Amor awoke early the next morning. The lights, all on one switch, were still off, but the sun came in through the window. Chrysalis was sitting in her chair, slouched forward onto Amor. He still felt tired, but couldn’t go back to sleep. He looked at the clock. It was only six. Amor looked to his left, seeing Souls was still asleep. How am I the last asleep but the first awake? Amor sat for a few minutes, until finally somepony turned on the lights. Amor, who was looking at the ceiling, was greeted by a surprising and bright light. It stung his eyes for a moment, but he adjusted, now seeing spots. When the lights clicked on, the sound woke Chrysalis. She picked her head up and stretched her legs straight out, yawning the whole time.
“Good morning. I see you’re finally awake.”
Chrysalis looked at him, slightly dazed. “Finally?” She took a quick glimpse at the clock. “It’s only six-oh-five.”
“Then I’ve been awake a little over five minutes.”
Chrysalis yawned again before resting her head on Amor’s chest and nuzzling into his neck. “It’s too early for me.”
Amor smiled and wrapped his hooves around her, putting his bandaged left on top.
“You can sleep. I won’t stop you.”
“You know how alike we are. Once I’m awake, I can’t go back to sleep.”
“Mmhh.”
Chrysalis giggled before wrapping her hooves around Amor.
Amor smiled “Today’s the day.”
“When we return to the hive.”
Amor still had one thought in his head that he couldn’t shake, no matter how hard he tried.
Retirement.
Amor didn’t want to think about it. He hadn’t thought about it for years and wasn’t planning on thinking about it for years to come, but with the sudden change of events, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. There is a new queen. There is a new hive. But there is still the old king, the old queen, and the old ways that come with them. If the hive was to move on, leave behind its aggressive nature, it would require the removal of the old leaders. He had to tell her.
“Chrysalis.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve been thinking. Maybe…maybe…”
“Amor, you could tell me. What is it, my love?”
When she called him that, Amor felt like a burden was lifted from him, like some unseen force told him it was okay. “I…” he sighed. “I think it is time…we should retire.”
The room fell silent. Chrysalis picked her head up and blankly looked out the window. She was deep in thought, and obviously the question caught her off guard, but at the time Amor asked, he was sure anything would have caught her off guard.
“I’ve…been thinking about that.”
“You have?”
“Yes. I…didn’t want to bring it up. I didn’t know you were thinking the same.”
“I wasn’t planning on retiring for a while, but it looks like we need to decide.”
“I don’t know. What do you think we should do?”
“Chrysalis, this is as much your decision as mine. You can’t expect me to decide your fate.”
“Well, my last decision almost cost the lives of hundreds, so I don’t feel I’m in the position to make decisions.”
“But this isn’t a decision for many, this is a decision for your future.” Chrysalis began to look at the ground, but Amor put his hoof to her chin and gently held her head up, looking into her eyes. “This is your decision.”
Chrysalis closed her eyes tight. “I can’t... I don’t know,” she said as she rapidly shook her head back and forth.
“You can, I know you can. Look deep in your heart, find your answer. Should we stop leading the hive, or continue our leadership?”
“I…I.” Chrysalis let out a heavy sigh. “The next queen has been found. It is time to retire.”
“Very well, when we get back to the hive, we shall retire.” Chrysalis looked down in guilt, and again Amor put his hoof on her chin. “Hey, you did the right thing, and no matter what, I still love you.”
Chrysalis closed her eyes. “But how much of that is true?”
Amor slid his hoof to the side of her head and put his other hoof on the other side. He twisted his head and pulled Chrysalis to him, surprising her. He kissed her, but this was different from any other time. It wasn’t guilt, it wasn’t a slight affection, this was true love, much more than any time before. They remained there with their lips locked for almost two minutes. Neither of them wanted the moment to end, but a knock on the door interrupted. Amor pulled away slowly, Chrysalis following his every movement for a few seconds, as if they were attached at the lips. Amor looked at her, a yearning look in his eyes. Another knock at the door, this one more rapid. Amor hugged Chrysalis before answering.
“Come in.”
The door opened, and a nurse walked in, looking at Amor and Chrysalis. “Oh, sorry. I hope I’m not interrupting.”
“N-no, no, it’s alright. Come on in,” Chrysalis said shyly
“Thank you, I just need to wake her up and feed her.”
“Feed her? Is it already that time?” Amor looked up at the clock. Sure enough, it was seven. The nurse nudged Souls awake and fed her like she did every other day, starting small talk with Amor.
“So, today’s the day, huh?”
“Yeah, I’m allowed out today. What about her? When will she be able to leave?”
“Well, doctor says soon, but he never gave me an exact time.”
“Hey, still here!” Souls called out playfully.
“Sorry, Souls.”
“It’s okay, my king.”
“Not anymore.”
Both the nurse and Souls looked at Amor. “What do you mean?”
Amor looked at Chrysalis and smiled before turning back to the two and giving his answer. “As of now, Chrysalis and I are retiring.”
The room fell silent again. The nurse and Souls had wide eyes, both staring at the former king. Finally, Souls broke the silence. “Well…you will always be the king to me, and I will not fall short of addressing you as so.”
“So be it. I will live in the hive until I feel otherwise, but princess, I mean Queen Purity is of higher authority than me now.” Chrysalis looked at Amor, a look of sorrow in her eyes. “Don’t worry. If I leave, you’ll come with me this time, and we can live…wherever, as long as we are together.”
Souls and the nurse looked on in aw, while Chrysalis hugged Amor, and whispered something in his ear that nopony else saw or heard. “I don’t want to be alone again.” Amor didn’t know what else to say. He just closed his eyes and wrapped his hooves around Chrysalis, not wanting to let go. He then whispered back in her ear.
“I won’t let go.”