It was a clear, cloudless night.

The stars were out, and the moon was full.

Aryx perched on the tree's hard wood, allowing the cool breeze to rifle through his flame-coloured feathers. It was such a beautiful world. Their world, his world. His very own world. Finally, he had escaped the horrors of those mythical animal-hunters whom called themselves humans. He didn't have t worry about being seen. He didn't need to hide anymore.

He gazed over the vast plain so far below him. The flock lived in the gigantic oak tree that was known as the Mighty Oak. The Mighty Oak rested at the very end of the Great Cliff. The tree's trunk was about three elephants wide, standing on their side. It raised so high in the sky that some of the pegasi who lived in the Cloud Kingdom often claimed to see the tree's leaves extending even beyond their kingdom, up into the heavens.

 He closed his eyes, taking in the moment.

Everything was perfect.

"Aryx?" 

The bird opened his eyes and turned around to see another figure stalking along one of the many trunks of the Oak.

The voice's owner moved forwards into the light of the moon, showing Aryx slightly paler orange feathers.

Aryx sighed as his muscles relaxed. "Mira," he breathed the name of his partner, and shifted to the side to make room. "Am I needed? How are the eggs?"

"They're all fine, Aryx," Mira said as she shifted beside him and folded her wings, preening her feathers. "Even the black egg. It's fine."

Aryx made a grumbling sound from the back of his throat. "No egg should be black. What's wrong with it?"

Mira sighed. "Don't you remember the legends? About a black egg that only comes every few centuries?"

Aryx turned his attention back to the view that laid before him. "Those are just legends, Mira. It couldn't possibly be true."

"Why don't you believe me?" Mira asked, touching his wing with hers.

"I do believe you, it's just - what if something goes wrong? What if the being inside the egg is shunned? What's going to happen now?"

Mira looked taken aback. "Nothing," she said defensively, "is wrong with my eggs, or the beings inside them for that matter."

Aryx spread his wing over her, pulling her close. "I know," he said. "I'm sorry."

The two partners gazed over the valley, basking in the supreme moonlight, rejoicing in each other's company, wondering what was to come of the single black egg that lay in the clutch.