//------------------------------// // Movie Night: Preparations // Story: A Long Life: Twilight's Changeling Grandchildren // by pertelote345 //------------------------------// Twilight "Wait, you want me to do what?" Spike shrugged, turning a page in his book (which was absolutely not built for his size). "I just want you to take the hive out for movie night. The new Power Ponies movie is out and they wanted to check it out." I tilted my head. "Um... Spike, most of the hive is filled with grown changelings, can't they just go to the movies themselves?" Spike looked away. "Um... Of course, It's a bit of a tradition though. You know, the whole hive gets together, buys a pile of tickets and takes in a show... It's a bonding experience." I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Spike, I can get the tradition part, but your hive is one of the most tight nit little community I've seen." The dragon looked nervous for some reason. "Um... I mean-" I put a hoof to my chin. "Plus it leaves you out! You know, you're too big to visit a conventional theater, but if the whole hive wanted to see something and you made a deal with the local theaters, all you'd need is a few white sheets for a screen and-" "CELESTIA DANG IT TWILIGHT I NEED YOU TO TAKE THE KIDS OUT SO I CAN GET SOME!!!" His voice literally pushed me back a few steps... But it was nowhere near as scary as what he'd just said. "W-what?" Several changelings were poking their heads out of nooks around his cave, looking concerned... Although I could have sworn one of them was snickering. Spike blushed. "Um... Sorry I try not to turn up the volume like that. It's just... Well I'm really big and when Chell does her shape-shifting thing she gets big too so when we-" I threw up my hooves. "I get it! You can stop. I'll take the hive out." Spike looked down. "Uh... Great... Thanks..." # Don't get me wrong, it only took a day for me to realize that my grandma was awesome and I loved her a bunch, but she had a tendency to get really carried away... Grandma gestured to her org chart. "Okay, so Jal you'll be in charge of Group A. Grell, you'll be in charge of group B and Xax has group C. The goal is a simple head count. Make sure everyone leaves and everyone comes back. I've reserved a room at the nearby Hayton Hotel in case anyone gets scared or needs to leave for some reason." Grell Smirked. "But Grandma, why can't they just come back to the hive? I'm sure-" "You are old enough to know that that is a terrible idea..." The purple alicorn blinked. "Unless it's not... Is this like the bathroom thing? Are intimate activities totally out in the open or something?" You can't blush through chitin, but we sure tried. "Um... No. Didn't you see the locked door by the bedroom? There's a whole corridor past it with private rooms for... Ya know." Thank Celestia Grandma was there to blush for us. "Great, so... Is there anything else I should worry about?" Jal was on her in an instant. "Have you made check lists of everyone in each group for the team leaders?" "Yes." "Double checked our reservations with the theater?" "Yes." "Posted the 'Be Wary of Rock Slide' signs?" "It still frightens me that we need those, but yes." Jal nodded sat back. Still looking unsatisfied. "Jal, is something wrong?" the alicorn asked. She grunted. "I'm Hive President, something's always wrong." She sighed. "You're doing great though. Sorry I'm a bit snippy I guess I just need a cookie or something... Meet you all at five okay?" That said, she hopped out of her seat and left the conference room. Grandmother looked more than a little worried. Grell was less subtle. "Yeesh, what bug crawled up her butt?" I winced, and turned to my grandmother. "Try not to take Jal too seriously okay? She's just a bit miffed because organizing the movie trip is usually her job." Grandma tilted her head. "Really? Then why would Spike give it to-" Her eyes widened. "Oh no... It's a test." Grell raised an eyebrow. "A what now?" Grandma turned on her. "A test! Spike is my new magic teacher now and he's giving me a test to see if I can still handle major responsibilities... He's like some kind of giant, scaly, Princess Celestia!" She started breathing heavily. After shaking off the image of Dad as an alicorn princess, I tried to calm down my ancient relative. "I seriously doubt that's a thing. He's probably just trying to establish you as a potential authority figure for the hive." She twitched. "How is that less stressful?" "Uh..." Okay, that had sounded a lot better in my head. Grell slid over and put a hoof around Grandma's shoulder. "Chill out Purple Smart, it's movie night, not a sixteen concert tour. All ya gotta do is bring everyone to the movie theater, watch some stuff about super heroes and make sure the kids don't get too hyped up on candy, easy peasy!" Grandmother smiled at Grell... Then did this weird thing where she held out her hoof and took a deep breath before continuing. "Okay... You're right. Things are gonna work out just fine!" # Of course, six hours later I was twitching uncontrollably with half my mane singed off in the theater manager's office. My three team leaders were looking hang dog and Jal had a black eye. Hib, one of the hive's small children, was cradling his bleeding ear and sitting next to two very guilty little accomplices. Meanwhile an earth pony mare was curled up into a ball in the corner muttering about evil popcorn. I cleared my, very sore throat. "Umm... I can explain?" The manager, a middle aged unicorn stallion with an impressive mustache, sighed. "Well... I suppose we're all stuck in the theater until that mob dies down." He narrowed his eyes. "What exactly happened here?" Everyone started speaking all at once and the theater manager held up his hoof. "Why don't we start with you?" He pointed to Hib. The bleeding changeling nymph winced. "Well... You see we saw this poster for 'Naked Executioners II' and..."