Summer of Endless Rainfall

Harmonic and Scootaloo were eating at the table in the middle of the house. There was a feeling of uneasiness in the air.

"Sorry I yelled at you..."

"Don't worry about it. From what I saw, you had every right to be angry."

"..."

"What's your name?"

"...Scootaloo."

"Can you tell me why you were out there by yourself?"

"I don't have anywhere to go."

"You don't have any family?"

"No. I've been alone my whole life. I have a few friends, but they don't know what's going on."

"I guess that explains how you ended up there."

"Yeah..."

"You and I have a lot in common."

Scootaloo looked up at Harmonic with wide eyes.

"I never really knew my family either. I was left to fend for myself when I was little; just like you."

"How did you get through it?"

"It was hard. I screamed my lungs out more than a few times."

"Why did they leave you?"

"It took me a long time to figure that out. When I was 15, I found out there were two families involved in an experiment; an experiment to test the limits of emotion, but the experiment was cancelled, and nobody ever came back for me."

"What about the other family?"

"There was a little girl in that family; a white Pegasus named Atmospheric. I tracked her down when I was 19. She was attending an event in one of the towns I visited. We just kind of settled down here later on to get away from everything."

"How long have you been here?"

"About six years. What about you?"

"I've been here since I was born, I think."

"Do you go to school?"

"Yeah. We're off for summer break right now."

"So you've been by yourself all these years without anyone noticing?"

"Mhm."

"Do you know why you're family isn't around?"

Scootaloo shook her head.

"Did you ever try to find out?"

"No."

"..."

"What's wrong."

"Nevermind."

Harmonic got up and began to head to a little table in a corner of the house. That's when Scootaloo noticed something strange.

"Hey, you don't have a cutie mark."

"I never really searched for my special skill. I just kind of stayed inside and kept quiet."

"I thought they were important."

"They just tell you things you already know. It's kind of a mean-spirited joke, actually."

"Really?"

"That's how I always thought about it."

Harmonic turned on a radio on the table. A form of rock music started playing at low volume.

"You like rock, too," Scootaloo asked.

"Yeah. This is a style of rock called melodic hardcore I think. I've heard this band a few times."

"His voice sounds funny."

"He's using screamed vocals."

"I had no idea anyone's voice could sound like that."

"You're funny."

"Why?"

"When I talk to you, sometimes I feel like I'm talking to an adult. When you start talking about regular stuff though, I'm reminded that I'm talking to a kid."

"Hey, what's that mean!?"

"There's just a lot of things you haven't been exposed to yet is all. You'll figure it out later."

The two finished their meal without saying much else. Harmonic looked outside the window next to the bed to see the still-pouring waters of the sky fall to the earth.

"Hey, I need to run an errand. Do you want to come with me?"

"Where are we going?"

"To a clothing store. You need a jacket for this weather."

Scootaloo realized he was right. It was cold as death.

"It's settled, then. Come on. Let's get going."

"Okay."

"Hold on. Almost forgot something."

Harmonic parted his bangs and placed them behind his ears. It was the first time Scootaloo had seen his eyes. They were a deep, dark blue.

"Alright. We're set. Let's move out."

Scootaloo nodded, and they opened the door and left.