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Description
An eclipse to remember

Author: copycat123

Consultant: doomalien

Chapter 1

A fresh start

It was a cool fall day in Ponyville. The sun was high, and the wind brisk. All the ponies were inside except for a few going about the local shops. It was a very quiet day except for a moving van on the far side of town. A few colts were unloading the van. There were the new home owners standing off to the side. They were a couple of young colts who were telling the movers where to put things.

The first was a red earth pony with a short shaggy mane, and long shaggy tail of dark brown hair. His large eyes were grey-green, but he wore glasses which distracted from them. His cutiemark was of a closed book with a bookmark sticking out.

The second was a grayish white Pegasus pony with a medium length mane, and a tail of unkempt of light blonde hair. He had small eyes for a pony, but they were a deep blue. He also wore glasses like his friend, but his were large and round where as his friends were small and square. His cutiemark is the jack playing cards of all suits splayed out.

The movers were done and the two roommates thanked them for the help. The two quickly trotted into their new home. They looked around their small house made for two just to make sure everything was in its place. They were happy to find almost no mistakes.

The red earth pony approaches the grayish white Pegasus. "Hey Jack we need to go around town. So we can be familiar with our surroundings." He says as if implying that directions aren't his friends' strong suit.

Jack looks at the red pony annoyed at the implication. "I'm not that bad with directions Bookmark." And with that he turns and walks into the wall. Bookmark begins to laugh loudly.

"Are… you…okay…?" He says in between fits of laughter.
Jack gets up shaking his head to recover from the hard knock. "Yeah I'm fine." He says trying not to laugh at himself. "I guess you have a point I'll take a look around town. Maybe they have a sweets shop around here somewhere." He says thinking about pies, cakes, and other delectable sweets.

Bookmark thinks for a moment. "They should. I think I heard one of the movers mention a place that sells the best cake in town. Now what did he call the place." He begins to stroke his chin with his hoof then his face lights up. "OH YEAH! He called it Sugarcube Corner." He says but before he realizes jack had already flew right out the window. "Well there he goes it's great to see him like this after what happened." He says following his friends flight path with his eyes.

Jack was flying fast his mane being pushed hard against his equine form while his tail flapped violently in the wind. He flies for a good while then stops abruptly as he realizes he flew away from town toward the Everfree forest. He begins to hover looking around for anypony else so he could get directions. Then he notices something amazing a rainbow streak forming across the sky with a cyan Pegasus at the tip of it. The sight takes jakes breath away he hesitates only for a moment then begins to follow after the pony. After a few minutes she turns sharply upward then bolts back toward jack stopping mere inches from him. In that moment jack couldn't believe his eyes all he could think is there is nothing more beautiful than her.

"SO WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOLLOWING ME!" she yells out so suddenly he jolts finding it hard to reply.

"Ah well… I was…" he stammers

"Oh I see another admiring fan of the awesome Rainbow Dash!" and with that she strike a daring pose.

Jack seems to get annoyed by her assumption. "Well no actually I was looking for direction." He says with a huff and begins to fly away.

Dash stops him before he goes. She has a look of regret on her face. "I'm so sorry I just get like that when I'm practicing." She pauses for a moment then continues "So where did you need directions to anyway?"

Jack gives a sigh and smiles. "I just arrived in Ponyville today, and I'm kinda hungry so I went looking for Sugarcube Corner, and I got a little lost."

Dash lights up. "Well then you found the right pony." She says very happy. She grabs his hoof, and starts flying as fast as she can back toward Ponyville.

Jacks mind can't believe what is going on around him he is absolutely amazed. The experience of flying that fast he had never come close to that speed. His mane flapping wildly he wished it would never end, but before he realized it they were there. Standing there in front of a pink and yellow building that almost looks like it's made of gingerbread. "So this is Sugarcube Corner." He says almost drooling at the smells coming from inside. He looks over so he can thank Dash for her help, and realizes she's already gone inside. Jack shrugs and goes inside. Inside he finds many ponies enjoying tasty sweets he looks over to the counter, and sees Dash talking with a bright pink pony with a very poofy mane.

Dash looks over, and sees jack come in she leans over the counter to the other pony. "So yeah this is the new pony his name is …" Dash's face goes blank realizing she forgot to ask his name.

"My name is Jack All-Trades." He says trotting up to the counter.

The pink pony get a large smile then she gets a spark in her eye which apparently sets off a bomb in her head full of ideas. Her poofy head looks like it might burst from all the ideas she just had. "yay! A new pony this means I'm throwing another party. My name is Pinkie Pie, and I know everypony and I MEAN everypony in Ponyville." She seems she'll burst from the overflowing energy coming from her.

"Well you don't know my roommate. Me …" He starts to explain, but gets cut off by Pinkie.

"TWO NEW PONIES!" She finally explodes "This is amazing this calls for a double party, and you know what else it calls for is the party cannon." With that the pink mare pulls out of thin air an old fashion cannon with flair.

"Wait what is that!"Jack seems to be shocked.

"Don't worry it's my party cannon silly. Look!" and with that Pinkie push's the button which fires the cannon at an empty section of Sugarcube corner.

Jack covers his eyes expecting a horrifying scene just moments later. After the ringing in his ears goes away he uncovers his eyes finding Pinkie mere inches from his face.

"What's wrong silly colt?" she says with a big smile.

"What's wrong!" he repeats as if it was obvious. "What's wrong is that you fired a cannon over there." Then he points to the area and as he looks to the area where she fired the cannon. He finds it covered in streamers, balloons, and confetti. The table have even been decorated with brightly colored tablecloths and party favors.

Pinkie leans over to enter Jacks view again view again. "So what do you think?" Pinkie says with a small grin.

Jack looks at the décor and then at pinkie. "This is amazing. But I want to know…" he gets stopped by dash putting a hoof to his mouth. She simply shakes her head from side to side telling him it was a bad idea to finish that sentence.

"So yeah don't ask you won't understand the answer. No ever one does.." she explains then continues. "So that's Pinkie pie what do you think." She asks with a grin.

What Jack thinks is that he wants to know how she does what she does, but he lets it go. "She's… well… she's great I can't wait for the party." He looks to pinkie wondering how she does it.

"Yeah she is. She's one of my best friends." She begins to leave then looks back to Jack. "I gotta go tell the others about the party I'll be back later." she turns and leaves.

As she leaves Jack feels as if he missed something, but he shrugs it off and goes to help pinkie prepare for the party.

Meanwhile with Bookmark

Bookmark is walking around Ponyville seeming to be very lost. "Oh were is that darn library." He says very frustrated. All of a sudden a hoof touches his shoulder. "Aaaaaahhhh!!" he yells out in surprise as he falls to the ground.

"Well ain't you a jumpy on." An unfamiliar mares voice says with a southern twang. :You okay sugarcube?" she says with honest concern.

Bookmark stands himself up then looks at the mare. She is orange with a long blonde mane and tail. Her cutiemark is of the red apples. She tilts up her cowpony hat showing her beautiful green eyes, and she also has three white freckles on the outsides of each of her eyes.

"You okay hun? I noticed you seemed mighty lost. You new to Ponyville cause I ain't ever seen ya round here." She stops a moment noticing Bookmarks taken stare. It starts to make her feel a bit uncomfortable. "Sugarcube! Pay attention!"

Bookmark snaps out of his haze. "Yes what is it?" he says forgetting about the last minute and a half.

"Hun you were just staring at me without sayin nothin." She says with a bit of concern.

Bookmark realized what had happened then he began to blush. It would have been hard for most ponies to notice him blushing, but she immediately knew. "Oh my… I'm so sorry I didn't mean to stare. I just couldn't find my words." He says becoming more embarrassed by the second.

"It's okay we all are like that from sometime or another." She says beginning to relax.

Bookmark relaxes as well so he decides to explain his position. "If you were wondering I am new and very lost. You see I'm from Canterlot." He says trying to put her at ease. "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. I am Bookmark." He says with a bow.

She chuckles a bit. "Well I'm Applejack, but my friends call me A.J." she says grabbing the colts hoof giving it a good shake. "So you're from Canterlot then welcome to Ponyville. Now what were you lookin for before I startled you?" she says laughing a bit.

"Well to be honest I was looking for the library when I bumped into you." He says then looks back to her getting lost in her eyes yet again.

This time Applejack realizes what is going on. She giggles a bit. "You're cute you know that. Let me take you to the library. My friend twilight runs it, and I'm sure she'd love to show you around." And with that she starts to trot off toward the library.

Bookmark barely notices. All he can think about is her saying he was cute.

"Hey come on!" she yells back grabbing his attention.

"Right behind you!" he yells chasing after her.

They walk for a couple minutes and then they come upon a strange tree house like structure with a sign out front that reads 'Ponyville Books and Branches Public Library'.

"Well this is it." She begins. "I'll just tell Twilight about you so she knows what's going on." She starts to go inside. "Be back in a minute." She says as she enters the building.

A minute goes by and he hears something from inside the library. It sounds like somepony is running he thinks. He then sees the large red door of the library burst open. He then finds himself staring at a running lavender mare with black, purple, and pink hair who is coming right for him. He immediately recognizes her. She reaches him and they hug for long time before either one wants to let go. When they finally release they stare into each others eyes for a long moment.

"Twilight Sparkle" he says barely above a whisper.

"Bookmark." She says with tears in her eyes. "I never thought I would ever see you again." They embrace again.

"Twilight shouldn't we go inside it would be more private?" he says noticing the staring ponies around the two. She nods and the go into the library side by side.

Applejack is staring at the pair as the enter the library. "Twi what was that all about." She says sounding worried.

"Applejack." Twilight begins. "This is Bookmark a dear friend of mine from a long time ago." She smiles at the memory. "He was the only friend of mine for the longest time. We got separated when his family moved to Manehatten, and I became Celestia's student." She holds back a tear.

Bookmark looks at Twilight and smiles. "I tried finding you when I moved back to Canterlot, but since you didn't make many friends it was kind of difficult." He explains. "That's why I didn't find you sooner." He says thinking back.

"Well aren't you two the sweetest thing." Applejack says with a big smile. "I'll leave you two alone. See ya Twi." She quickly leaves through the still open door closing it behind her.

Twilight realizing what Applejack meant begins to blush. "Why that little, where does she get off making claims like that!" she says with a huff.

"yeah where does she get off." Bookmark says unconvincingly while blushing.

Twilight looks as if an idea enters her head. She quickly heads upstairs. After a moment or two Bookmark hears something odd. A voice other than Twilights comes from upstairs. Who could it be he thinks. He sees Twilight coming down the stairs with something green and purple riding on her back.

"Hey Twilight what is that." he says craning his neck so he can get a better look.

"He is Spike." she says leaning her back over to him revealing a small baby dragon. His large green eyes looking him up and down.

"Well hi there." he says with a cute little voice. he then gets off Twilights back.

Bookmark has a look of surprise and delight. "I didn't know the could talk so young." He smiles and begins to examine Spike who is flexing and doing poses. "Oh this is wonderful i needed some first hand knowledge on dragons for my latest novel." he says showing signs of pure delight.

Twilight lights up. "Bookmark I didn't know you were a writer." She leans in closer. "Have you written anything I might know of." She says in a coy way.

"Oh most likely" he says still distracted by spike. "I wrote the Broken Star Trilogy." He says sounding very nonchalant about it.

Twilight on the other hand is ecstatic. "You're Silversword! The writer of The Broken Star Trilogy." She says sounding as if she just met her hero.

"The very one." He states flatly as if bored.

"You wrote Lady In The Moon the short story about Luna." She says getting more excited.

Bookmark lights up. "Now that I'm proud of." He says with a grin.

Twilight frowns. "Why aren't you proud of Broken Star?" she says being vey curious.

Bookmark smiles. "It's not that I dislike the series. It's just the fact that it was my first success and it wasn't my best work." He elaborates.

"But it's so good." She says sounding like a fan girl. "It happens to be my favorite series." She seems to be getting mad a little.

"My my Twilight that is the best review I've ever gotten." He says remembering how she used to read books ten times better than his.

She blushes. "Well you're welcome."

Spike getting frustrated from the lack of attention decides to leave to help rarity at the boutique. As he reaches the door there is a knock at the door. When he opens it he finds Pinkie looking very excited. "Oh hi Pinkie what's up?" the dragon wonders.

This catches Twilight and Bookmarks attention. They go over to see what she wants.

Pinkie is jumping up and down. "Hey everyone there's a party at Sugarcube corner and you're all invited!" She says sounding more excited by the second.

"Party? I love parties." Bookmark says with delight.

Pinkie immediately notices the red pony. "Oh you do then you must be Bookmark. Jack said you'd be up for a party." She says getting excited for the pure coincidence.

Twilight seems surprised by Pinkie's statement. "Wait jacks here! You didn't mention that." She says to Bookmark.

"Well of course he's here he's my best friend. I don't go anywhere without him." Bookmark says trying to defend himself.

"Yeah he helped set up the party." Pinkie explains. Then she begins to run toward Sugarcube corner. "Come on let's go!"She yells back to the others.

Twilight lets spike climb onto her back. Bookmark looks to Twilight then they start off after Pinkie. They catch up to her in short order.

"So this will be your first Pinkie Party." Twilight says to Bookmark. "You might want to read the labels before you drink anything." As Twilight says that her and Pinkie begin to laugh loudly.

"What do you mean?" Bookmark asks sounding nervous.

"Oh just a little joke." Twilight comforts.

As the group gets to Sugarcube corner a large group of ponies are gathered outside the shop. With the crowd is Rainbow Dash and Jack who are talking up the crowd.

"What's going on here Pinkie?" Twilight asks surprised by the crowd.

"This is the party." She says with a smile. "I invited everypony, cause a party isn't a party without a crowd." She says while trotting inside leaving Twilight, Spike, and Bookmark alone.

"Is this okay with you?" Twilight asks Bookmark.

Bookmark shoots Twilight a sidelong glance with a grin. "This is perfect I hate long introductions." He looks at the crowd. "Getting to know everypony at once is exactly what me and Jack need." He looks back to Twilight who is smiling. "What?" he say confused.

"Oh nothing I just love seeing my friends so happy." And with that she trots off into the party.

Bookmark thinks to himself 'there's that word again friend why can't I be more to her.' He sighs 'maybe someday' he tells himself as he follows Twilight into the party.