It was a quiet and peaceful night at the Canterlot City Retirement home, and Sunset was walking through the entrance of the facility, ready to begin her shift. As she was checking in, she saw Rainbow Dash with an exhausted look on her face.
“Hope you have a good night's rest,” Sunset said.
“Don’t worry Sunset, I will,” Rainbow said as she let out a long yawn as she left the building.
After retrieving her keys, she went up to the front desk, where Twilight was waiting for her, smiling happily.
Once upstairs Sunset bumped into Fluttershy and a portly man who wore a cowboy hat and cowboy boots and blue jeans.
“Hey Allen how are you?” Sunset asked.
“I'm mad as hell, I don't want to take it anymore,” Allen said in his best impression of Jimmy Buffett.
“Oh dear, well it's late, maybe you should go to bed, Jimmy is already in bed,” Sunset said smiling.
“Jimmy is already in bed,” A voice said behind them, as a guy came out of his room, he's wearing a pair of blue pajamas, his beautiful green eyes glittering in the dim light of the hallway.
“Jimmy go back to bed, you can see Allen tomorrow, ok?” Fluttershy said as she took Jimmy’s hand and went back into his room with him.
“See Allen tomorrow, ok?” Jimmy said as Fluttershy turned out the lights and closed the door.
“So Fluttershy, why is Allen so mad?” Sunset asked Fluttershy.
“Flutters says that I need to take my meds now, but I don’t want to take those stupid meds,” Allen said.
“But Allen, remember what the doctor said, you’re supposed to take these pills every night to help with your blood pressure,” Fluttershy said.
“Aww hell, fine I’ll take the stupid pill,” Allen said as he got a glass of water from his bedside.
“I’m glad that you’re being cooperative tonight Allen,” Sunset said.
“Whatever, I’m just doing this to get it over with and get some sleep,” Allen said.
It was early morning, and when Rainbow Dash was checking in for the day shift, she saw Sunset fast asleep on her desk.
“Hey Sunset, you can go home now,” Rainbow said as she tapped Sunset on the shoulder, waking her up.
“Mmmm...huh, oh Dash, (Yawn), is it morning already?” Sunset asked with a tired look on her face.
“Yep, time for my shift to begin,” Rainbow said.
“Yeah, man I am so exhausted from one of the patients screaming all night,” Sunset said. “When I get home, I’m taking a nice long nap on the couch.”
“Alright, see you in the evening,” Rainbow said as Sunset left the building.
“I have to go check on Paul,” Rainbow said as she went to Twilight’s desk.
“Ok, you can do that, oh and could you also check on Ringo,” Twilight said to Rainbow.
“Sure I'll do that,” Rainbow said as she went upstairs to Paul's room.
As she stood in front of Paul's room, she knocked on the door.
“Come in,” a voice said in a Liverpool accent, as Rainbow came into the room, she saw a thin man laying in his bed, next to him a portly man was sitting in his wheelchair.
“Good morning guys!” Rainbow said and signed.
“Hey, could you please get me in my wheelchair?” The man who's laying in bed asked Rainbow.
“Sure thing Paul.” Rainbow said as she got the hoyer lift ready and brought it over to Paul's bedside then she rolled him on his side and put the sling under him, then she lifted Paul into his wheelchair, after she had got him positioned in his wheelchair, she changed Paul's leg bag which was attached to his catheter.
Rainbow started dressed Paul in a gray t-shirt and blue jeans, then she realized that she should have dressed him in his bed, not his wheelchair.
“There you go, all nice and clean!” Rainbow said as she was getting Ringo ready for the day.
"Let's go downstairs for breakfast, I heard that we will have pancakes," Rainbow said as she handed Ringo his hearing aids.
"Thanks," Ringo signed. Rainbow took Ringo and Paul downstairs for breakfast, once they were downstairs they were greeted by Jimmy and Allen.
Jimmy was so excited that he got up out of his seat and started jumping up and down.
“Jimmy it's time to sit down now!” Rainbow said.
“I can’t take it anymore!” Jimmy shouted as he got more anxious.
“Jimmy look at me, please, you need to sit down please,” Fluttershy tried to plead with him.
But Jimmy didn’t listen to what Fluttershy told him, instead of sitting down, he went to Paul and Ringo then he hit Paul.
“Hey, Jimmy please don't!” Paul tries to say but Jimmy doesn't listen.
“Please stop that Jimmy,” Ringo tried to say, but Jimmy wasn’t listening to Ringo, instead he sat down on the floor and started to rock back and forth.
After a few minutes of rocking Jimmy got up and started yelling loudly and hitting himself and throwing things.
Fluttershy tried to calm him down but it didn’t work, Jimmy just continued hitting himself.
Paul was getting really uncomfortable with the situation, but all he could do was sit there and watch as the room was thrown into disarray.
Ringo took out his hearing aid and threw it across the room then he sat in his wheelchair and started to get more and more upset.
Rainbow tried to explain to Stevie who had come into the room for breakfast what was going on. Stevie felt his way over to Jimmy and tried to explain that Paul, Ringo and Allen were very upset because Jimmy’s behavior was not acceptable.
Stevie was wearing black sunglasses and a black shirt and blue jeans.
Stevie was one of the more independent residents, meaning he didn't need much help unlike the others, because of his independence sometimes Rainbow would ask him to help out with the other residents, which he did very well but sometimes like today even Stevie didn't know what to do, especially when Jimmy was acting out.
“Jimmy let’s go outside, come on!” Stevie said as he tried to calm Jimmy down.
Usually when Jimmy was upset Stevie would take him outside for a walk to calm down.
“Let’s go outside, let’s go outside!!!!!” Jimmy yelled running outside, almost knocking Stevie over in the process.
“Jimmy come back here!” Stevie called Jimmy, but Jimmy was already gone.
Stevie sat down on the floor looking exhausted.
“Hey, Stevie you did your best, Jimmy just needs some time to calm down.” Rainbow said, sitting down next to Stevie.
“Thanks, Dash.” Stevie said, bowing his head.
“You're welcome, it will be ok.” Dash said, hugging Stevie.
Then she got up and walked away and out of the dining room, and sat down with her back to the dining room door and started crying.
Concerned for her friend, Fluttershy went outside to see why Rainbow was crying.
“Hey Rainbow, what's wrong?” Fluttershy asked sitting down on the floor next to her friend.
“I don't know, I guess I got too overwhelmed with all that's been going on, you know?” Rainbow said as she got a hug from her friend.
“Yes, I understand, but sometimes life is hard, but we just don't give up, we have to keep going.” Fluttershy said to her friend as she got up from the floor and helped Rainbow to her feet.
“Thanks so much, Shy!” Rainbow said, hugging her friend.
“Now let's go and find Jimmy, he couldn't have gotten far!” Fluttershy said.
“But I’m really worried about him, as he has no sense of danger!” Rainbow said as she and Fluttershy were walking into the dining room.
“Hey guys, I just wanted to say that Jimmy is missing and we need to find him!” Fluttershy announced.
Sunset was parking her car over to the parking lot so she could start her shift, but when she entered the building to check in, she saw Rainbow-Dash sitting near the entrance crying.
“Rainbow, what happened?” Sunset said as she got Rainbow up on her feet.
“Sunset, I’m sorry, it’s just that it was a really busy day today, and I don’t know what happened, but Jimmy just got a little too excited. Fluttershy and I tried everything to calm him down, but nothing was working,” Rainbow said.
“And then Jimmy got out and now I can’t find him and I don’t know what to do now.” Rainbow said as she started bursting into tears.
“Don’t worry, Dash, we will continue looking for Jimmy tomorrow, besides we won’t be able to find him at this time of night, just go home and get some rest, ok,” Sunset said with a sympathetic smile.
“Ok, Sunset, thanks for this little chat, I really needed that,” Rainbow-Dash said as she got in her car and left for the night.
“Alright, after I get my keys, I’ll go and see what the problem is,” Sunset said as she went to retrieve her keys.
After Sunset finished getting Ringo and Paul into bed, she went to Allen’s room to see how Fluttershy was doing. Sunset saw that Allen was already fast asleep and that Fluttershy was also fast asleep in a chair right next to Allen’s bed. Sunset made a small smile, and after she quietly closed the door to Allen’s room, Sunset went to the main office to get started writing the paperwork that needed to be done by tomorrow.
While Sunset was writing out the paperwork, she kept wondering about Jimmy and if he got hurt or worse, but Sunset put her fears aside and continued her paperwork as she knew they would find Jimmy in the morning.
After finishing up the paperwork, then Sunset went to check on Paul, but as she got to his door, she saw Ringo sitting in his wheelchair in front of Paul's room and he was crying.
“Hey Ringo, what's wrong?” Sunset asked, concern written on her face.
“Just a little bit of a bad night!” Ringo signed.
“Oh I'm so sorry, is there anything I can do for you?” Sunset signed, raising her eyebrows to indicate a question.
“No I'm fine, it's just been a really hard day,” Ringo signed, wheeling himself back to his room.
“Well I hope you sleep well tonight, Ringo, good night, I'll see you tomorrow night,” Sunset signed, smiling as she went back downstairs to get some sleep, when she got downstairs she got the mattress that was in the supply closet then she lay it out on the floor next to her desk, and kicked off her shoes and socks, then she fell asleep as the moon was shining outside.
Author's Note
This is the first chapter of a 2 part story.
I hope you like it
What Does Music Really Mean?
Author's Note
Disclaimer: none of the people in this story aside from Stevie Wonder are actually disabled.
If you did not know this already Stevie Wonder is blind.
What Does Music Really Mean?
Sunset sat at the foot of her bed, staring at her packed bags.
"Hey Sunset, I heard that Jimmy got out again last night, did you find him?" Twilight’s voice came from behind the door.
"No, we didn't find him, it was too late at night for a search, but Rainbow said that she would look for him this morning!"
"Ok, thanks!" Twilight’s voice faded with her footsteps as she stepped away.
Twilight stood in front of the door to Paul and Ringo's room. She knocked on the door.
"Come in!" Paul's voice rasped from inside. It was clear he was growing weaker by the day.
“How are you doing today, Paul?” Twilight opened the door, peeking inside.
“I’ve been better, but hey, if I'm going to leave this world, I’ve at least lived a full life.”
“Paul, don't say that!” Twilight sat down beside him on the bed, her eyes growing moist.
“Hey, now you listen here, I'm ninety-nine, I think that it's time for me to leave this world. I don't want you to be sad now, you understand?
“I understand, it's just… hard for me to accept it.” Twilight sniffed.
“It’s ok to feel hurt, we all have to go at some point in our lives, ok?” Paul said.
Yeah, I understand.” Twilight said.
“Where is Rainbow?" Paul wheezed.
"She'll come back soon!" Twilight replied.
Paul nodded, each breath coming with a quiet rasp thanks to his cold, followed by a mechanical exhale from the ventilator beside him.
"Paul, listen to me, we need to go find Jimmy before he hurts himself, will you be ok here?"
"Will there be someone here just in case?" Paul asked.
"Of course there will be.” Twilight smiled. “I would never leave you alone. There will always be someone here!"
"Ok, good, I was afraid that you would not come back and just leave me here to die!" Paul laughed.
Rainbow Dash poked her head into the room. "Hey Paul, don't talk like that, we don't want you to die!" She opened the door further, wandering in and sitting down on Paul's bed.
"Hey Rainbow, can you stay here while I go to check on Fluttershy and Allen?" Twilight asked.
"Sure!"
“Thanks.”
Twilight stood up and left the room.
A Scream could be heard from behind Allen’s door before she could even knock. Twilight threw the door open, rushing inside to find Fluttershy at the man’s side.
"Oh, Twilight! I'm so glad to see you!" Fluttershy turned away from Allen for a moment. “He’s… well, upset.”
"Looks like you need some help." Twilight walked to Allen’s bedside.
"Yeah I do, if that's ok."
"Of course it is! Now, what’s the matter, Allen?" Twilight sat at the foot of his bed.“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?”
“Jimmy is gone, and there's nothing you can say to change that, right?" Allen sniffed. “Is he ever coming back?”
"I promise that we will find him, ok?" Twilight said.
Allen threw his arms up. "What's the difference? If we do find him, Jimmy won’t know what's going on, and Paul is going to leave here soon!" He hopped out of bed. “If nobody else is gonna find him, I will!”
"Allen, listen to me, no one here is going to leave, ok? I promise, we’ll find him and set everything straight." Fluttershy said calmly.
"No, I don't believe you!" Allen stormed out of the room. Twilight stood up.
"Wait--I think we should give him some time to calm down!" Fluttershy shouted.
"...Okay.” Twilight glanced out the open door. “I just hope that he doesn't hurt anyone."
"He would never do that!” Fluttershy gasped, “I know him, he’s actually really sweet!"
“Hey Fluttershy, what you say about no one leaving, it’s just that—” Twilight’s voice wavered.
“Twilight, what's going on? Did something happen?”
“It’s Paul--he’s gotten weaker. I didn't want to tell you while Allen was in the room... he’d be even more upset than he already is.”
“Oh Twilight, I'm so sorry!” Fluttershy placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “If you need anything, I'll be here for you.”
“No noo,it's ok, I have seen a lot of people die, I'll be fine.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Are you sure? I know this is hard for you. You certainly don't seem ok!”
“I told you, I'm fine!” Twilight half-yelled, her eyes growing moist as she ran out of the room Stevie wandered in, narrowly avoiding her as she swerved around him.“What's wrong with Twilight?” He asked.
“She’s upset about Paul.” Fluttershy replied.
“Oh, I heard that he was not doing well. Didn’t know that Twilight was so upset about it.” Stevie said, as he felt his way to Allen’s bed and sat down.
~~~
Stevie walked with his white cane--a gift he’d received from Twilight. "Where are we going?" Stevie asked.
"To find Jimmy, I told you that that's what we’re doing today." Fluttershy responded.
"Oh right, I must've not been paying attention, I'm sorry." Stevie apologized as the friends kept walking until they got to a bar.
"It's ok, you know now!" Twilight said as they went into the bar.
The usual commotion coming from within turned to complete silence the moment they stepped inside. All eyes were on them--but especially Stevie.
"Hey, you can’t come in here with that thing!" The barkeep yelled, pointing at Stevie's cane.
"Why not? He needs it to get around, so please don't say such things!" Rarity said, getting up in the barkeeper's face.
"Oh, I'm sorry, ma'am." The barkeeper mocked. Rarity ignored the remark.
"We are looking for our friend, Jimmy Buffett, he got out of our group home, he's autistic, we need to find him, can you please help us?" Twilight asked.
"I'm sorry, but I will not help you, now get out of my bar!" The barkeeper growled as he shoved the friends out the door.
"Well, that was very rude!" Rarity exclaimed.
"Now you know how I feel when me and Twilight go out." Stevie grumbled.
They continued walking, though the electronic buzz emanating from a small computer shop seemed to catch Stevie’s attention. "Hey guys, I think that I might have found the thing that Jimmy loves the most, he loves computers."
“Ok, but how is that going to help us find him?” Twilight asked.
“To help us find him? A voice said behind Stevie.
“Jimmy, is that you?" Stevie asked.
"Jimmy is that you, yes!" Jimmy repeated as he nodded his head.
"Jimmy, you had us worried, why did you run off?" Fluttershy asked.
"Run off, run off!" Jimmy repeated as he went up to Stevie.
"Jimmy, remember Stevie doesn't like it when you get so close to him." Rarity said.
"Stevie doesn't like it when you get so close to him?" Jimmy asked.
I don't like it." Stevie said.
“Go home, go home?” Jimmy asked.
“Yes, let’s go home.” Twilight said as the friends made their way back to the group home.
Arriving at the group home and going inside, Twilight took Jimmy to his room. She opened the door, following Jimmy inside. She sat down on the bed.
"Jimmy, do you understand that what you did was not ok?"
"Was not ok, yes you understand!" Jimmy nodded along.
Twilight stood up, pointing a thumb to the door. "Good, now let's go say sorry to Paul."
"To say sorry, no time."
"Why is there no time to say sorry to Paul?" Twilight sat back down again.
"Was upset, no hitting, no hitting!" Jimmy half-yelled.
"Oh, so you think that Paul is still upset with you?"
Jimmy nodded in response.
“Oh I see.” Twilight got off the bed, beginning to make her way to the door. “Well, would you like to have dinner in the dining room with the others, then? I don't think Paul will be joining us, though. He’s not doing well."
“He is not well, yes you would like to have dinner!" Jimmy followed Twilight out and down the stairs.
Twilight stopped mid-walk. “I won't be joining you for dinner, by the way. I need to talk with Paul. That's alright with you?"
Jimmy nodded and walked into the dining room.
Rainbow came running up to Twilight. "Hey Twilight--” she panted “--Paul wants you! C’mon!"
She took off without another word.
"Hey wait for me!" Twilight ran after her friend.
Twilight flung the door open.
"While you were looking for Jimmy, Paul's ventilator failed. I had to breathe for him with a manual vent. It’s… not working very well.” She stopped, sitting back. “Twilight, Paul is dying, I know it's hard for you to accept that, but we need to let him go."
"No, I won't let him go!” Twilight kneeled down at the bedside. “Please don't leave me, Paul!"
"Twilight come here,” Paul weakly gasped, turning his head. “I have to tell you about the magic of music."
"What about it?" Twilight asked.
"It is awesome, when I was younger I used to see the music, music was my life, now that I'm leaving, I can hear the music again!" Paul weakly said.
Twilight cried as she sat down on his bed and hugged him goodbye.
Then Paul closed his eyes and there was a long beep before the room went silent, the only thing that could be heard was Twilight crying.
“Please no!" Twilight cried before running out of the room.
Rainbow went back into the dining room and told everyone the bad news.
