The campsite the Main Six and Purple Horn chose was extremely beautiful at night. The campfire lightened the area as brightly as a sun, committing itself to its eternal dance. Crystals shined brightly on the walls as well. Meanwhile, the ponies were all asleep and resting up, getting ready to continue their quest in the morning. Well, everyone except Purple Horn and Twilight.

Purple Horn was sitting by the fire, looking at a picture that was in his saddlebag. The picture showed a young pink mare, around the age of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. She had pink hair, a horn that glowed a bright gold, and wings as colorful as a rainbow. Purple Horn looked at the picture with intention, a tear in his eye as he did so. This moment was interrupted by Twilight, who sat down with Purple Horn, holding two mugs in her hand.

"Hey," Twilight said, breaking Purple Horn out of his gaze. "I thought you could use the company."

"Twi, seriously?! Don't come up at me like that!" Purple Horn said, before looking at the mug presented before him.

"It's tea," Twilight said, taking his confused look as a question. "Can you drink it? It's my friend's recipe."

Purple Horn sighed and put the mug of tea up to his lips, taking a long gulp. The tea was a lemon tea, with a small amount of honey thrown in. "Is there honey in this?" Purple Horn asked, noticing the taste.

"A little," Twilight said, before getting to the main question at hand. "I've noticed you're a bit of a recluse and not open to friendships."

"Yeah? What of it?" Purple Horn asked, getting annoyed about being nagged over the matter.

"Well I just want you to know that I know how you feel," Twilight said. "I was diagnosed as being on the spectrum when I was a filly, and people always thought I was weird because of it. After I came to Ponyville, I learned a lot about friendship from the girls and it opened my mind to why ponies need those interactions."

"Wait," Purple Horn said, his eyes lightening up. "You're autistic too?!"

"Uhhh..." Twilight said, not knowing what to say.

"This is great!" Purple Horn said. "Honestly, people have questioned me my whole life about my capabilities to make friends and I really don't get it!"

"I know, right? What is up with that?" Twilight said. "Those ideologies are honestly super outdated. Ponies on the spectrum don't have the equivalent of a foal who can't take care of themselves!"

"I absolutely fucking agree! I come from a different time when ponies on the spectrum were beheaded for who they were," Purple Horn said, further opening himself up. "The way I see autism is ponies with it are extremely intelligent, but..."

"Socially awkward?" Twilight asked, finishing Purple Horn's sentence.

"Exactly!" Purple Horn said. "One time, my ex-wife had me take the trash to work with me."

"Yeah? What'd you do?" Twilight asked, with anticipation.

"I took the trash all the way to work with me!" Purple Horn said.

The duo broke down laughing together but quickly quieted down so as to not wake up the rest of their sleeping friends. Then, Purple Horn looked Twilight in the eye with something that she hadn't seen in a long time: A smile. "You're really growing on me, Twi. You're the first pony I've met who's like me. It shows that there are still good ponies in the world. Honestly, when this is all over and you fix my town, I'd be more than happy to be your friend."

"Really?" Twilight asked with excitement.

"We'll have to see," Purple Horn said, getting to bed. "For now, get some sleep. It's getting late and Luna's moon is out right now."

"I will," Twilight said.

"Also," Purple Horn quickly added. "For future reference, I don't like honey in my tea. Good night, Twi."

"Goodnight," Twilight said, before looking up at Luna's moon with a regretful expression on her face. "What did I get myself into?"

Twilight knew she lied to get Purple Horn to join them. She knew that the fate of all of Equestria lay on her and her friends. She knew she had to do this for Shining Armor and Cadence. But the next phase of her adventure would result in some drama.

Author's Note

Well, book two is officially done. Thank you all so much for reading this series. Purple Horn is now the first autistic main character in a fan fiction series. So definitely be prepared for more to come. Book Three is coming March 2025!