Equestria, land of friendship and harmony. If the tales of happiness that occurred in this land were stars, it could fill the night sky to the brim. But, not all tales become bright shinning stars. Some stars grow dark and cold delivering the sad reminder that even when there is the sun to shine over the land and the moon to make the darkness glow there is still places neither can reach. Our story begins with one such cold star. In the city of Canterlot, where the rich and noble, mostly of unicorn birth, spend their days in a world of fancy foods and etiquette, the Mine Family were expecting the birth of their second child. It was the spring 16 years before Nightmare Moon's escape.
“Push, damn you, push!” A colt remarked loudly down to a mare on a white sheeted bed before him. His hair was a thick, shimmering gold, short cut down his neck, kept tidy and neat. His coat, an earthly brown, partially covered up by a black, fall seasonal coat. On his flank a cutey mark comprised of 3 gold ingots stacked in a small pyramid turned at an angle to reveal both the front and sides of each bar. His front legs were raised onto the arms of the mare before him caressing down her shoulders, watching her with gentle turquoise eyes. He bore the name Gold Mine, of the wealthy Mine family, owning the second largest mining industry in Equestria.
“Shut your foal, mouth!” The mare shouted in her painful, rage tainted voice. This mare was struggling through the birth more so than her first. Nearly translucent, crystal toned hair matted to her face, shoulders, and light brown coat with sweat perspiring from her pores. Hate filled, green eyes glared at the words her husband dared to speak to her during this painful labor. One hoof lunged forward thrusting against his chest, “You speak better to your wife or... Oooohh!” She screamed aloud causing the daughter between her hind legs to cringe at the sound. Hidden beneath the sheets, her cutey mark of a diamond ring adorned her flank.
“One final push!” The physician exclaimed moving one of the blood soaked bedsheets aside to give him a better view. An older pony male with a basic white coat, and black mane. His cutey mark a basic medical symbol. The sounds of the mare's screams would be clouded by that of a child's. “I see a beautiful head, I believe a filly, a horn...” The doctor trailed off working his hooves to begin cradling the child properly. “And... Oh my.” He finished saying bringing the screaming child up to rest against his chest and along his arm.
The little foal, cute and crying, was a coat of ash gray and a mane and tail of a slate gray blue. She had two ears, two eyes, four hooves, her tail, her horn, and her wings. But, the wings was only a part of what caused the doctor to become startled, almost frightened at what lay in his legs. The left wing appeared normal, a feathered Pegasus appendage strong and healthy. Yet the right, was something out of pony fiction. The wing of a bat, or perhaps a monster of lore. Black as the outer reaches of space, leathery and strong twitching along side its feathered brethren.
Gold Mine moved from his wife to fully comprehend what he had seen with the doctor. Gold Mine stood there on his hind legs, one arm on the doctor's shoulder, the other close to the little foal's. He could not believe his eyes! What had Celestia brought he and his wife? Anger surged through his veins, he leaned in close to the doctor whispering into his ear. “Let's begin with this, Doctor, the child did not survive. My wife and I will take 'it' out of here without anyone knowing about 'it'. And you will not tell a soul. I know about things you do, and I am willing to give a large sum of money for you to continue these things. Now, you don't tell about 'it', and I don't tell about these things.” He had to work quickly, he had to think quickly to deal with it, to deal with her, to deal with this... this curse!
“Honey? What is it? Wrong's wrong with the baby?” Diamond Mine mustered in her weakness. She wanted desperately to hear what she thought she heard was her new filly. Tired eyes searched her husband for some sort of confirmation or information to what was happening.
“It is nothing, my love,” Gold Mine spoke back taking the child from the doctor then pushing him away with his right, front hoof, “You'll see our... daughter,” He spat out, “When we return home.” Disgusting lingered in the breath he let go from his nostrils. 'She, yes she must be the reason behind this cursed child,' As if magic played in his mind, he stared down at the quieting foal in his arm, 'Cursed Eclipse. I wouldn't be able to give such a wretched offspring, Diamond, she must be responsible somehow.' Cursed Eclipse; the name was now set in stone in Gold's mind. He had many things to do now to cover up this episode in his life. The child would be kept close but no one would need to know. He would tell Diamond and his first son the same as everyone else, the child died at birth. “Hurry, doctor, discharge my wife and we will be leaving.” He spat out moving to cover the child lightly with a blanket, unicorn magic working to hide away the gray filly.
~*~*~*~
Through the next few hours, whenever Diamond would ask of their child, Gold repeated the same line, “I'll tell you when we are home.” The discharge paperwork was rushed by the doctor, a carriage was called at the dead of midnight, and the married couple were gone from the hospital. The doctor, his nurses, and anyone else involve had been or would be paid for their silence of this incident.
A summer manor, or it was once before, now it would the couple's home. It was away from the bustling life of Canterlot, it was away from prying eyes, and it could be used to hid their cursed offspring. The carriage ride home was filled with a distraught mare and her indifferent husband. Gold showed the baby to Diamond, he accused her of everything under the sun that could cause this. “I would leave you on the side of the road if the scandal wouldn't wreck me!” He bellowed with hate stinging words. “But for now we just have to hide her. The basement, the wine cellar will do. We keep old furniture and books down there. I'll hire a wet mare to raise her and you, you just keep your mouth shut.”
Diamond was paralyzed, frozen in place staring at the pretty foal laying silent across her lap. She gave birth to this, she thought to her self, she gave birth to something like this! Celestia could never see this. Diamond wept openly suddenly at the sudden thought. 'If The Princess was to learn of something that resembled an alicorn born we could be exiled. The foal could be seen as something trying to do away with a proper alicorn!' The thought deadened the feelings within Diamond further. Her husbands words tore at her mind and made her suddenly go blank. He blamed her for all this, it was apparent.
The next several weeks went by differently for each pony. For Gold the time couldn't go by slowly enough. He had hired a wetmare, a mare by the name of Blueberry Pie, to take care of the mare in the basement. She had simple instruction, feed her, keep her quiet, and never let her out. Gold would be expecting company by the many, his son, well wishers, and business ponies to give sympathy for their apparent loss. Gold had to deal with each of them differently and carefully.
As for Diamond, she had become a recluse in a matter of hours on arriving to their manor. She didn't want to look at the child, or even touch her. She left Gold to tend to the foal. No words spoken once inside the manor doors, she simply retired her self to an upstairs study. No input or care was given to the wetmare who would be taking care of her child. When the well wishers arrived, she put on a false front as good as any actress could, but when they were gone she returned to her study. The husband she loved now did not love her, and the life that she had would no longer be as joyous as it once was, all thanks to that Cursed Eclipse.
And the story of Cursed Eclipse begins. A cold breeze, unnatural for the spring time weather blew across the property of the Mines. A marriage in tattered, a birth hidden away, and hopeful love becoming feelings of resentment. But within the very same box of fears, hate, and nightmare, a light is sure to shine through.