A new lab rat?

"Aww pfft! Come on! I'm sure it'll be fun one step at a time! Staying cooped up in this place is an awful way to spend your life! I'm sure every pony would love to meet you! And I would love to walk and talk to get to know you more! *GASP* Ooh, and introduce you to the omega pony of incredibleness!! Have you ever seen a giant tree talk before?? It's so amazing and she's so ... zen... like whoa!" Doodle said hopping up and down in one place but then paused in mid air on one hop to drop the instant chilled attitude on the last part of her sentence.

Her chilled attitude only lasted a mere few seconds before she began bouncing around the room like a jackrabbit, yet she was light enough to not disturb any of the beakers or make any noise!

"What are you talking about?" Biorhythm asked, tilting his head and looking at Doodle with a gaze of snide confusion.

Doodle's golden ears popped up in his confusion and she quickly let out a chuckle and said. "Well, you won't know until you meet her, will ya! YIIIIIIIII COME ON COME ON COME ON!! IT'S GONNA BE SOOOOOOOO *SQUEE* MUCH FUN!!" Doodle then flew above and around Biorhythm doing several 'swimming' tricks in the air out of pure excitement! "Ooooh we can go where no ponies are and you can get used to the crowds slowly!!" Doodle then zipped around the room like a mad pony!

"We could also do something super dangerous!! Like deep sea diving. Although, being a pegasus, I'm not all that great at diving... Stupid wings, eh? Hahahaha!!"

"Ok ok... Calm down and we'll go." Biorhythm said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Ok..?"

Doodle landed with a soft click of her hooves in front of him still emitting her shrill, yet muffled squeal as her eyes grew wide and hopped around the dark stallion just imagining all of the interesting things they could do on his estimated 'first time out of his house' since she's seen him at least... She was probably sure he'd have to go out for food at least. But she hopped over to the door and opened it, darting out and tearing through the streets as fast as her painted hooves could carry her.

"I'll bet you can't catch me!!" She yelled already a few yards ahead of him incredibly happy to have a new friend at her side!! She thought of all the restaurants they could see or the forests they could visit!! Even her talking tree friend in the Everfree as if she could pass that up! She had a new friend and she wanted them to feel happy in an attempt to erase the sadness within! It was her self deemed job of course! Whenever she'd run into a sad pony, she'd always try to turn their frowns upside down as well as an added bonus laugh!

Nothing would get in her way of making this new friend feel at home and welcome! Even if she had to use drastic measures!

Biorhythm felt a spark of competitiveness flicker in his heart, his eyes narrowed and a smirk grew on his face. "You think you're faster than me?" He jeered, his jagged teeth showing as he smirked. "We'll just have to see about that!" He added as he ran forward, feeling the blood rushing to his legs.

"HAHAHA! YEAH! THAT'S THE SPIRIT!" Doodle shouted as he quickly caught up. She then stared straight ahead as she smiled and attempted to pick up the pace only to miss a step and get tripped over her front legs sending her spiraling ahead, rolling down a hill side where some ponies were having a picnic, face planted right into their home-made cake. As she pulled her face up, the ponies around her couldn't help but laugh as the cake's icing had left her with red frosting around each eye as well as white frosting for her face and lettuce sticking out each side of her mane giving her the 'clown' appearance.

As she pried her face from the cake she looked around and said, "OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHOHMYGOSH I'MSOSOSOSOSOSORRY! I'LL GET YOU A NEW CAKE! I SWEAR ON IT!!" She shut her eyes but quickly opened them upon hearing, not angry shouting, but humorous laughter! She sat there staring at them with a confused tilt of the head, and glanced over at Biorhythm shrugging. "What's so funny?"

Biorhythm crested the hill, skidding to a halt not too far behind Doodle, staring for a moment before bursting into laughter. "You look like a clown!" The once brooding stallion exclaimed, nearly falling over.

Doodle paused seeing her friend smile rather than shout then let out a huge burst of laughter! "Come on!" She said whipping the stuff off her face, "I've still gotta show you Miss Maple!!! YIIIIIII IT'S GONNA BE SOOOO MUCH FUN!! Follow me!" As she finished, she bolted off towards the east and directly into the Everfree forest, hopping over branches, roots and small hills. "See! I told you that you'd have fun!! HEHEHAHA!!!" SHE then abruptly stopped in front of an old tree and knocked on the wood slightly, buzzing around the trunk impatiently waiting for a response!

Suddenly a door was thrown open as a dark, very thin figure with other stepped out and greeted her. "Oh Doodle! I've been wondering when you'd come back! I'm sure you've got so many stories to tell!" The figure spoke with an old, rustic accent as it ushered her inside. "And you've brought a friend! Who might you be?" The old shadow like figure said bending down towards him.

"My name is Biorhythm." The skinny dark stallion said, looking up at the tall shadowy figure.

A rough chuckle was heard as the faceless shadow ushered them both inside the tiny tree trunk showing them both that the insides were indeed bigger than the outside. Inside her tree home, she had a dug out dining area and a kitchen area directly behind it only one step up! To the right, there was the typical bathroom which ran clean water from a dangling root, only without the toilet. And to the left was the living room adorned with a flower petal carpet and a small wooden table with a small stack of newspapers Doodle had brought her over the years.

Seeing as this figure had never seen the light of day or it would vanish as the sun shone upon it! "I apologize for the mess and the... uh... lack of illumination but uh... us shadow folks would just melt away on the spot if light got anywhere near us! You both didn't have any trouble with the timber wolves, have you? They were actually conjured from spells to keep pesky and curious ponies and their lights out! Well, that is until they became sentient and went their own way of course!"

She then turned towards doodle as the door was quickly shut as well as the already thin ray of lights were instantly flashed out. "Please do not use magic... it would get ugly if there were lights about... trust me." She said in an almost begging voice aimed directly at Biorhythm as her vail of security around the unicorn visitor was dropping rapidly.

Biorhythm looked at the shadow, nodding slowly. "Oh... My horn doesn't work the way it should... I can't control my magic." He said, sitting down by the table. "I'm sorry if that would cause any trouble."

"O-oh! Well, then welcome to my abode! There are night vision goggles on the table if you have trouble seeing! her footsteps were completely silent as she strayed to the kitchen and ignited the flameless/lightless stove. Would you both like some tea?"

"Sorry Miss Maple, we're not staying! I'm just showing Biorhythm here the world since he's been stuck inside of that giant lab on the hill for as long as I've known some pony living there!" Doodle's excited attitude suddenly kicked back in as she seemed to forget that this was the EverFree and shouted, "YIIIII WE'RE GONNA HAVE SO MUCH FUN!! BIO, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO THE BOWLING ALLEY? ARCADE?? THE GREAT HALL IS PRETTY GREAT TOO!! YIIIII THERE'S SO MUCH TO DO! SO MUCH TO SEE! SO WHAT'S WRONG WITH TAKING THE BACKSTREET?"

Maple instantly shook her head at Doodle's wild personality kicking back in as the air of politeness was fading fast. She then turned her attention to Biorhythm and politely inquired about his lab and what kind of things went on there. "Are you some sort of Scientist or doctor for the miracle cure-all?" She said as her mood was shifting to that of a more curious one.

"Well.... I fancy myself a bit of an alchemist... I make potions and poisons." Biorhythm said, sitting down by the stove, inspecting it curiously. "a stove with no flame or light... How is that possible?"

"The strange figure's posture changed upon hearing about the flameless and lightless stove. "Well, being a shadow can be hard but we've grown and adapted our own magics from this very forest itself! a lot of us have died off trying to contain the magic due to the lights flashing off in several directions but once we had finally managed to get some of it under control and put a simple whispering spell around it, the light died out but the heat remained! We were very fortunate for this break through but very... um, 'uncomfortable' with losing our 'family' to get this far..."

She paused feeling a sense of dread wash over her remembering all of the shadows that had lost their lives while Doodle continued to bounce on the couch and prattle on about the things she would show him. The shadow then laughed and gently set the tea cups in front of them with a soft clink of porcelain hitting wood. "Drink up! I'm sure you'd love this concoction!"

Biorhythm sat down by the table and lifted the cup carefully, sniffing the liquid inside. "What is this?"

"Oh! That is my famous wild berry surprise!" She said perking up a bit watching Biorhythm sniff the liquid and Doodle guzzled down the liquid and rocketed around the room like a fire cracker! "WAAAAAHOOOOOOOOO!! THAT WAS SO SUPER AMAZING! OH MY GOSH YOU HAVE TO TELL ME HOW YOU MAKE IT!!! YIIIIIIIIIIII!" The shadow chuckled slightly as she said. "Oh, those berries are only found in the most shady of the Ever Free and super guarded by the timber wolves! The only ones allowed access are the sentient shadows without a true form!"

Doodle's expression rapidly fell as she slumped o the floor mid jump in an "Awwwww!" kind of tone then went back and sat back on the couch pouting. "Don't look so glum! I can get you some when you return! The wilder the berry the better!" she said walking over to the cabinet and taking out a single 'growling' metal box. "These are the berries of which I speak! I would not open that unless you've got some seriously strong pots at home though... they'll rip off pelt and flesh but don't worry, it grows back within the week! Just boil them down to a pulp and mix in some mint and they'll really add some extra 'bite' to your teas!"

She pointed towards Bio's horn and politely asked, "May I inquire about your peculiar horn? It looks almost... changeling like... Are you half?"