Hard Headed [Boss_Hoss1/Sunshine]

[Sunshine]

“Bull Dozer!” shouted the foreman.

Bull Dozer turned to face his boss, keeping his head high and his chest out in confidence. “Yeah?”

“Did you take down all the buildings like I asked?”

“Yes, sir…well…” Bull Dozer hesitated, “…I just have one more to go.”

“One more?!” The foreman was furious. “What’s the matter with you?! You said you’d get those buildings down by this afternoon!”

“I’ve had a busy day, boss. I’ll get it done, don’t worry.” The brown stallion lied. There was nothing different today than any other day at his job. There was no extra workload. The only reason he hadn’t finished tearing down the buildings he was assigned to tear down was because his mind was in a different place. Distracted. Bull Dozer anticipated his date with Shanna tonight. Ever since Big Time’s party, the blonde earth-pony couldn’t take his mind off of the pretty Pegasus. He kept trying to remember what he was told about proper date etiquette…which was difficult, considering he was never TAUGHT proper date etiquette.

“Well you better hurry up. Just because you’re daddy works in the business, doesn’t mean you can’t be fired!” Bull Dozer winced at the mocking insult, but remained silent as he turned and trotted toward the last building he had to take down.

It was a simple one-story building, with a sign hanging loosely on the outside. The sign had no words on it, just a picture of a quill and a sofa. This had to be the third building Bull Dozer torn down with that sign. He guessed these shops going out of business might be due to the shortage of quills.

The whole area looked like the epicenter of an explosion. These buildings were being taken down to make room for some sort of large club. The ponies in Fillydelphia sure did love to party.

Bull Dozer exhaled as he prepared to walk into the building. He tapped his head with his hoof to make sure his hard-hat was still on. Not that he needed it really, but it was always good to be safe.

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna flew down the street, looking for the address that huge hunk of pony said he would be working at.

Hovering for the moment, she checked the address against her map. "Okay... one street north.. Boy will he be surprised I arrived early!"

The bay mare flew down the street and stopped at the construction fence.

Daringly she fluttered into a sitting postion on the fence. After a moment to fish around in her saddlebags, she put on her hail helmet and goggles to watch in safety.

Finally, she spotted Bull Dozer and waved both forehooves when he seemed to have a free moment walking toward the last building. "Yoo Hoo! Bull Dozer! I'm here early!"

[Sunshine]

Bull Dozer shook his head, he could’ve sworn he was hearing Shanna’s voice now. However, no matter how much he tried get his mind away from the Pegasus, he still kept hearing her. Was she really on his mind THAT much?

Finally, the brown stallion turned his head and went wide-eyed when he saw Shanna sitting on the fence of the construction site. He did a double-take, not recognizing her in her new gear. After realizing it was her. he smiled the biggest smile he could muster and started walking over to the mare he had thought about all day. “Shanna!”

Meanwhile, not too far from Bull Dozer, the foreman had a watchful eye on the situation. As soon as he saw Bull Dozer start walking away from the building, he intercepted. “Bull Dozer! You get your flank over there and tear down that building! Don’t make me have to ask you again.”

Bull Dozer stopped in his tracks. He looked at the foreman, then to Shanna, then back at the foreman. He wanted so badly to ignore his boss, or maybe even fight him. Anything to keep himself from looking weak in front of Shanna…but alas, he needed his job. After the foreman had stepped off, Bull Dozer looked over to Shanna again, then waved his hoof to her, motioning her to come over to him.

He may not be able to go see her right now, but there weren’t any rules about her coming into the site to see him, at least, as long as she was wearing her helmet.

[Boss_Hoss1]

As Shanna sat on the fence, she squealed as she finally got Bull Dozer's attention.

She quickly blushed in embarassment as she saw the forman pony stop him from coming to her. "Oh dear! I hope I didnt get him in trouble!"

When he finally waved her up, she fluttered her wings and landed, figuring to give the worker ponies only 2 dimensions to watch for.

She trotted over to him quickly, keeping a watch to her left and right so she wouldnt get blindsided by accident.

With a quick nuzzle in greetings, she sheepishly scuffed a hoof "Sorry, I hope I didnt' get you in trouble. I wanted to see what you do in your work. Oh, is that a "Couches and Quills" shop? How long will that take to knock over?"

[Sunshine]

“Don’t worry about me getting in trouble,” Bull Dozer stated plainly, “me and the foreman never get along anyway, so I’m always in trouble.”

Bull Dozer smiled and looked to the shop. He then looked to Shanna again. “I s’pose it’ll take about…hmm…ten minutes? Maybe five?” Bull Dozer nuzzled the mare to return her greeting, “I don’t do it like most ponies do…I have to take down the support from the inside and get out before the building comes down on me.”

The brown stallion chuckled and winked at Shanna, “…I’m a bit of a risk taker when it comes to this. Did you wanna see me tear this thing down?” The question was obvious, but Bull Dozer wanted to see if she was interested in sticking around to see him work, and if she wasn’t, he would be more than happy to walk away from the building despite with his boss said.

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna pushed her goggles back from her eyes, under her white, bowl shaped hail helmet that looked like it had been banged on with hammers.

She smiled brightly "I am glad I didnt' get you in trouble, then."

Shanna looked at the building again and hmmed "So you have to kick the middle out and run huh? Just like a storm then, just more solid."

When he asked if she wanted to watch him bring it down and mention being a risk taker, she clopped her forehooves on the ground as Pegasi seemed to thrive on risk as a whole.

"Oh yes! This is so exciting! I have never seen a building come apart intentionally."

[Sunshine]

Bull Dozer was thrilled to see Shanna was just as excited to see a building crumble. “Alright, just stay out here and I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Part of him wanted to ask her to come inside with him, but he only wanted himself to do the risk taking. Risking Shanna’s safety was out of the question.

Without a doubt, the hazel-eyed stallion knew if the building fell down on top of either of them there would be no significant damage done. Though, keeping his date out of harms way seemed like the right thing to do.

Bull Dozer blinked himself out of his thoughts that seemed to have trailed off as he began doing his job. He stepped through the creaking door of the building. Every hoofstep kicked up a small cloud of dust that tickled Bull Dozer’s nostrils, but never made him sneeze. His eyes scanned the entire room he was in, pinpointing the areas he would need to buck through in order to bring the building down.

The destruction worker started to operate like a robot, his body moving as though it had a mind of his own. Bull Dozer’s instinct was kicking in...almost literally. The male trotted over to a wall at the far end of the room and turned his back to it. With a solid thump, followed by the crackle of splintering wood, he broke one of the support beams.

From the outside, all that could be heard were the crackles of snapping wood. The sound repeated itself five times before finally the building began to groan, the sound mimicking that of a foal with an upset stomach. The entire store was coming down.

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna put her goggles back down and sat down at a safe distance.

She watched as Bull Doer trotted inside, his huge frame moving like a well-oiled machine.

The Pegasus mare got a silly smile on her face as she imagined him inside moving and bucking like a wild mustang. Her wings rose and trembled for a moment before she blushed and made them smooth back down.

Shanna oohed as she heard wood being smashed and cracking.

"It's not as fast as a tornado, but fun!"

Suddenly she stood up as the building sagged, then slowly began to fall in "Ohhh! Hurry Bull Dozer!"

[Sunshine]

Bull Dozer cursed himself. His eagerness to show off made him too cocky. If he had paid more attention to what he was doing, then maybe he wouldn’t be stuck here with his hoof between a broken piece of support beam.

“Ugh...dang this ego...” Bull Dozer wanted to just yank his hind-hoof out of there and be done with it, but the way the two pieces of wood pressed on him made it extremely painful. The building was starting to give, and he didn’t have much time left before it came down on top of him. The cocky, now humbled, stallion was running out of options. He decided to bite down on his lip and pull his hoof out with great force. In order to do this, Bull Dozer had to summon all the endurance he had in him.

Alas, the brown stallion was free, and galloped out of the building just as it collapsed. A piece of wood fell and broke against his helmet right before he ran through the exit. It didn’t hurt him, but it made quite a thump.

“Whoa...” Bull Dozer said, panting slightly. His hoof still hurt, but he didn’t let that show. “...that one almost got me.” The brown stallion looked to his date and smiled warmly at her. “...I guess it’s a good thing I was wearing my helmet before I went in there. Huh, Ms. Skybright?”

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna leaned forward, watching as the crashing stopped, but the creaking and groaning increased.

"OOoh Hurry!" She did not dare charge in since they might collide at the doorway if he's just showing off.

Her ears caught a loud snap and then galloping.

Bull Dozer finally appeared at the doorway, a piece of wood bouncing off his head and falling back inside as he thundered out.

Shanna stared in admiration "Y-yeah. That's a very good thing!"

She looked him over from hoof to ear, eyes shining, then noticed one of his hind hooves was scratched up above the hoof itself. "Oh my! Are you all right?"

[Sunshine]

“Huh?” Bull Dozer looked to Shanna, then followed her gaze to the scratch that was above his hind-hoof. “Oh...yeah, I’ll be fine.”

The brown stallion was lying through his teeth. The scratch still hurt, but he refused to admit it to himself, let alone anypony else. “It’s nothing a little band-aid wont fix.” He returned his attention to Shanna, still maintaining his smile. He was glad he was able to impress her, even if he injured himself in the process. He took a moment to take in her beauty before speaking again.

“...follow me, I’ll take you to my cubby.” Bull Dozer happily led Shanna over to a nearby shed where all the construction workers had their own personal storage slots called cubbies. They also each had their own locker, where they stored their tools and safety equipment.

Once inside, Bull Dozer took off his hard-hat and hung it on a hook inside his locker. He then went over to his cubby and pulled out a miniature first-aid kit with his hoof. He nosed the small tin container open and looked over to Shanna. “Uh...if you don’t mind, Ms. Skybright...since you can see it better, can you put the band-aid on?”

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna had looked away from his leg at the now flattened building, then back to him as he brushed the injury off as nothing. His smile reassured her anyway as he then asked her to follow him.

She trotted along behind him and looked around at the inside of the shed as he pointed the features out. "So it works a lot like the Weather Patrol locker rooms at the weather factory. Fascinating! We sometimes have to visit the factory for one reason or another."

Seeing him remove his helmet and hang it up, she unfastened hers and nestled it and her goggles back in her saddlebag.

She blushed pleasently as he asked her to put the band-aid on him. "Oh, Certainly!"

Shanna took the band aid and sat down beside him, talking to distract herself from handling such a nice, powerful leg and that strong smell of stallion sweat making her back tingle pleasently.

"..Bucking buildings down must be as exhiliarating as bucking a hailstorm apart and coming out the other side in one piece, as you can tell from my helmet... Ah, there we go. Nice and neat."

[Sunshine]

“Yeah, I s’pose it is, Ms. Skybright,” Bull Dozer talked as she slipped the band-aid on, “no offense, but I’ve always thought the whole weather patrol thing was just movin’ fluffy clouds around. I didn’t know there was actually danger involved.”

The brown stallion turned his head enough so that he could see Shanna out of the corner of his eye. He blushed a little as she tended to his wound. It felt amazing to have a pretty mare care for him so much, and to have her at his side only amplified that joy.

Once the band-aid was taped on, Bull Dozer cleared his throat then turned to face Shanna, “thank you, Ms. Skybright...it sure is nice having a pretty mare like you to help me out.”

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna blushed and giggled at the praise. "M-my pleasure."

She turned her head to preen a wing to settle herself down, sure that move made her look cute as well, then spoke to the handsome blond-maned stallion.

"A lot of time, weather control is just that, moving clouds around. How you space them determines if you get a pleasant partly-cloudy day, or a rainstorm. Other times, bad weather occurs by mistake or forms by itself over the Everfree Forest or over the oceans. Weather other ponies has to hide from is what we brave to put it right again."

She tactfully does not mention one reason Cutie Marks are painted on part of their helmets is in case a Weather Pony is downed somewhere where it takes awhile to be found and identified...

Shanna shivered her wings at that thought, then tries to get her mind back on more pleasant things. "I would love to tell you more about my work over dinner. Is there anything else you do before we go?"

[Sunshine]

Bull Dozer chuckled a little at how cute she looked when she preened her wing. He listened to her as she described how the weather control pegasi worked. In truth, had any other pony described it to him, it would have gone in one ear and right out the other. This was Shanna, though, and he loved the sound of her voice when she spoke to him.

When the pegasus asked if he needed to do anything else, Bull Dozer shook his head. "Nope, I filled my quota for destroyed buildings, so I'm ready to go when you are..." Suddenly, the brown stallions eyes lit up as he blushed once again. "Oh! I almost forgot somethin'..." he walked over to his locker and opened it. He stuck his head inside the storage place for a moment then pulled it back out with a bouquet of flowers in his mouth. Unfortunately, the flowers seemed to be dirty and somewhat flat on one side. "Uh...I got theesh for you, Mish Shkybright...shorry they kinda got shmashed..."

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna stood up quickly and smiled "Any time? Good! I cant wait to see where we go."

She ohhed and craned her neck forward as the burly stallion rummaged in his locker, then pulled out a bouquet!

She bounced on her hooves even as he apologized for the state of the flowers. "Ooh that so sweet of you!" and leaned in to take them with her mouth as well, accidentally brushing her lips with his.

Shanna had turned red and giggled shyly as she transferred the flowers to her pastern.

When she stopped blushing, she dusted them off with a wingtip "It's okay, I'll just eat the damaged ones, Bull Dozer."

She smiled and looked at him with wide dreamy eyes "So where to first? Lead on, handsome."

[Sunshine]

Bull Dozer smiled at the fact she still accepted his flowers even though they were in bad shape. However, when she went to get the flowers and accidentally brushed her lips against his, his eyes went wide and his blush grew deeper. His mind raced through thoughts of them kissing one another...

Bull Dozer snapped to attention when she asked him to lead on. He kept his eyes on her as they trotted out of the shed together.

The construction site was still ringing with the sounds of metal on metal, and Bull Dozer was glad he got to escape it earlier than everypony else. The brown stallion’s hours were different from the other construction workers, mostly because his job was much different. He would get to the job-site earlier than everypony else, but in return he got to leave earlier.

Bull Dozer walked next to Shanna, but kept himself slightly ahead of her so he could lead her to their destination. “I had someplace in mind. It’s this restaurant I go to everyday after work.” Bull Dozer led Shanna to a junky looking restaurant that appeared to be made out of an old train-car. “They make some great grass sandwiches!”

The place Bull Dozer was taking his date was anything BUT fancy. It looked like the type of place construction workers went to for lunch...which, ironically, is where Bull Dozer had gone to lunch earlier that day. In his mind, though, he thought that the destination of the date wasn’t important. All he knew was that a date was two ponies eating at the same place and talking. This The place Bull Dozer was taking his date was anything BUT fancy. It looked like the type of place construction workers went to for lunch...which, ironically, is where Bull Dozer had gone to lunch earlier that day. In his mind, though, he thought that the destination of the date wasn’t important. All he knew was that a date was two ponies eating at the same place and talking. This perspective, unfortunately, led to the downfall of many other dates he tried to go on.

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna followed along, the bouquet tucked in the crook of a wing. She smiled as she walked just a little behind him enjoying being near him.

She slowed and stopped as she took in the sight of the run-down restauraunt with a touch of concern, but willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

After all, that one place she and her brother ate at in Rockwington was literally a hole in the wall but had great food... "Oh my, is that a train car? I imagine that saves time on construction, huh?"

Smiling, she shook her mane and followed him in "Great grass sandwiches? If you recommend it, it must be great food. I've heard of Filly Cheesehay melts. Do they have those here?"

[Sunshine]

Bull Dozer thought about Shanna’s question. To be honest, he didn’t know of what else they served at the restaurant...he always just asked for “the usual” which was a grass sandwich.

“I’m not too sure if they have those...” Bull Dozer shrugged, “but I s’pose there’s nothing wrong with asking.”

The brown stallion walked Shanna over to a booth, and let her sit down first before he sat down. Unlike a normal restaurant, there weren’t any menu’s on the table, only a salt and pepper shaker. The waiter/chef/owner of the restaurant approached the table with a notepad in hoof.

“What’ll it be?” said the earth-pony waiter.

Bull Dozer knew his order off the top of his head, but he remembered that Shanna came first. The blonde-maned stallion spoke up, “...um...do you guys make Filly Cheesehay melts...?”

“Filly Cheesehay Melts?” The waiter looked stunned, “haven’t served that in years. I’ll dust off a grill and see if I can’t remember how to make one.”

Bull Dozer smiled at Shanna, hoping that news made her happy. “Then I’ll have a grass sandwich, and she will have the Filly Cheesehay Melt.”

After the waiter trotted away with that order, the hazel-eyed stallion looked to Shanna with hopeful eyes. “So...did you want to tell me more about the weather patrol, Ms. Skybright?”

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna smiled pleasently as she was led to a booth, then set the bouquet on the table so she could sit when the hunky stallion let her sit first "Why thank you Bull Dozer."

She watched wide-eyed as the restauraunt owner came up, looking like a stock character from a stage play in Cloudsdale park. One of her ears lopped down for a moment in concern when the owner said he would "dust off" the grill and try to remember how to do one. *...Oh dear, I hope it works... * she thought.

Her ear went back up as Bull Dozer smiled reassuringly at her. She looked up at the waiter/owner/cook " I cant' wait to try one! I'm sure it will be fine, sir."

She smiled and looked back at Bull Dozer dreamily. then realized he just asked her about the weather patrol.

"Oh yes! Feel free to let me know if you have any questions at any point." She daintily nibbled one of the damaged flowers "Anyway, we get a general schedule for the week of what the weather should be and when, and usually handle the area from Canterlot to the edge of the Everfree. We get rotated around a lot since we can only do the morning shift because we have Astronomy fieldwork at night."

She nibbled some more and shrugged "Oh I should have asked for something to drink... Anyway, some weeks we help on weather over the plains and into Fillydelphia, Manehattan, Whitetail Woods, and all the little vllages too small to have a name on the map. Basically , here, there, everywhere some weeks."

She sat up and stretched her wings a bit, trying to make it a somewhat elegant move "Oh excuse me.." she smiled.

[Sunshine]

Bull Dozer smiled and listened to her explain more in-depth about the weather patrol. He was very entranced by her as she spoke. More than often he caught his eyes wandering to her muzzle, her wings, even to her ears at some points.

When Shanna mentioned she should have ordered water, Bull Dozer almost stood up to go ask for some water from the waiter, but thought twice as he figured it would be a rude thing to do during their talk. Instead, he just kept listening.

“So you study Asto...Astoron...” Bull Dozer struggled, trying to sound more intellectual than he really was, “Astronony...how interesting.” The brown stallion tried to keep the conversation rolling. He had never heard about Astronomy, so he thought it might be good to hear more about that. “...do you ever think about doing your...um...fieldwork during the day?”

After Bull Dozer asked his question, he took notice of Shanna elegantly stretching her wings. His face went red and he couldn’t take his eyes off of her coat and wings. The sight almost made him pant like a dog, but he manage to maintain himself. He cleared his throat, trying to stop himself from drooling over her. Watching her stretch was truly a sight that Bull Dozer enjoyed.

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna finished her stretch, and stifled a giggle at the reaction it had on her date. She thought about doing that more often for him since she enjoyed his lovely blond mane and adoring eyes over a sexy blush...

She thought her answer out carefully since she didnt want to embarrass him after he fumbled on the word. "Oh believe me it would be more convenient during the day, but Celestia puts the stars out for the daytime."

Shanna sighs dreamily "There isnt much anypony without a full fledged observatory can do in the daytime. I would just love to see an eclipse sometime, but those are rare since the moon and the sun are hardly ever up at the same time. My Mother got to see one caused by a comet before we were born."

[Sunshine]

Bull Dozer was still lost in the beauty of his date until she spoke again and snapped him out of his trance. He frowned when she mentioned that she couldn’t study Astronomy during the day because the stars weren’t visible.

“Oh...” said Bull Dozer. He felt like he had asked a stupid question, but was grateful she didn’t outright call him out on it. In his natural fashion, he’d rather find out what Astronomy was through hints in their conversation rather than asking her directly.

When Shanna mentioned that she wanted to see an eclipse, Bull Dozer thought about actually writing a letter to the princesses. He stored that thought in the back of his head, it may have been a futile effort to try and contact Celestia and Luna, but it would be worth a shot.

“An eclipse?” Bull Dozer tilted his head a little, “I’ve heard about those. It’s when the moon is all red and stuff, right?”

Right as the hazel-eyed earth pony said that, the waiter walked up and almost slammed a plate down onto the table in front of Bull Dozer. He did the same for Shanna’s plate, then stood looking very irritated.

“Alright, don’t EVER ask me to make that again!” said the earth-pony, visibly sweating in exhaustion. “I don’t know who the hay makes things like that, but this restaurant is done with it!”

The waiter turned and began to stomp away, when Bull Dozer shouted out to him, “Hey! Can we get some water?!”

“Yeah, yeah...” The waiter waved a hoof dismissively.

Bull Dozer returned his attention to Shanna and continued talking as though nothing happened, “so you were talking about wanting to see an eclipse?”

[Boss_Hoss1]

Shanna nodd "Yes, that's the usual kind of Eclipse we see. But... There are ancient records of the shadow of the moon blacking out the sun, with only a firey crown visible of the sun. Can you imagine how amazing and scary that would look?" she finished with a smile.

Shanna went wide eyed as the plate slammed down before her, making her give a Fluttershy squeak.

She smoothed her feathers back down, and picked up the sandwich and inspects it critically. "At least it looks good..." and takes a bite.

She munched on it carefully and swallowed, her face suddenly looking much happier. "Ohhh this is great! Too bad this is the last out of him. Maybe next time we can go someplace that specializes in these? Make a fun time of touring the city by restauraunt?"

She smiles at him, glad to see he isnt' dismissive of the subject and actually seems interested "I would love to see an eclipse, either a full eclipse of the moon or the sun. It's okay if this is all new to you, admittedly there are ponies who even question why our job exists since the Princesses raise and lower the sun and moon and stars, but Mother tracked and quietly issued warnings of the star alignment that released..." She looks around, then whispers "you-know-who".

She sits back up and winks at Bull Dozer "We do not know if the warnings were heeded but we like to think they helped the Princess somehow."

[Sunshine]

“That would be lovely, Ms Skybright. I couldn’t imagine any other pony I’d rather do that with than you,” said the blonde stallion. He gave her a warm, loving smile.

It took Bull Dozer a moment to recognize who Shanna was hinting at. When he finally got it, he exclaimed, “oh! You mena Nightma-!”

The brown stallion caught himself mid-name and covered his mouth with a hoof. “You mean...The Mare in the Moon?”

Bull Dozer only knew of Princess Luna’s imprisonment after reading about it in the Equestria Daily newspaper. That she was the infamous “Mare in the Moon.” He was glad that Nightmare Moon was unable to make the night last forever. However, at that thought, he began to wonder if Shanna would have actually liked that since she studied Astronomy. Bull Dozer concluded his thinking with: if she’d like it, then so would I.

Bull Dozer took a large bite out of his sandwich, enjoying the combination of grass on bread.