Little Lamplight’s Great Chamber was quiet at night, with no sound save for the gentle breathing of sleeping children and the occasional patter of condensation falling from the walls. The Great Chamber was aptly named; a vast cavern supported by thick pillars of rock that rose up out of the deep water that covered the floor of the cave. There were a few patches of dry rock that poked up out of the water, but they were few and far between. Instead, the cave was traversed by a series of wooden walkways and platforms suspended high above the water, many of them snaking around and attached to the support pillars. Bright lights were strung up along each walkway, providing plenty of light for navigating the complex paths.

At the far end of the Chamber, away from the sleeping areas, Fluttershy stood with her arms resting on the walkway railings, gazing down into the inky blackness below. Her friends were sleeping fitfully in an alcove around the edge of the cave. Any one of them would have undoubtedly been willing to talk if she had woken them but, for now, she was just happy to have a quiet moment to herself so she could try and organise her thoughts.

The last few days had been awful. For one brief shining moment things had been looking up, and then everything had fallen apart. Learning of James’ death had been the worst part. Losing someone who had started as an ally and ended up becoming a good friend was almost too much to bear.

Fluttershy hadn’t given up hope, though. The knowledge that Adam and the other scientists were alive helped, but it was the thought of her friends that was most responsible for her resolve. Jonas, Mary, and James. Three of her friends had died since the Rainbooms had first arrived in this world, she was not going to let anyone else get taken away, not as long as there was something she could do about it.

Still, that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t mourn. Fluttershy had allowed herself time, on that first night after escaping from Exodus, to cry while the others slept. It wasn’t much, but it had helped to clear her head and enable her to focus on supporting the rest of the Rainbooms.

Since then, things had finally started to look up again. Fluttershy didn’t want to get her hopes up too much. After all, there was still a mountain of problems for the Rainbooms to face, starting with the prospect of a mutant-infested Vault in the morning, but she couldn’t help but feel that their luck was slowly improving. The fact that they had at last found Adam was certainly helping to raise her spirits.

Fluttershy sighed as she replayed their earlier conversations in her head one more time. After Rainbow’s little display with her shishkebab, and her subsequent assertion that she just had to come up with an awesome name for it, the conversation had turned to what they were going to do next.

Flutters had made a small attempt to nudge the conversation towards James, but Adam had made it very clear that he didn’t want to talk about it. She just hoped he wasn’t forcing himself to bottle up his emotions. Such things never ended well.

Eventually the group had decided it was best to try and get a good night’s sleep before they braved the Vault tomorrow. Mayor Macready had agreed to let them stay the night on condition that they didn’t cause any problems or try to ‘diddle the kids’. Rainbow’s retort was probably best forgotten. As was the verbal tirade from Rarity that followed.

The sudden sound of creaking boards snapped Flutters from her little reverie. Turning to see who else was up, she was surprised to see Adam rounding a nearby pillar. He blinked as he spotted her too, then smiled and gave her a small wave. “Oh, hey, Fluff.”

“Oh, um, hi,” Fluttershy replied, trying to ignore the sudden storm of butterflies that erupted when he used his little nickname for her.

Adam paused in his tracks. “Er, are you okay? I can leave if you want to be alone.”

“No! I mean, um…” Fluttershy blushed as she mentally chastised herself. “It’s okay, um, I wouldn’t mind a little company.”

Adam smiled and joined her at the railings, bending slightly to lean against them. Unfortunately, since he wasn’t looking at what he was doing, the poor fool chose to rest his arms on a spot that was particularly wet with condensation, causing them to slip out from under him and pitch him forward to smack painfully into the rail with his ribs.

Fluttershy winced in sympathy and reached out a steadying hand. “Are you alright?”

“Yep! I’m good. Totally good,” Adam said quickly as he straightened up, brushing the fresh damp spot on his battered jumpsuit. He planted his hands on his hips and shook his head, chuckling softly. “Man, how smooth was that, right?”

“So, so smooth,” Fluttershy replied with a giggle.

Adam huffed a laugh and frowned at the railing. “Right, let’s try this again.” With exaggerated care he leaned against the railings again, making sure to avoid any slick sections. Once he was settled he looked back to Flutters. “So… the last few weeks have been kinda weird.”

“Um, yeah.” Fluttershy nodded and looked out across the cave, not quite able to meet his eyes. “Things have been a little… um… strange.”

The two of them lapsed into an awkward silence. While they had been chasing after him, Fluttershy had imagined hundreds of different things she wanted to say to Adam, but now that he was actually here, she didn’t have a single thought in her head.

“I… er… I think I owe you an apology,” Adam said shortly.

Fluttershy glanced at him curiously. “What for?”

The railing creaked as Adam shifted uncomfortably. “For what I asked you. Y’know, back in the Vault.” A blank stare was the only reply. “Remember? After the… er… after that chat with Christine.”

The memory hit Fluttershy like a train. She twitched her hair in front of her face to hide the crimson glow now radiating from her face. “O-oh. Um, that, um… you… you’ve already, um, apologized for… for that.”

“Well, yeah,” Adam admitted, a matching blush spreading across his own face. “But, I mean, back then I didn’t really know what was going on, y’know? If I had known that you were trying to get back I never would have asked. Not that I wouldn’t- I mean that I don’t… ah, you know what I mean.” Fluttershy tried to reply, but the strangled squeak that she came out with was barely audible even to her own ears. “I guess what I’m saying is, I get why you said no,” Adam continued quietly.

“I-it's not that,” Fluttershy managed. “It… it would have been cruel to say, um, to say y-yes,” her face somehow managed to burn even more as she said it, “especially when we didn’t think we would be here this, um, this long.”

“Fair point.” Adam sighed. He smirked as he thought of something. “You know, you’re going to have to tell me the truth about your world some time. Especially about your magic.”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything,” Adam replied, before trying to stifle a yawn. “Not right now though. We should probably get some sleep ready for tomorrow. I was only going for a walk to try and clear my head a little.”

Fluttershy nodded again. “I’ll go back soon. I just want to clear my head a little more, too.”

“Groovy. Alright, I’ll see you in the morning, Fluff.” Giving her one last nod, Adam turned to walk away.

Before he rounded the pillar and passed from sight, Fluttershy called out to him softly, “Adam, um, well, um, I was thinking. When all of this is, um, when all of this is done and we’ve got Project Purity back… would…um… would you like to… talk?”

Adam glanced back over his shoulder, raising his eyebrows at her. “Uh, sure? What about?”

“Well, um… you see…” Taking a deep breath, Fluttershy swallowed her embarrassment, clasped her hands together and turned to face him fully, her heart thundering so loudly she was amazed it wasn’t echoing around the cavern. “M-maybe… maybe next time the answer won’t be no.”

Adam mouthed the word ‘no’ blankly, then blushed as his brain caught up and comprehension dawned. “I-I… uh, oh, uh...” He cleared his throat loudly and turned to face her, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “But what about, uh, what about when you go home?”

Fluttershy dipped her head, looking up at him from under her eyebrows. “Well, um, we’re probably going to be stuck here for a while still. Plus, um, well, m-maybe, if it's okay with you a-and the others, maybe you could come with us?”

Adam stared at her in stunned silence. For a couple of terrifying moments Flutters half-expected him to reject her, but her fears proved ill-founded as he spoke quietly, “Yeah. Yeah, I think I’d like that.” As Fluttershy struggled to keep a beaming grin off her face he raised an eyebrow and looked around in confusion. “Hey, what’s that sound?”

Fluttershy had noticed it too; a quiet and high-pitched squeal that seemed to be coming from nowhere. She’d recognise it anywhere. “I-it's probably just bats,” she said shakily.

Adam shrugged. “Yeah, probably. Anyway, I’m going to go and get some shut-eye. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you in the morning?” Fluttershy nodded. “Okay. Well, uh, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” Fluttershy watched as he walked away. The moment he was out of earshot she turned and leaned against the railings, her heart pounding and her legs feeling like they were made out of jelly. Taking a deep breath, and resisting the near-overwhelming urge to bury her face in her hands, Fluttershy called out, “Y-you can come out now.”

Almost before she’d finished speaking there was a loud creak as someone else bounded up next to her, still squee-ing in a way that must have been driving any nearby dogs insane. “Tell. Me. Everything!” Rarity squealed.

And here it is!

Most of you guessed the ship, but those of you who didn't still have a chance to guess at the others that are going to appear in this fic, not to mention the ones that may change or sink over time...

Now, question time. I'm looking for a good name for Rainbow's magic Shishkebab. At the moment I'm thinking Chromatus (courtesy of Twilight) but I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter!

Next time, Vault 87...