adventure Elements of Equestria: Chapter 12

[DivineMist1000 71,354]

Chapter 12: Awakening

“Wake Up Lee”

At first, all there was was silence and darkness, until there was a sudden rush of color and sounds of nature surrounding everything.

The first thing that was noticed was a magnificent starry sky and shooting stars going across the night above and then the view was adjusted to what was ahead: A grand mountain with snowy peaks, endless forest of trees and leaves and a river that glistened like gemstones in the bright moonlight.

In the middle of a misty and calm meadow, Lee sat up from his position and looked around him at the scenery. It was all so beautiful to him, but he had no idea where he was.

Lee held his head as he tried to remember how he got here, but nothing came to mind, as if his mind was completely empty of current memories that he had.

"This place... Where am I? How did... I get here?"

Lee stood up and stretched out before he looked around again for anypony else to see or hear him.

"Hello? Can anypony hear me? A-Anypony...at all?"

Lee listened close for a minute and after gaining no response from anypony, he lowered his head and wondered if he was simply alone here as he sat down on a large rock. His ears perked up, however, when he could hear the sound of laughter, making him look around frantically for the source.

"Who's there? P-Please, if you could just show yourself and let me see you... please."

The laughter became louder as he continued to look around and suddenly, a thick mist surrounded him and he start to hear whispers in his ears. The voice definitely sounded feminine and he closed his eyes to think about who it was.

"Lee... you need to wake up. I... need you. I know you know who this voice belongs to and all you need to do is look inside your heart to find the answer."

"My... my heart?" 

Lee placed a hoof over his chest and all he could see in his mind was a mental wheel, which spun through many names and faces until the wheel stopped on one particular name and face. He continually repeated the name until he could feel it in his voice: Tempest.

"Tempest... Tempest... Tempest."

Suddenly, Lee heard a gust of wind around him and he opened his eyes to see the mist starting to part as a shadowy figure walked into the mist.

The figure came closer and closer to Lee, which only made him back away slowly until he accidentally tripped over a tree limb and fell to the ground. The figure came into full view and revealed the form of Tempest Shadow standing over him.

"Lee..."

“Tempest? Y-You’re here? How are you here? And where exactly is here?”

Tempest simply smiled at his questions and lifted Lee back onto his feet using her magic. Lee stood facing Tempest before she began walking away, but he was still confused all the same as he followed her closely.

“C-Come on! Aren’t you gonna say something? Tempest?”

“Hmm... This place. This place is a little sanctuary all for you, away from all the stress and pain and worry. I’m here because... well, because you want me to be here.”

“What? What does that all mean? Am I... dreaming?”

“Dreaming? That’s for you to decide. Is this real or just in your head? Maybe it’s both and it’s impossible to tell the difference between dreams and reality.”

“Well, in any case, I’m glad that you’re here with me Tempest...There’s so much that I need to-“

Tempest stopped him when she placed a hoof over his, which made him blush and started breathing heavily.

“Lee... There’s only one thing that’s important right now and that’s you... I’m here to tell you, to convince you that you need to wake up.”

“I keep hearing those words, but I don’t feel like I’m asleep... I don’t feel... anything right now honestly, like my mind is just... blank. Is that weird?”

Tempest nodded her head to his question.

“No, not at all. Your mind just needs time to recover, but you’ll be just fine in no time.”

Tempest moved a little closer to Lee, but he continued to try and move away from her. Tempest stood very close to Lee and he continued to blush as he looked into her eyes.

“Lee... I want you to know, want you to feel that I care about you, I cherish you and I... love you.”

Suddenly, out of sheer panic and stress, Lee quickly stood up and walked away from Tempest as he was shaking his head in denial and continued breathing very heavily. Tempest followed him, but he wouldn’t stop moving away from her.

“No no no... This isn’t right. None of this is right!!”

“W-What? What are you talking about Lee? Why are you running from me?”

“L-Love me?! ME?!! You don’t love me! T-That’s just a lie to get my hopes up! Nopony in their right mind would want to be with me because I don’t deserve it for all the things I’ve done...”

“Lee... Why are you saying this?! Please, stop this at once!!”

“No!! You listen to me! Let’s not pretend anymore about what I am... Everypony knows what I am and all I am is... I’m just- I’m just a...”

Lee felt tears in his eyes and he held his head in pain. Lee was about to complete his sentence when Tempest lunged forward and hugged him tightly, which made him very confused.

“T-Tempest... What are you...”

Tempest shushed him as she continued to hold him in her hooves. Lee loved the feeling of Tempest’s warmth around him but resisted as hard as he could to hug her back.

“Everything will be okay Lee... While I’m here by your side, nopony will even look at you wrong. They’ll have to go through me before I let ANYPONY hurt you again!”

“Tempest... Tempest... T-Tempest... I-I... I lov-“

Tempest interrupted him and started giggling a little.

“Wake up Lee... Wake up and tell me yourself how you truly feel. Lee, please just wake up.”

Suddenly, Tempest vanished from Lee’s grasp and he was left by himself as he frantically searched the mist and endless trees for Tempest.

“Tempest? Tempest, where are you? Tempest?!”

After a while of hopeless searching, all went dark around him as he repeatedly called out Tempest’s name.

————————————————————----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Near Lee’s hospital bed, Celestia was napping in the chair beside him when she started hearing sounds coming from Lee and that he was beginning to move slightly.

Lee suddenly started shaking madly and tossed and turned in every direction as he repeated only one name: Tempest.

“L-Lee?! Lee, can you hear me?”

Celestia moved closer to Lee as he continued moving frantically and saying Tempest’s name. Suddenly and drastically,  Celestia jumped back as she heard Lee scream as he bolted himself out of the bed and tumbled into the medical equipment in the corner of the room.

Lee breathed heavily and had a coughing fit as he tried to stand up, but initially lacked the strength to do so. Celestia quickly approached and wrapped her wings around him, which only made Lee jump back and stare at her in confusion at first.

“W-What? C-Celestia? What are... you doing here?”

Celestia stopped him from getting up again only asked him to calm down and take a breath before straining himself further.

“Just take it easy, Lee. I’m... so happy that you’re finally awake! We were all so worried about you!”

Celestia hugged Lee tightly and it took him a minute to realize what was going on. Lee hugged Celestia back, but looked around the room in confusion.

“Where am I? W-Where’s Tempest?”

Celestia gently lifted him back onto his feet and supported him as she led him back to his bed. Lee sat down on the bed and held his aching sides as Celestia got him a glass of water. Lee drank the water slowly and finally managed to calm himself down as Celestia overlooked him in concern.

“Are you feeling alright, Lee?”

“No... I feel like somepony just punched me in the stomach. What happened to me?”

“Don’t you remember? A pony attacked you and Tempest and well... you took a shot for Tempest. You’ve been unconscious for five days!”

Lee gasped at the sudden news and suddenly started panicking.

“W-WHAT?! Five days?! T-Tempest... Tempest!!”

Lee tried to get up from the bed again, but he felt excruciating pain as he left the bed. Celestia quickly caught him before he fell back down and sat him back down.

“Where do you think you’re going?! You are in no shape to walk like this!”

“Grrr!! I’m fine and I don’t need your help! I need to find Tempest and... I need to...”

Lee continuously tried to get up and push past Celestia, but Celestia stopped him at every chance he took.

“Lee, stop! Please just stop!! I’m just trying to help you!”

“I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP!!!”

Suddenly, Lee screamed at Celestia and pushed her down to the floor, making Celestia very shocked and saddened at his actions. Lee realized what he had just did and felt much anger and guilt inside himself as he forced himself onto his feet again.

Lee looked back at Celestia and she saw tears in his eyes, but he said nothing to her as he limped towards the door and left the room.

Celestia got up from the floor and tried to go after Lee and saw that he was stumbling over everything in his path and pushing past the doctor ponies, but didn’t stop moving toward the exit of the hospital.

“LEE!! Lee, come back please!”

No response came from Lee as he finally made it to the exit and went outside into the rainy afternoon. The rain had no effect on Lee either, as simply kept moving toward the trees in the distance.

Celestia continued following Lee until she saw him collapse in front of the hospital and trying desperately to get back up. Celestia ran over to him and heard him scream again as he held his head in pain and tears came out of his eyes.

“I’m sorry... I’m so sorry!”

Celestia knelt down beside Lee and wrapped her wings around him, holding him closely to her and letting her warmth surround him. Celestia used her magic to create a magic umbrella to stop the rain from pouring on both of them.

“I’m sorry Celestia...”

“No apologies needed. I swear that you’re gonna be just fine and that we’ll bring you back home safely.”

“Celestia... I need to find Tempest. Where is she?”

“She and Luna went on ahead to investigate a nearby village. I’ll send them a note at once and they’ll be back shortly.”

Lee nodded in agreement to Celestia’s answer and laid his weary head against Celestia. Celestia placed him on her back and carried him back into the hospital.

“Tempest... I’ll tell you when you come back. Tell you how I feel...”

A/N: Here’s a new chapter for everyone! Hope everyone enjoys it!

Edited February 5, 2021 by DivineZebra1000

[O-78 28,605]

This chapter was great! I can't wait see what happens next!

[DivineMist1000 71,354]

@LyraLover I think my idea for Lee now is that he just wants to find Tempest and tell her how he feels, but since he was too injured to move, Celestia helps him along the way!

[Tom Gallagher 33,581]

I hope Lee finds her!  Beautiful work as always!