This couldn't be happening. Not right now! He was five minutes flight from the hospital but from how long Storm looked to have been waiting to get into the castle and how far it seemed he run, there was no telling how long ago Dust went into labor. This was his soul excuse to even see her. This was his last chance to say he was sorry. That was the least he could do.

Nexus slammed into the cement sidewalk legs first, dispersing doctors that were really going about their day. He burst through the doors and ran straight into the front desk where the male nurse was nearly knocked out of his chair.

"Dust Storm, in labor right now. Where is she!?" Nexus asked the male nurse at the front desk.

"Um, who are you?" he asked.

"The damn father! Where is she?"

The nurse jumped at his rage and scanned over two clipboards before answering. "She's not in maternity anymore. She gave birth about an hour ago."

"I… I missed it." Nexus was utterly heartbroken. Not that she wasn't where he thought she was going to be, but that he'd missed the birth of his own child. What kind of father does that!?

"Um, if you're still looking for her, she's on the second floor in room 264." he told Nexus.

"What's the fastest way up there?"

"Main stairs then to the left. Just follow the numbers and-"

Nexus didn't wait for him to finish, he bolted for the main stairs in the dead center of the lobby. He leapt up six steps at a time and tripped on the last one. He scrambled to his armored hoofs and looked for the nearest door. On the left, the first number was 270. He started walking quickly just to make sure he wouldn't walk past the right room. He mumbled the number he was looking for over and over again.

"Two-six-four, two-six-four, two-six-four, two-six-four, two-four-six-eight, two-four…Wait, what?" he said coming to a stop.

He glanced at the door right next to him and saw the number he'd been mumbling for the last minute or so. The door to room 264 might not have been more than six feet tall, but it felt like it was looming eight miles over him. He reached for the door knob but stopped inches from the handle when he heard voices inside. He gingerly placed his ear against the door and listened carefully to see who was inside.

"What about that boy?" a stallion asked. "He's in the castle partying instead of being here with our daughter."

Oh joy, her parents were there.

"I don't know, maybe he's-"

"Daisy, you can't be seriously thinking of defending him."

Nexus pulled away from the door knowing he had a way past the mountain of a rich man on the other side and knocked. When the door opened, a white, somewhat gruff pegasus was starring him right in the face with a powerful glare. He looked Nexus over and snorted in anger.

"Speak of the damn devil."

"Mr. Storm." Nexus simply said.

"Dust doesn't want to see you."

"I know, but-"

"I don't wanna hear it Soldier Boy. You broke her heart. I don't care what fancy armor you're wearing, what color you dyed yourself or what shiny metal you got on your chest, you're not coming in."

"Blaze." a light brown pegasus mare said peeking around the corner. "What do you want sweetie?"

"Daisy!"

"I just want to talk to Dust for a minute."

"I'm not leaving you alone with my daughter."

"You don't have to go anywhere. I just want a few minutes to talk to the mother of my baby."

Daisy tugged on her husband's shoulder. "Just let him talk to her honey."

"She said-"

"You remember what I said when I was having Dust?"

Blaze stammered for a moment before his wife pulled him aside to let Nexus in. He nodded to them and walked through the threshold. The room was split into two sides by a wall that reached far enough to leave a path for one pony at a time. The walls were pure white and the air wreaked of bleach. That is until he passed the wall. The smell of Dust's favorite honey suckle perfume filled his lungs and helped him relax.

She lay there in the usual hospital smock with her long, black mane tied back in the pony tail he loved so much. She looked up to Nexus as he came around the corner. She was confused at what she was looking at until she saw the metal on his chest.

"Lunar?" she asked.

"Hey Dust." Nexus said with a gentle smile starting to form.

"Why are you here?"

"I-"

"He came to see you. Now you've seen her, get out." Blaze said grabbing his tail about to pull him out of the room; that is until Daisy slapped his hoof from Nexus' tail.

"I came to… to say I'm sorry." Dust looked away from him and seemed to suddenly take great interest in the ground to the left side of her bed. "I didn't know that I put you through that much." He said walking up next to the bed and taking a seat. "I don't know what else to say but I'm sorry. I had a job to do, and I did it. But I should've thought more about how this would affect you."

"You should've." She said still not looking at him.

"I don't expect you to forgive me. I just can't forget about you and I wanted you to know that at the very least I'm sorry for what I've done."

"Lunar, I'm sorry too." she told him finally looking back to him.

"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for?"

"What I said to you. That was all hormones. I would never have said such a thing to you and meant it the way I did."

"You… you didn't mean it?" Nexus said with some hope rising in his heart.

"No. But that doesn’t make it any less true." And with that it was all dashed. "You always seemed to be thinking of things as they happened. You though you coming home was all I needed of you; and I was content with that. But after all I said, I really thought about it and thought I didn't mean it to be as cruel as I did, it doesn’t change the fact you didn't even write me when you left."

"But Dust, I don't have to leave anymore! I'm Luna's representative now. I can spend all the time in the world with you." He said desperately trying to get her to see his side.

"Lunar, you're so narrow minded. You're not seeing what I'm seeing. We were engaged to be married for two years and you never even thought to write me when you were off fighting until I brought it up. And what's worse, we didn't even try to plan a wedding."

"What are you saying?"

"You were never serious about marrying me. I'm not saying you used me, you just weren't looking for a serious relationship."

"What are you talking about? I set up funds for our baby. I had plans drawn up to turn the guest room into a nursery, I even started writing up a piece of code for A.L.I.S. to be able to help us get a schedule set for it. How is that not serious!?"

Daisy had to hold back her husband as Dust started to reply. "No, you were ready to be a father, not a husband."

Nexus would have had a response, but those words hit him too hard. It was true, everything he had just said was around the baby, not her. He looked down to the ground and sighed. "I'm sorry Dust."

"So am I. I really wanted this to work Lunar, but all of this just doesn't fully add up."

"So what can I do to make it add up Dust. I'll do anything to make it all work for you."

"Lunar, if I told you, then you really aren't ready for marriage."

Nexus stood up and looked her square on. "Whether you believe it or not, I love you with all my heart. But if you don't want to be with me, that's your choice. I'll… leave you be."

He turned and started back to the door. As he walked past Dust's parents, he could still feel the daggers Blaze was shooting into the back of his head. As he shut the door behind him, he shuttered knowing that that was his last chance to make things right. He did everything he could but it wasn't enough. He turned and started to make his way back to the main stairs. Just as he got there, Princess Luna strode up the last few and quickly spotted Nexus.

"Lunarus, I came as fast as I could. How is-"

"I don't want to talk about it." Nexus wasn't feeling right anymore. Before he felt confident and ready for anything. Even when he was nervous about seeing Dust again he was at least sure that getting it off his chest would make him feel better. But now, he just felt off. The feeling was just too familiar to what he thought was normal while he was deployed. He needed to get as far away from here as possible. He needed be somewhere nopony would bother him. More than that, he needed to calm down.

"How's the restoration of the Everfree Castle coming?" he asked.

"It is nearly completed. Only a few minor things need be completed before the restoration is completed. Why do-" Nexus didn't walked past her, down the stairs and she followed calling after him. "Lunarus. What is the matter?"

"Luna, just... let me be alone." he said as they reached the lobby. Luna stopped at the bottom of the stairs and allowed him to continue out the doors. "I need some time to think." He said as he exited.

Nexus spread his wings and launched himself towards the castle. He stopped in his room and deposited his sword and armor. He made a quick stop in the bathroom where he grabbed a towel, a bar of soap and a loofah. Once he tossed them all into his saddle bag and strapped firmly to his body, he took off in the direction of the Everfree forest.

Author's Notes:

Nexus: Wait, so she hates me?
Me: Not hate, she just doesn't think you're what she needs.
Nexus: Why?
Me: Well what she said is true. You never wrote until she brought it up and not once did you two make an attempt to settle a date. My cosine got engaged and has been planning ever since.
Nexus: Pardon my job!
Me: And that's the issue. You take less liberty with your job then your own damn fiance. No offence but that kind of sounds like a dick move.
Nexus: Okay, here's another query, why did I grab things for a bath?
Me: Just read...