Garett was being shown around the hive still. As much as he'd seen, there was always more to see, more to learn. The next location that they came to was the equivalent of a classroom.

It was rather spartan in appearance. There were a few chairs, a long table, a desk, a large blackboard and not much more than that. No pictures, no windows, not even a potted plant.

At the other side of the desk was one clearly adult Changeling. He had blazing green eyes, which shone like pyrite while having the hue of jade.

His guide said, "That's our teacher, Quick Shift -Mister Shift, to you-. He's taught dozens -if not hundreds- to change form."

"Will the first student come up, please?" Quick said, beckoning.

One Changeling stepped up. With a bit of concentration, there was a flash of green and where the Changeling was, a small cat sat.

There was a disembodied chorus of "Awww!"s. Quick merely rolled his eyes. Not easy for a Changeling to do, but he managed it. "Very good. Next!"

As another Changeling stepped up, Garett concentrated as well. "Let's see if I have this straight..." he thought, suddenly feeling a muscle that felt strange. Curious, he flexed it, thinking of Tourmaline...

"You probably won't manage that for a while, at least, but this is good for you to-" Tourmaline looked over, but saw a mirror image -a point for point reflection- of himself where the youngster he was guiding just was.

"Most impressive!" Clearly 'Mr. Shift' had been paying attention. "You there. Come over here." he beckoned encouragingly.

Garett was nervous, naturally, but he walked into the classroom, still in his altered form.

"You can revert now. It's alright."

Garett relaxed the muscle and felt himself return to his previous shape, to the astounded gasps of the class.

"Most impressive! Barely in your second form and you've already got the hang of it!"

One student raised a hoof.

"Yes, Clover?" Quick Shift queried.

"How does a second stage Changeling have that much energy? Taking the form of a fourth stage would have to take a lot of energy to maintain."

Quick looked over to Garett, as if expecting an explanation.

Garett asnwered, stammering nervously, "I... j-just felt for s-something that seemed r-right at the t-time. I was j-j-ust fed that knowledge because I n-n-n-needed it then. Once it w-w-worked, I j-just k-k-kept that f-f-f-f-flexed. As long as I only n-needed to k-keep that f-f-form and not do much else with it, i w-wouldn't need much more energy than that, right?"

Quick nodded sagely. "Quite right. The Hive Mind provides what you need to know. Don't be afraid to call on it if you need to. Furthermore, If you were fighting in that form or something similar, maybe, but as you only needed to maintain the shape, more energy would not be needed. As long as you didn't take a hit, you could maintain that form as long as your carbuncle was 'flexed', as you say."

Another hoof was raised, but Quick Shift raised his to deflect the obvious question. "Miss Tourmaline? Would you care to aid me with a spell?"

Tourmaline shifted nervously. "You very well know that my spellcraft has never been the best."

"Then I'll craft the spell. Just focus your energy. I'll do the rest."

The two crossed their horns and a wave of magic spread through the room. Suddenly, everyone could see inside of the others.

"This, young 'lings, is your Itineris System. Your Carbuncle is that green spot, right near your heart. Point when you find it."

After a half minute or so, every Changeling had a transparent hoof pointing toward their Carbuncle.

"Very good. That's like your heart, but for your magic. Every living thing in this world has one. And you'll notice that little Garett here has an especially bright one."

Garett could feel the jealousy of the other young Changelings. He could feel their animosity toward him.

Quick Shift rapped the desk. "HEY! None of that! Shame on you!" she exclaimed, quelling the impending fight. "You all should know better! Set a good example for younger Changelings."

"But he's more powerful than we are!" one student interrupted.

"SO. WHAT? Haven't I told you enough that your power doesn't matter! It's how well you use it and WHY!" Quick Shift rebuked, stemming any further argument. "If you don't like having less power than he, practice! Power doesn't make you smart. Power doesn't make you skilled. Power doesn't get you friends. Think on these words the lot of you, and consider what you've done wrong. Dismissed!"

Garett's ears drooped. "I'm sorry. I ruined the whole bit."

Quick nudged the melancholy youngling. "Cheer up, lad. It's not so bad. Some 'lings are just not comfortable with being one-upped. But, there's always a bigger fish...." he said, pausing to muse a bit at the end.

"Though..." he said at length, "How do you know all these things?"

Garett answered readily. "My soul. It's not from this world. I still have a lot of my past life's memories."

Quick said, "A-HA! Trust me, boy, if you can get this far without even having a proper 'ling's soul at the time, you're going to go far. Why, that knowledge of yours might come to be useful someday."

Tourmaline spoke up. "We really should be moving on..."

Quick waved one leg, dismissing them. "Yes, yes. Go ahead. But i'll expect to see this lad more often. MUCH more often."

Garett couldn't help but feel uneasy at that.

Tourmaline rubbed Garett's back a bit. "Don't worr. I'll make sure that nothing happens to ya. Momentai, as they say."

Garett thought, 'I'm reassured, but only s\lightly'

The next stop on the tour was a tropical garden of sorts. "This is our Garden. Not only does it hold food for guests of other species, but it's also a place of calm reflection and meditation." Tourmaline brought her hooves together in a very meditative posture.

Garett assumed a simlar stance and focused on... not focusing Sure enough, he could hear the sounds of the wind blowing through the trees, the gentle lapping of water and the presences of the 20- or so Changelings milling about therein. But he still got that gnawing feeling that something integral in the hive was missing.

Tourmaline noticed this. "You feel it, huh?"

"Huh?"

"The absence of our long-time leader, Chrysalis. Though mainly in charge of the Sapphire hive, she subjugated the rest of us too. She brooked no opposition. She was power mad. A dictator. A loose cannon. Those who didn't agree with her found their carapaces scorched." she shuddered briefly before continuing. "The TL:DR of it is that she was defeated, at length, deposed and... we excommunicated her from the Hive Mind. Presumably, she's all alone out there. We still feel the gaping hole that she left behind. Maybe it will 'heal', in time. We'll see." Tourmaline hesitated before saying, "Let's... let's get a move on. There's still much to do."

The tour continued.

Author's Note

1: Obviously adapted from the three codes of Craftknighthood.