//------------------------------// // Magical Friendship // Story: Francis is Magic // by TastySandvish //------------------------------// After a little auscultation at the 'Ponyville Hospital', the doctor had stated for an 'harmless' minor fracture. For the young man, the word was badly chosen, but he hadn't studied medicine, so the only thing he did was listening for the diagnosis. He wasn't really reassured by the lack of knowledge of the human body that the doctor clearly stated with some remarks like ''It's no usual for me to work on that kind of limbs, but I'll do what I can...'' or ''If this is what I think it is, that thing goes in this one... But I'm not sure...''. Francis couldn't complain much: that stallion saved his life.... Probably. After the delicate procedure to relieve his pain, where he tried out the 'anesthetic spells', he was taken to a bright and cozy room. Opposed to what he thought after seeing the front of the building, which was more referring to an inn with its tiled roof, beige walls and timbering, it was fitted with trendy equipment... Well... Once again... Probably. The man, liberated from his torment, was lying on a bed, half naked with a large bandage around his chest. Its size was quite abnormally long for those equines. After a small investigation, he found a little note on the side: Giraffe ''Obviously...'' He thought. ''I should have suspected that.'' Looking away from the humiliating label, Francis observed his new surrounding. The windows, opened to the courtyard, let through an heartwarming light that illuminated the wallpaper. Its blue color, matching with the curtains and bed sheets and reminiscent of the sky, made the atmosphere even more pleasant. The wooden furniture wasn't painted, adding an extra source of heat. The bedside table was surmounted by a purple lamp and a green box of tissues, strengthening the colorful look of the restroom. It was the first time he had see a welcoming hospital room. Attempting to check the ground, he came again face to face with the seven small letters. ''Yeah, I know that you're there, Mister Giraffe!'' The last word was indicative of something bigger. ''Wait a minute... If this place is named Equestria and this bed is a giraffe sized one, it means that they exist in this place and are intelligent, also meaning that this place maybe is inhabited by equestrian creatures...'' ''Yes, like buffaloes, donkeys, minotaurs or centaurs. But also other animals that doesn't fit into the equestrian category.'' The young man, surprised, turned to the one who answered him. It was the purple winged unicorn. ''I wanted to see how you were doing and I thought wise to keep you company.'' She trotted up to him. ''After all, it's my fault too if you are in this situation.'' ''It's very nice of you, but you have more important things to do, right?'' he said with a grin. ''Don't worry, I didn't come alone.'' A few ponies entered the room. ''We haven't introduce ourselves, let's fix that!'' Among them, he recognized Pinkie Pie, who he had met earlier that day. She grabbed his hand to shake it, kinda forceful. ''Hey Francis, how are you doing? It seems that you got better than last time, don't you?'' His savior levitated the pink mare, making Francis speechless, again. ''Pinkie, spare him; he's still in shock.'' She said, putting down her friend. She returned to the human. ''So, you name's Francis?'' He nodded. ''Exactly'' ''I'm Twilight Sparkle and these are my friends.'' A cyan pegasus stepped forward, swaggering. ''Francis, Rainbow Dash.'' She turned to the multicolored haired pony. ''Rainbow, Francis.'' ''I'm the awesomeness itself, but you can call me Rainbow.'' She announced, slightly boastful. The young man didn't pay attention to the presentation, he was focused on her hair, wondering if the colors were artificial or natural. Among the group, he noticed a cow-boy looking hat. ''A hat? They are naked but some of them are wearing hats... How peculiar... '' Its owner appeared to be a pony named Applejack. ''Nice to meet yah, Mister Francis, I hope that your stay'll be as pleasant as possible!'' Her Texan accent was very sympathetic. She didn't seemed from the frills kind. Contrariwise, the white unicorn, also one of Twilight's friend, was much closer to that definition. ''Bienvenue, Monsieur Francis. I am Rarity.'' She remarked the wounded's clothes on the headboard, she approached it to check them out. ''Oh, what are those?'' She asked. He didn't see why she was interested, but he answered anyway. ''My shirt and my coat, why such a question? They are the most regular things I've ever worn...'' She paused him. ''Regular? They are simply amazing! If that's what you call regular where you come from, then we have to talk! And a lot!'' The young man raised an eyebrow as a sign of perplexity. ''Sorry to interrupt your discussion about fashion'' Twilight said, ''but everypony hasn't been introduced, isn't it Fluttershy?'' 'Everypony'? It sounded ridiculous, but also cute. Speaking of which, the last member of the group was a yellow mare with wings and a pink long mane. Her name suited her perfectly: she was hiding behind her hair, looking away and scratching the ground with her hoof. Francis knew that she wouldn't start, so he took the lead. ''Hello, my name is Francis, what's yours?'' He spoke quietly and softly, as we speak to a shy child. He extended his hand in friendship, but the pain reminded him of reality. He gritted his teeth and pulled slowly his hand back to him. Unintentionally, he had perform a great icebreaker. She came near him and took his hand between her two hooves. The shy pony sat down and began to whisper reassuring words. It's a technique usually restricted to children and animals, so it was embarrassing, but still appeasing. ''Hue... Fluttershy?'' ''Yes?'' She replied, still caressing the end of his arm. ''Thanks for taking care of me. It touches me.'' He spoke to the whole group. ''Thank you all. I wouldn't find such kindness where I come from.'' ''That's what friends does!'' Pinkie answered, smiling. Friends? Already? As much as he could remember, making friends took him a lot of time and lot of them didn't last for long. How could this be? ''Friends? Really? I wasn't expecting that...'' ''Due... You saved Twilight's life, action talks more than words themselves.'' The bouncing pony said like it seemed obvious. ''And to celebrate this, we organized a sleepover!'' His face was melting, metaphorically. ''A what?'' ''A sleepover. You know, when your friends stay for the night!'' Even heard a second time, it wasn't pleasing Francis much . It was so... Girly... Seriously... The thing he wanted the most was to run away from his bed. But it wasn't possible. The night was gonna be VERY long...