covered it up with the palm of her hand and quickly as she could, though it was already too late. Her friends all noticed the mark.

She didn't feel the need to hide it while she was alone with Soarin because he's the one that had given it to her. But her friends are never going to drop the subject unless she told them exactly what it was. She was hoping to keep attention off of her for a little while. That idea just went down the drain. She usually loves attention, but not this kind.

"Isn't it obvious what it is?" Her voice cracks as she shrugs, her palm still resting on her neck. The others didn't say a word. "Come on! Don't just sit there! Say something!" She whines.

"We just want to hear you say exactly what it is. You can't dodge the question, Rainbow," Twilight says. She crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow at Dash.

"And don't you dare lie. I will know," Applejack adds on.

Dash sighs and buries her head in her hands while still trying to hide the mark on her neck. She's embarrassed and angry at herself for forgetting about the dark spot on her neck. She looks at herself in the mirror every chance she gets. How could she have possibly forgotten?

She musters the courage and energy to explain everything, because she knew that once she told them what the mark was, they'd want to know more.

"It's a hickey," Dash quickly admits. She slams her eyes shut and covers them with her hands. She didn't want to see the looks on her friends' faces after telling them such alarming information.

Though she didn't want to see their faces, curiosity got the best of her. She peeked in between two of her fingers and stared at the laptop screen.

"OMGOMGOMGOMG!" Pinkie hopped up and down on her bed as she fangirled over the news. Dash expected them to be more judgmental of her or disapprove of her actions, but they actually seemed to be . . . proud?

"It's your first hickey, darling!" Rarity exclaims with excitement. A big smile took up most of her face and her eyes lit up like the sun in the sky. "But, who gave it to you?"

"Yeah, I was finna ask," Applejack adds. Rainbow Dash chuckles and twirled a strand of her hair on her index finger. A blush crept onto her face as she thought about the steamy moment that she got that she got the hickey during.

"Well, there's only one other person in this house." She gives them a hint rather than actually saying the name. She wanted them to have a moment of realization and watch them fangirl even more.

As if they weren't already excited and ecstatic, Pinkie Pie and Rarity squealed like little girls, piercing everyone else's ears. The others were more calm about the news, but they were just as overjoyed as Pinkie and Rarity.

"No fucking way! I won't believe it 'til I see it myself," Applejack exclaimed. She knew her spectrum colored friend was being honest, she was named "brutally honest" in last year's yearbook after all. But seeing is believing.

"Yeah, go and tell Soarin to come here. It's been a while since I've seen him, anyways." Fluttershy piggybacked off of Applejack's last statement. The other girls nodded in agreement or voiced their affirmation. Dash didn't hesitate to jump up from where she was sitting to go and grab her boyfriend out of his room.

She jogged down the hallway to Soarin's room and knocked on his door a couple times. She bursted into the room and didn't wait for him to allow her in.

"Soarin!" She called his name with an excited tone of voice. "Come here, my friends wanna see you." Her hands gripped his left arm and she continuously pulled him in her direction. His friends teased him in the background as they heard Dash's raspy voice. Soarin had already told his friends about his relationship with Dash. He wanted it to be clear that Dash belonged to him and no one else.

"Princess, I'm on a call," he whispered to her.

"Ugh, just tell them to merge with us. Please?" She put on her best pleading face and begged on her knees. Her hands were still gripped onto his arm. Soarin heaved a sigh and glanced at the laptop screen which he was FaceTiming with his friends on. He gave into her pleading and instructed his friends to merge calls with Dash's.

After he had done so, Dash dragged Soarin to her room. She was moving so fast and he had trouble keeping up with her. Clearly, she was excited to show him off. Maybe she was like him and she wanted to make it known that he was hers.

"I'm back!" She announces to her friends. They seemed to be conversing amongst themselves as Dash was gone. "I brought Soarin!" Their chatter ceased and their attention diverted to Rainbow Dash. The couple sat down on the cloud themed bed and slid under the covers together. More windows appeared on the laptop screen, signifying that Soarin's friends were joining the call. The other girls had confused looks on their faces apart from Pinkie Pie.

"Erm, what are they doing here?" Twilight sneered at the boys. Cheese Sandwich—basically Pinkie Pie of the opposite gender—drew attention to himself by waving his hands around and making silly faces.

"Well Dash told us to merge calls with you all, so I texted Pinkie to add us. And here we are!" He says, smiling goofily at Pinkie Pie. The two "crackheads" were the best of friends, and they got along better than anyone else in the group.

"Why are we here again?" Timber Spruce—another one of Soarin's friends—groaned. He used to live in the woods with his older sister and mother at Camp Everfree. He eventually got sick of the splinters and dirt of the camp and moved to Canterlot City with his father.

"My god, Timber. All your bitch ass does is complain. You haven't spoken to these girls in almost a month." Thunderlane scolds him. "Plus, don't you like—"

"ENOUGH!" Twilight interrupted Thunderlane before he could provoke Flash. She wasn't in the mood to hear back and forth bickering. Her attention diverted to Soarin and Dash. "Rainbow Dash, are you sure Soarin gave you that hickey? I thought the two of you were friends." She froze in place as she noticed the disapproving looks from everyone in the FaceTime call. "Why is everyone looking at me like that?"

"Because you're so fucking slow when it comes to things like this!" Thunderlane shouted at the purple colored female.

"As if you're any smarter!"

"Can you guys not fight . . ." Fluttershy whispered, hiding herself in the corner of the window on her screen. Of course, no one heard her. She simply wasn't loud enough.

"My word! Thunderlane, learn to keep your mouth shut." Fancy Pants, a transfer from Crystal Prep Academy, piped up. He didn't like the dark aura of the school, and he decided it was best to attend a more welcoming one.

"Are you guys really fighting for no reason again? The two of you do this every time you interact!" Flash Sentry, one of Soarin's closest friends, interjects. He dislikes fighting and he does all that he can to stop it, but no one listens to or hears him. He's like the Fluttershy of the group, except he's not shy . . . at all.

"Well you boys shouldn't have joined in the first place! We asked for Soarin, and Soarin only!" Applejack responds to Flash's comment, taking Twilight's side.

Twilight and Thunderlane's arguing dragged everyone else in. Next thing you know it, the girls and the boys were fighting against each other. It all started for the most ridiculous reason, and now it was never-ending, back and forth bickering. Soarin and Dash watched as their friends argued with each other in silence, not knowing what to say or how to stop them.

Dash thought it would be nice the group of boys joined their call because it would feel like they were all together again. Each and every person in the call had a special place in her heart, and it pains her to see them going against each other. She sighs heavily and slumps against the headboard of her bed. She was clearly exasperated, based off of her furrowed brows and curled lips.

Being the amazing boyfriend he is, Soarin took note of her frustration. He didn't even have to ask her why to know what was bothering her. He brought her body closer to him and rubbed his hand up and down her arms. He embraces her and rests his head on top of her forehead. She hugs him back as she buries her face into his chest.

"Hey, Princess?" He says softly into her ear.

"Yes?" She answers.

"I know a way we can stop their arguing, but it requires "public" affection." Soarin makes air quotes with his fingers, though Dash didn't see them because his hands are behind her back.

"You're really using this as an excuse to get a kiss from me?" Dash smirks as she wraps her arms around his neck, pulling his face closer to hers. Soarin does the same but instead, his arms were around her waist, and he shrugged playfully at her question. "I'm not too keen on public affection, but it's just us and our friends, right?"

"Oh my god, just kiss me."

The words "kiss me" drew the attention of a few of their friends, and they strove to find the person that said it. Three of them--Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy--saw Soarin and Dash being all lovey-dovey, and they couldn't help but gush over how cute they were.

"Awww, is Dashie getting her kissy time from Soarin?" Pinkie teases her friend, nearly ruining the moment between the couple. If she could, Applejack would have slapped her across the mouth to shut her up.

The sound of arguing had died down as everyone was focused on Soarin and Dash. The girls were in shock, since they weren't told that the two teens had officially become a couple. They would have never expected that they would actually get together. Sure, they teased her about liking him, but it was just . . . unexpected. Looks like a couple weeks alone is what the rainbownette and navy blue-haired boy really needed.

After Rainbow Dash notices her friends had finally quit bickering, she slowly parted her lips from Soarin's and faced the laptop screen. She was so deep into the kiss that she almost forgot why they were kissing in the first place.

"Are you guys done arguing now?" Dash asks them, eyeing every single one of them. "This was supposed to be a time where we could all reconnect and talk to each other as a group since we were all isolated, and this is how you treat it? We're all friends, and it's not healthy to be arguing over little things." She locks eyes with Soarin, signaling for him to take over.

"Dash is right. You all need to apologize right now. You upset her, and I don't like seeing my princess upset." He runs his fingers through her hair before realizing what he had just said. Dash blushes upon hearing him call her his "princess". It made her all tingly inside and her stomach did somersaults. She really needs to come up with a pet name for him.

"We're sorry, Rainbow Dash. We didn't mean to upset you or cause a "war" between the boys and us girls." Pinkie apologizes for both sides, even though she wasn't really apart of the arguments that went on. Her hair deflated like a balloon as she pouted.

"For once, I agree with Pinkie Pie. We were being rather . . . erm . . . childish. As friends, we shouldn't argue with each other as if we're enemies. So I apologize on behalf of everyone." Rarity, probably being the most mature, also apologized for the group as a whole. It pleased Dash that they were so understanding and willing to apologize.

"It's okay guys, and I think Soarin forgives you too. Right, Soar?" Dash looks up at her boyfriend, and he nods.

"Speaking of you and Soarin . . ." Twilight trails off with a finger tapping her chin. "GIVE US ALL THE DETAILS!"

~3,596 words

A/N

Okay, here's the thing about this chapter:

It took me literally 21 days to write and it still came out like shit. The chapters that don't take me long to write are usually my best. I had no motivation to write this chapter, and I had no time to write it. I feel like some of the characters aren't ... in character? I was rushing this chapter last minute and things went off near the middle/end. It was also supposed so be longer, but I just gave up because I was fed up with making up shit last minute.

My teachers have been overloading me with, schoolwork, and I can barely keep up. It was more fun writing this book when I didn't have school because ideas would flow into my brain like a waterfall because I didn't have much to concentrate on. But now, I've just been so busy. High school sucks. Really, it does.

Updates will be slower than usual. Hopefully I won't take another 21 days to write the next chapter so you all don't have to wait too long, but the "update-every-five-days" schedule just isn't going to work anymore.

Breathiniana out.