Moving day.

It was always the last part of the job, it was something as well Red or Foundy actually rarely got to see. Quite often when they had finished building new houses, their job was done and the keys were handed over to the estate agents who went on to sell them to waiting ponies. Sleipnir was becoming somewhat of a popular colony, there was a small waiting list for new colonists to arrive and make their home here. As well as those who expanded in girth and wanted a new house.

Today was different though, the firm was working on an absolutely massive new development project. So huge that houses were being sold next to the construction site, as soon as a house was finished the new owners moved in and Red and his crew moved down the site to start on the next house.

It had been quite interesting to see ponies moving in when he never actually got a chance to.

The new houses built were absolutely massive, due to demand from bigger and bigger clients. The ones they had just finished were possibly the biggest yet. While his crew got on with their job, Red observed from his pad the whole process of a family of fatties arriving to their new home.

Firstly, a hover truck arrived loaded with their things. Furniture for fatties was absolutely gargantuan like they were. No moving was actually done by the moving firm employees, who piloted lifting drones to unload the truck one massive piece of furniture at a time. Red watched as a couch and other usual house amenities went in. It was a rather quick operation though, as part of the deal on new builds things like kitchens were already furnished. Ponies just brought a few things like their couches, beds and whatever the house was getting decorated with. Whoever was moving in to this house must have been quite impressively large. He watched as a twin bed twice as wide as his pad was lifted up and taken inside by the drones.

Once the moving in was done, often the new owners arrived to take make sure everything was as it should be. About twenty minutes after the moving company had gotten everything inside, two mountains of blubber on pads appeared down the end of the street, coming to a stop outside the house. He heard a little talk.

“Our new home, big enough for the two of us!” the stallion said.

“I can’t wait dear, the old place was so small. We were crammed inside so much my folds were pressing against the walls of the living room!” his mare replied, both of them grinning and smiling. They went inside, the double wide entrance doors easily wide enough to take their massive bulks. Red guessed each one must be over ten thousand pounds each. He weighed seven. Their forms quivered and sloshed around as they piloted themselves indoors. He wondered how long it would be before their masses were squishing up against the walls of this house. Give a pony a chance to eat, they’d just eat more.

“Boss?”

“Mmmm?” Red snapped out of his haze and looked over to one of his workmen, who in a flabby hoof was holding a radio.

“Foundy on the line. Asks you if you can come to her office.”

“Oh right, tell her I’ll be right along.”

The massive stallion piloted his pad towards Foundy’s office, the location of which was ever changing due to the site moving along. She had some news for him.

“Problem boss?” he asked, expecting one when he arrived. Generally the boss only summoned him because there was an issue.

“No problem - actually I have something I think you’ll find interesting…”

“Hmmm?” Red asked, Foundy had some plans laid out in front of her.

“Ever seen what they build on Equestria Red?”

“No, I mean I’ve never been.” he replied, looking at the plans. Whatever it was on the blueprint looked very complicated indeed.

“Mmmmm well. I’m sure you know how big the ponies there are.”

He did indeed, stories of mountain sized Princess’s. He had seen the visitors too, when they came to the colony. Ponies of such size and heft they were buried under mounds and mounds of their own blubber. He hoped he could achieve that some day…

“Yes, absolutely massive and make us look thin.” he replied.

“Indeed. So what do you think they build there to house such blubber mountains?” she asked.

“Well um...you know come to think of it I had no idea.” he said, opting for the honest reply instead.

“Well Red, they build nothing. They flatten out some land. Cordon it off with a cute picket fence, and that’s a ‘house’. In the very loosest sense of the word.” Foundy said. “You know how they can get away with it?”

“Not really. I mean a flat bit of land to park a pad on isn’t really what I’d call a house boss.”

“Because Equestria has perfect weather. You don’t need a house if 365 days of the year you’re surrounded by absolutely glorious sunshine controlled by Pegasi. We don’t have that luxury on Sleipnir, there is no weather control. Well…” she trailed off, looking down her triple chins at the plans in front of her on the table, pointing a flabby hoof at them. “This could change that.”

“What is it?” asked Red.

“Plans, for a prototype weather control device that functions purely on science. No Pegasi needed - not that we have any, all too fat to fly with those bingo wings of theirs. Ponies are getting big Red, too big. We’re starting to get to the stage where the houses we build, as massive as they are, are becoming so expensive to build we’re making an absolute tiny profit on the builds. What we need is what Equestria has, flat land where giant ponies can park their pads until their next meal at Blubber King and perfect weather to achieve this. That’s what this is all about.” she explained, rotating the plans so Red could get a better view.

“I see…” he said, looking them over. “Where do we come in?”

“We build the new plots, for a fraction of the cost of the houses we do currently. I mean how hard is it flatten land and put a fence around it and a mailbox up?” Foundy said with a small laugh. “We also need to build these…” she said, leaning down and tapping on the plans, her hoof jiggling as she did so. “This is a prototype, we’ve got to test it to see if it works. No weather control, no easy to build houses. It’s quite simple.” she said.

“Makes sense. Who’s building them then?” he asked.

“You, and your team.” Foundy replied.

Red immediately was anxious. “M-me? With all the disasters I’ve caused. Are you sure that’s wise boss?” he asked honestly. Foundy just smiled back.

“I think you’re up to it Red, all the parts will be provided. You just have to put it together, like a house. This is a small prototype anyway to test if it’s possible to control the weather in a small one mile radius. If this works, the boffins will start building massive ones on giant orbiting space platforms around the planet.” she explained. “Besides, if you succeed, there’ll be a big fat bonus in it for you.” she said. She knew that was the winning ticket with Red, more money meant more food. It was his motivator.

“Alright, well. We can try. When do we start?” he asked.

“Once we’ve finished this current batch of builds, we’ll move on to new ones then you and your team can start. Don’t let me down Red.” she said, rolling the plans up and retreating back to her office. She had more work to do.

“I won’t!” Red said, powering up his pad and returning to his job. He had work to do and plenty to think about. He was sure Ivory would be on board when he mentioned it was good money, but it would take him away from her while he worked. He began to think on it while heading back to his work. More money meant more food, a bigger pad, a bigger belly. Maybe he’d be one of the first and biggest to occupy one of those new builds if the weather control device worked...