I only own my OC's!

Daycare

6:30 AM

Hi! My name is Mariposa, and today's my birthday. I'm turning five today! I don't look like you might think, maybe because I'm not human. I'm a Cybertronian Princess. Our planet's dead now, so we're living on Earth. I have pink armor, with doorwings, and purplish pink finials and trim. My mommy's name is Elita, and my Daddy's is Optimus. I have a triplet brother named Bumblebee, too, and a sister named Brightstar, and twin siblings named Dreamwave and Lightstorm. Together, we'll be able to combine, as Bee/Star and I can now, to form Starlight.

We usually use our pretender forms outside the base. They help us to blend in with humankind, and they have blonde hair and blue eyes, while Star and our younger siblings have brown hair, but the same blue eyes. I have a few friends in kindergarten, so I can still learn what I need to for school. Soon, we'll be going to a real school!

Star's a bit smaller than the two of us. Carrier said her spark was weak, which explains why she was so much younger than me back in the old dimension-they sent her spark later on, so she could have some more time to develop. She's just as excitable as Bee and I, though, so I'm not too worried, but I still worry more about her than my other siblings.

I move my currently-in-holoform cyber-cat, Glimmer, then slide out of bed the and cuddle-pile. Ignoring the cat's glare and accompanying growl, I straighten out my long sleeved Strawberry Shortcake nightgown and skip over to my huge closet, where I pick out some clothes for Bee, Star, and I to wear today. Mommy usually lets me if we're just going to daycare or playing at home. I pull out one of my favorite tutu outfits and quickly change into it. It's a white tank top with dark pink and white polka-dot bows on the shoulders and a purple and pink butterfly graphic, a lavender tutu with dark pink and white polka-dot trim and bow on the waist, white cropped leggings, and pink sandals. I put my yellow and red butterfly print lanyard with my binky on it over my head, then pull out a white tank top and yellow shorts, and black sandals, for Bumblebee—with his bumblebee pacifier and striped lanyard, of course, and a white and yellow tutu outfit with a sun for Brightstar, with her sun pacifier and lanyard.

I step back into our room and smile as Glimmer pads over to me in her holoform and nuzzles my legs. I know Fixit fed her and Honey when he got up earlier, so I won't have to. He usually does, after all. After I pet Glimmer, I stand and turn to our double bed and dive on top of my brothers and sisters. There's no way I'm letting them sleep all morning. We have the same connection as conjoined twin humans do, so Carrier told our Daycare we're the first documented set of intact identical male/female triplets.

He starts awake and looks up at me with sleepy eyes. "F'u'erby?"

Star blinks up at me. "Why you wake us?"

I nod and giggle. "Wakey, Bumbee, wakey, Star! I's mornin'! Gotta go 'cool!" Bee pushes me off him and rolls to where he's on top of me, then starts tickling me. "Stop! No ticklies! No!" I push his hands away and sigh while crossing my arms. "Why you do dat?"

He huffs and crosses his arms across his long sleeved dinosaur pajamas. "You woked me up, Silly."

"I knows…" I squirm out from under him and hop off the bed. "Bu' we's five 'day! You no wanna s'eep frough ouw birfday!"

His eyes widen before he screams and tackles me to the floor. "We're five!"

"We'll get to starts real school soon!"

"An' Sire's gonna let us start training!"

I blink. I'd forgotten about that. "I fink I jus' wanna learns from Ratch…" I look down at my very sensitive hands. "Sire say' I gots medic hands anyways…" I shrug. "Anyway, you needs get dwessed. Carrier come in soon, we hafta go."

He quickly pulls on the outfit I'd pulled out.

I hug my sister, formerly my best friend, before she changes into a white tank top with a sun, her pair of leggings that match mine, and a yellow ribbon-trimmed tutu, then watch as she puts on her yellow sandals. She gets to go with us, but the twinlets have to stay home. They're only one, after all, and Ms. Olivia doesn't take babies…

Bee turns to me with a grin. "Wanna play cowboys?"

I shake my head. "Not right now. I wanna play dollies. You can play cowboys, though." I skip over to my dollhouse and sit in front of it before starting to play dollhouse with Brightstar. Carrier will come in and do our hair when she's ready. Then we'll leave for daycare.

Bee plops down beside me. "It's no fun to play 'lone." He looks into my dollhouse. "Can I play?"

I hand him the little boy doll, then smile at my dolls and start playing, making the little girl doll dance around her bedroom before school. I have a school dollhouse too, and a school bus. Daddy says we won't be riding the big bus that stops near our kindergarten, though. He said he or Carrier would take us when we're finally old enough.

Carrier opens the door and sits on the edge of our bed in her pretender form. She looks like me, just bigger. She starts braiding, then stops and pulls my hair into pigtails before continuing with just the top half of my hair. Once she ties off the ends of the braids, she puts a lavender butterfly clip that has a pink back on one side at the top, and a pink butterfly clip with a lavender back on the other side, then puts a pink and white butterfly tiara in my hair. "Brightstar?" My sister steps over, and gets the same treatment, just with a star tiara and sun clips. "Bumblebee?" He steps over as she gets some of his hair gel on her hands. She spikes his hair and sticks a yellow crown on his head, then shakes the twinlets awake. Once they're up, they get changed and dressed. Dreamwave in a Little Mermaid onesie and tutu with cropped leggings like mine and Star's, with purple sandals, and Lightstorm in a Finding Nemo onesie and shorts with blue sandals. She puts Dreamwave's hair in little ponytails with mermaid clips before brushing Lightstorm's, then stands with a smile. "Now, go get your backpacks, and we'll leave."

"Roll out time?"

She laughs softly. "Yes. It's almost time to roll out."

"With the Twinlets?"

"They're one now, remember? Olivia said they could go with you when they were one."

My mind wanders to the other kids my age here that go to my daycare. "What 'bout Blue, 'Lectro, Snowy, an' Lyric?"

"They're coming too, but they'll ride with their Carriers, just like I'm taking the five of you."

I pause to think about that. Electro, and his sister Electra, are our cousins, so they're going with his Carrier, my Auntie Arcee. Snowy's carrier is Uncle Ratchet, so she'll ride with him. Her sire spends all day in our security room anyway. Lyric's Uncle Prowl's daughter, so she'll ride in with him, then he goes to help the police department. They don't know he's a bot, but he does work for them in holoform. Since he takes care of his baby brother too, he's in my daycare too. He's my best friend. Carrier says that Sire was her best friend too, before they were Optimus and 'Lita, anyway…they were already bonded by then.

Uncle Bulky's bonded to someone named Wheeljack, but they haven't been able to have kids, and Agent Fowler won't let Bulky adopt some random human, so he has to make do with the rest of us.

I blink to find Bee and Star already have their duck backpacks on, and Carrier crouched to me. "Get your backpack, my Little Butterfly Girl."

I giggle at that and run after my plush duck backpack. She only calls me her little butterfly girl when we're using pretender forms around humans. I think she does that because my name means butterfly. Bee's her little bumblebee boy, and Brightstar's her little sunshine girl. The twinlets are her dawn and dusk.

I run over with my little backpack on my back, filled with the same little kid stuff I usually use at the daycare: a coloring book and crayons, a metal sippy cup of energon, a snack container, a duck binky and clip—Carrier lets me use them because they keep me calm—a duck blanket and stuffed animal, and a blankie with another duck on it. Everyone's has the same stuff inside, so it's okay if we get things mixed up. "Ready to roll, Carrier!"

She smiles down at me before transforming, then opens the door and leans the seat forward so we can climb in. I slide into my pink booster as Bee slides into his red one. Brightstar settles in the purple booster in between, and the twins get put into their weird twin car seat either Ratchet or Wheeljack made. Carrier buckles us all in before taking off.

6:50 AM

We pull up outside the kindergarten daycare. Bumblebee, Brightstar, and I slide out and put our backpacks on as Carrier activates her pretender form and joins us. Bee and I each reach up and take a hand, and I take Star's, before letting her lead us up the steps to the daycare door with the twinlets in a red sling. I know my friends will get here soon, but Carrier and Sire have to work sooner than the others do, and Uncle Ratchet spends half his morning trying to calm Uncle Red down while they both work to get Snowy dressed for the morning. It's really hot out today, so I'm sure they'll be dressed like my siblings and I are—nice and cool outfits like tank tops and shorts, in light colors.

Carrier knocks on the door. Ms. Olivia opens the door to let us all in, and smiles at Carrier. "Good morning, Ariel. How are the kids today?"

"They're good."

I giggle and nod as she helps us inside before taking our backpacks off, then takes the hoodies Carrier always puts inside and hangs them up over our backpacks. They're ducks like the rest of our school stuff. "I'm good, Ms. Livy!"

Bee grins up at her. "Me too!"

Star smiles up at our teacher. She's a little shy. "Me three."

'For being older than me, he's sure slower at everything else…'

She smiles. "Good." She looks back up to Carrier. "The others are coming later, I'll assume?"

Carrier nods. "Yes. They're just running late."

"As usual." Ms. Olivia laughs. "At least you guys won't be alone this time."

"Who's joining the school?" She glances down at the twins she's just set on their little feet. "Besides Dawn and Landon…"

Ms. Olivia waves her hand in the air. "Another set of triplets. They just moved here with their father. The girls sound like your kids, actually."

"They do?" Carrier crouches to my little sister. "Be good, and keep an eye on the twins while Olivia's teaching."

"We will, Mama."

We have a lot of superpowers, so I know that's what she means when she says that to Carrier. Bee and I share a look before looking up to her. "They has powers?"

She simply smiles and nods before leading us into our playroom. Since she teaches us kindergarten lessons, we're all starting first grade in a few months, but lessons don't start until eight, so we get to play for at least an hour, and it's not even seven yet. Bee and I always get to play lots!

I let her hand go and step into the playroom nervously as Ms. Olivia goes back to the entrance so she can welcome the others. I can't stop my hand from reaching for Bee's nervously. "H-Hi…"

"Hi! I'm Bailey!"

'Okay…so I was wrong. He's slower unless it involves new peoples…'

Star runs over next, not wanting to be "late" to meet the new kids. While this used to bother me, she's my sister now, not my best friend, and she needs to have friends. "I'm Claire!"

A blonde haired girl with her hair in braided pigtails with blue bows, wearing a light blue T-shirt and overalls shorts with tennis shoes darts over too fast for a normal human to, a blue streak behind her. "Hi, Bailey! I'm Bubbles! What's your name?"

I smile nervously. "I-I'm Mari. This is Dawn, and that's Landon." I grin. "You have powers too!"

A red haired girl with the same hairstyle and matching pink outfit and bows in her hair darts over next with a pink streak behind her. "Bubbles, the Professor told us not to use our powers."

A black haired girl with the same hairstyle and matching green outfit and bows sighs heavily as she darts over to us with a green streak behind her. "Yeah, Bubbles. They'll tell on us, and we'll have to move again, just like we did in Citysville."

"We won' tell. We haves some too." I shrug. "'Sides, everyone here's not normal. We all haves special abilities, an' we's from 'nother planet. We tell Daddy 'bout you, an' see if you's can come visit sometime. It be fun! Our Mommy's really nice!"

The red-head smiles. "We'll see. We'll have to ask the professor first." She blinks before holding out a hand. "I'm Blossom, and that's Buttercup."

I smile and shake it like I've seen humans do, then step aside to let Bee. He stares for a moment, confused. ~Shake her hand, Goofball!~

~Oh… Sorry…~ He blinks. Sometimes we forget we have to talk out loud to other people. "Sorry, Blossom."

"Were you two using telepathy?"

I nod. "We're identical triplets." I smile. "We have to ask Mommy and Daddy too. We can do it after school."

Ms. Olivia steps inside then with Electro, Electra and Snowfire beside her. Electro's wearing an orange tank top and plaid shorts, his sister is wearing a green T-shirt and gold jeans, while Snowfire's wearing a sundress and leggings, all in white. "Five minutes till school starts, guys."

The girl in green kicks the floor. "Great. Now we hafta clean up."

I shake my head and smile. "We clean up five minutes before 7:30. It's only 6:55."

Blossom looks happily shocked. "You can tell time already?"

I shrug. "Our kind is a lot smarter than we look." I point to the large digital clock on the back wall. "But that helps."

She turns. "Oh…"

Snowfire crosses her arms. "Papa's gonna be mad, Mari."

I huff. "Well, so will Uncle Peter, but I don't care. I wanna have friends over who don't already live with us!" I glance over to the three girls. "I almost forgot. Jason, Snowy, they're Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup. Girls, this is my friend Snowy, and my cousin Jason."

"Snowy's papa doesn't sound very nice…"

I pat Bubbles on the shoulder. "It's all right. He's actually really nice, and so is her Daddy, but her Daddy's really cranky with the adults, and her Papa's kind of paranoid. Uncle Rick says it's just who he is, and we have to deal with it."
"She has two dads?"

Blossom gives her sister a look and crosses her arms. "Bubbles, we don't judge people on who they love."

"I know, I'm just curious."

I smile slightly. "She does, and so does my friend Jessie, but it's normal where we come from. Jason and I have a mommy and a daddy, and that's really rare."

We all look up at the same time as Bluestreak and Lyric are lead in together. Ms. Olivia walks over to get things ready for our lessons while watching us play. "That's Jessie, and her Uncle Blake. Guys, they're Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.

Bee grins. "They're new."

Buttercup scoffs as her sisters gasp in awe. "The kid's the same age as her! How can he be her uncle!?"

I cross my arms. "Because he's Uncle Peter's baby brother, that's how!" I smirk. "And actually, he's two months younger than her."

Bubbles glances from him to me. "Why does he look so sad?"

Bee looks down. "His parents are dead."

I sigh softly. "They died on our home planet, before the war began—"

"Daddy's not gonna be happy with you for telling them."

"I don't care. I want friends to come over." I stick my tongue out. "And it's our birthday so we can do what we want."

"Just because you're the princess—"

"I'm not acting stuck up, Jessie! I's being me!" I blink. "Well, part of me…" I huff and cross my arms. "Mommy and Daddy will take care of Uncle Peter and Uncle Ryan if they put up a fuss. We wanna have friends over."

I turn back to the triplets as Bubbles gives me a sad look. "Your home's gone?"

I nod. "We barely got to see her. We're the last kids of our kind that we know of. We're called Cybertronians, and our home is Cybertron. Blake's big brother raises him, while the rest of us have our parents still. Our Auntie Star is out there somewhere with her son, but she's been living with humans since before the war. She doesn't want to be involved." I shrug. "We wish she'd at least come to visit once in a while, though. We haven't seen her since we was babies."

7:25 Am

Ms. Olivia stands in the doorway to the lunch room and claps her hands. "All right, kids. It's time to clean up." She steps over to a cabinet before taking something into the next room.

Bubbles rushes over to where I'm standing beside the toy bin, her hands full of toys. "What's next?" She dumps the armload into the toy bin before looking back up to me.

I turn to the three girls with a smile aimed at Bubbles. "We have a breakfast snack."

Bee grins. "Usually fruit or muffins."

"Joy…"

"Buttercup, be nice." Blossom smiles over at us. "She doesn't have to feed us anything. We ate before we came."

I shrug. "We all did. It's just something special she does for us."

Bee leans on me with a grin. "Then circle time, then we start lessons."

"Well, the twinsies won't, because they're too young, but the rest of us will, while they go play in the other room." I smile. "Our lessons go till 9:30, then we get free play again until our parents come get us."

We settle around the table, and Ms. Olivia sets a muffin in front of each of us. "Thank you."

Blossom turns to me once Ms. Olivia's gone. "Why do you keep saying 'we' when you talk?"

"Yeah. We don't even do that, and we're triplets."

I giggle. "It's something that's only found in our kind."

Bee grins. "So you wouldn't be able to understand as easily as you'd like to."

The three of us speak as one, our voices merging to sound like Starlight Prime—at least the smaller, two-part version. "We're a combiner."

"Combiner?"

"Yep." I nod, and speak alone this time. "One of the original thirteen was a combiner named Nexus Prime. He had several component parts that combined to form him."

Bee picks up as I trail off. "We're the first combiner to be carried since before the Golden Age."

Star smiles from where she's sitting on the table between Bee and I. "Dawn and Landon, can merge with her too, but they're too little still, so we can't…"

Blossom's face lights up. "Sounds like gestalt psychology." We all blink at the redhead. "I'm the brains of the group."

Bubbles giggles. "Our Dad's a professor. He made us in a lab."

Buttercup smiles widely. "That's how we got our powers—when his lab monkey knocked Chemical X into the mix."

Lyric tilts her head to the side. "Interesting…"

Snowfire giggles. "That monkey would make Papa fritz for sure."

Blossom sighs. "He's one of Townsville's villains now…"

Bubbles face falls. "It would have been cool if we had a big brother…"

Buttercup nods. "Too bad he wasn't a good guy."

"Yeah…" I smile when I get an idea. ~Distract the teacher. I'm gonna go call Sire and see if they can get the new girls' dad to let them come to our birthday party this afternoon.~

~What do you want me to do?~

~Why don't you just ask?~

~That never works, Star. Bee, I don't know! Think of something!~ He moves to stick his finger in his throat. ~Don't make yourself purge though, or I'm gonna do it too!~

~I don't think she meant for you to gag yourself, Bee…~

~No wan' puk'!~

~I was just joking, sis! Sheesh…~ He giggles. ~You need to stop hanging around Ratchet and Red Alert. You're starting to sound like them.~

I roll my eyes. ~Oh har de har har.~ I sigh. ~You know I like to be near the medics! I'd hang out with Aidie, but he's still back in Griffin Rock!~

~He's coming this afternoon for our party. All of Defensor is—Sigma 17 too. Sire said so.~

~When!? When did he say!?~

~While you were in 'La-la land' back at base. You're worse than Fireflight!~

~Aw, shut it, Mister! You're worse than Streetwise!~ I sigh softly and shake my head. ~I'm still surprised that we formed a sibling bond with them, even if sparklings DO form bonds easily.~

~I can't wait to see Groove again!~

~I wanna see Blades again!~ He pauses for a moment, his pointer on his chin. ~And see Streetwise…though I think he cheats when we play 'I spy'. He always wins!~

~It's hyper-awareness, not cheating, Silly, and of course you want to see the blood knight.~

~You said he hasn't been like that for a vorn though…~

~He still has that reputation, Bee.~ I motion for the others to move in closer. As the part of Starlight with the Prime spark (and the reincarnation of Solus Prime), I'm usually our group's leader, even though I'm the youngest of our age group. "Bumbee's gonna distract Ms. Livy. While he do that, I'm gonna sneak ina the potty with my BB phone, an' call Dada."

"Does she always talk like a baby?"

Blossom huffs. "Don't be rude, Buttercup."

Bluestreak nods. "She is the youngest, after all." He pauses. "Well, Starlight is. She's really—"

Lyric puts a hand over Bluestreak's mouth before he can continue. "Starlight's their combined form, and yes, she does." She turns to Bluestreak. "Slow your roll there, Unc. I doubt the new girls can understand fast."

Bubbles giggles. "Of course we can!" She gives us a confused look. "BB phone?"

Electro nods. "Ratchet bought a bunch of Buddy Bear phones, and programed them to call the comm center and our creators' personal comms, as well as Defensor's comms and the emergency number here in Jasper. Mari and Bee call them BB phones because their mini has trouble speaking, and it's leaked through their bond."

I sigh heavily. "Bumbee's older than me by a few minutes, and Star's younger by the same, otherwise, we're the youngest, especially because of D-Wave and Light. Electra—that's Crystal—is oldest by a year, then there's Lyre—she's the oldest of us by a couple months—that's Jessie to humans, then Blue—Blake, FYI. Then Snowy—that's actually her real name—and then Lecto—he's Jason. Then Bumbee, Star, and I, an' we jus' turned five today. After us is Dreamwave and Lightstorm, otherwise known as Dawn and Landon, who are one."

Blossom looks confused this time. "Mini?"

I nod. "Short for Minicon, which is just a tiny Cybertronian. Bumbee, Star, and I have an adult minicon as part of our combined form, but he works with Ratchet in the mornings, so he's up before the rest of us."

Bee smiles slightly. "Fixit's got a glitch that makes him mess up his words, and Mari and Star have the same problem from how long they've been together. They catch me sometimes, but I'm not around Fix as much unless we're combined. He and Mari are really close."

I sigh heavily. "So…Bumbee distracts Ms. Livy while I sneak to the potty and call Dada. Blossom come wif me so she can give Dada her Dada's number. The rest of you need to back Bumbee up. Star, you need to keep the twinlets from freaking out like the baby combiner sparkles they are."

"Got it."

I nod at the group, and we lean back in our seats.

"Wait." We turn to Blossom. "Won't Ms. Olivia know something's up already, since we—"

Bluestreak shakes his head. "We're always having little talks like that during snack time. It's the only way we can talk about our home without blowing cover. Ms. Livy never comes over when we're talking like that, and she's used to us doing that."

Bubbles blinks. "He talks a lot."

"Yep…" Lyric sighs. "But he can't help it. It's how he deals with his trauma."

"Ready?" They all nod. "Now."

~Push me off my chair.~

~What? I don't wanna—~

~You won't, but we need to make it look real.~

~But… Who do I blame?~

~Don' blame me! I'm just sittin' here!~

Bee looks around slowly. ~Blame Blue. He's right beside me. Just…pull me! Like when we twin up!~

I shrug, and quickly jerk him off his chair before returning to my normal position. He starts fake-crying, making it look as real as he can, while the twins start real crying. We watch as Ms. Olivia runs over to Bee and picks him up before carrying him over to the cubbies. The others follow curiously.

~It's okay, Twinlets. He's just pretending. He's not really hurt.~

"Now." I whisper. I grab Blossom's hand and we speed-float to the bathrooms on the other side of the room.

"Okay…" I pull out my pink Buddy Bear cell phone and hit the "Daddy" button. "It's ringing."

"Mariposa, what is wrong?"

"I have a question 'bout our birfday party."

He sighs. "What is it?"

"Did Carrier tell you 'bout the new girls in school?"

"Yes."

"We wanted to know if they could come. They know 'bout us, an' they's superheroes, so they's okay 'round huge peoples."

Blossom leans closer to the phone. "We fight giant monsters all the time, Sir."

"I will need to talk with their father first, Sweetspark."

"I knows. Bwossom's here to tell you his phone number."

"It's 364-5493."

"I will let you know when I come to pick you two up. Do not drive Olivia crazy."

"We no dwives her cwazy, Siwe!" I giggle. "Bye-bye!" I stick the phone into its little bag and slip it back into my backpack, then hook it back under my hoodie. "Done."

"Next time, be a little more careful when you're talking to your sister, Bailey. We can't have you breaking anything."

"I know. I'll be more carefuler next time."

"Bubby!"

Ms. Olivia sets him down, and I run over and hug him, Star and the Twinlets close behind me. "You okays?"

"I'm 'kay, Sissy. I jus' bumpded my knee."

The three new girls stare at us in confusion. We walk over together and I lean forward. "It's an act."

Bee nods. "Mostly."

I nod. "'Stalts can't be 'part for very long when they's babies or li'l kids, because it's scary for us."

"It's really scary when one of us gets hurted. Mari gets really quiet…"

"I panic inside, when they's hurted or losted, or when I go bisit 'Fensor 'lones. I can barely feels them, so's I's scawed. 'Fensor un'ers'and, though. 'Pots beed there 'fores, an' he helps me un'ers'and why I gets so 'set when we's 'part."

"Pots?"

Snowfire leans over as she walks toward the bathrooms. "Hot Spot. He's the leader of Defensor."

I nod. "He helps me figure out what I needs to knows 'bout being commander."

"Wait." I turn to Blossom. "If he's older than you, then why are you the commander?"

I giggle. "'Cause I have the Prime spark."

"Prime spark?"

I nod. "I'm the re-in-car-na-tion of the first femme, who was one of the thirteen. Our combined form is a prime, too, but I'm the one with the special spark."

Bee gasps. "Mari, you sayd that 'loud."

Lyric shrugs from her place by Ms. Olivia. "Carrier told me Mr. Fowler told her what we are, and made her sign something so she'd keep it secret."

I glare at her. "And you kept that from us why?"

"What's a spark?"

"It's our hearts, Buttercup." I go back to glaring at Lyric. "I's waiting, Lyre."

"Carrier told me we had to try our best to keeps the secrets, but that we had con-tin-gen-cies, just in case one of us slipped up." She smiles. "It was kind of fun, having those whisper talks, so I didn't want to tell you."

"So we could be using our normal forms all this time, an' you never tolds us!"

She shrugs. "I never thought of it."

Ms. Olivia sighs before stepping into the middle of the room and claps her hands. "It's time to get to class, Little Ones. Claire, take the twins back into the old nap room. I've got some quiet toys for them. Then you can join the rest of us for circle time." A cell phone rings, but it doesn't sound like Ms. Olivia's—hers sounds like a doorbell—or one of our BB phones—those sound like wind chimes. This one sounds like a xylophone.

"Oh!" Blossom runs for the cubbies. "Hello?" She grins. "We can? Of course, Professor. I'll let them know." She sighs softly. "We'll be in class, but I'll let her know. Thanks, Professor. Bye." She slips a pink phone into her backpack and runs over to us. "We can go, and he said we could sleep over." She turns to Ms. Olivia. "The Professor's going to bring our overnight bags and leave them in our cubbies, if that's okay."

"Of course, Blossom." She claps her hands. "All right, class. Let's get to our places for Circle Time!"

9:30 AM

"All right, that's all for today." We squeal and start to stand up. "We're going to have a pool day next Tuesday. I'll send a note home with you, to your parents, tomorrow." She picks up a small golden bell and rings it. "Class dismissed."

We run out of the room to the playroom, now joined by Star and the Twinlets, and start to pull out some toys.

Blossom turns to me. "What's that room for?"

"Naps, if our parents aren't here by noon. We have lunch where we had our snack, then we have naptime in there. Bumbee and I share a bed like we do at home, but everyone else has their own."

"But we don't—"

Bee cuts Buttercup off. "We don't usually nap either."

Star nods. "It's more of a 'Ms. Livy needs a nap' time than a 'we need a nap' time."

I nod and giggle. "We kinda wear her out…"

Bee smirks. "Because of all our energy."

"I don't think we'll be needing it today, though…" I smile. "Sire's gonna want to get us pretty early, since it's our birthday and all." I giggle. "Part of me wishes he'd come get us now, so we can go visit 'Fensor before he comes for our party…"

Bubbles gives me a curious look. "You seem really close to them…"

I nod. "Remember when we explained 'stalts?" She nods. "Well…" I rub the back of my neck, something I picked up from Charlie in Griffin Rock. "We kinda…formed a sibling bond with them when we were babies…"

Bee nods. "Now we're part of 'Fensor as well as being our own ges-ges—"

I look at him with my head tilted to one side. "Bumbee?"

"I can't remember the word." He shakes his head. "Oh, phooey. Combiner team."

"Oh…" I giggle, my head still tilted. "You 'minded me of Fixey."

He giggles and gives me the same look. "I guess I did." We turn to the girls. "Anyway…"

"I'm really close to Spot and Aid, and Bumbee's close to Blades and Streetwise, and we both really like their sister. Star's really close to Groovie and Streets, and the Twinlets love Blades and Spot."

Bee nods. "Then there's the Rescue Bots."

I nod to him before turning back to the group. This is the first time I've brought up Sigma-17 to them. "There's Heatwave, Chase, and Boulder." Bee and I sit down cross-legged, prompting the others to do the same. "Heatwave's their leader, and he's a fire truck." Bee holds up the corresponding plastic truck. "He's kind of cranky, like Ratchet, and wants to fight like Blades used to love doing." I sigh softly. "Chase is the police car." Bee holds up the black and white plastic toy. "Chasie is really by-the-book, but he knows compassion enough to know when to pursue and when to not—sometimes, anyway. His human partner is helping him with that. Boulder is a bulldozer." Bee holds up a yellow construction toy. "He really loves nature, and cares a lot about humans. He's an engineer."

Snowfire smiles as she uncharacteristically shouts: "Tell us about Defensor!"

I nod, but glance at the door. "Want to go to the Classroom for this one? That way, Ms. Livy can hear it too."

A chorus of "Sure!" causes me to stand and pick up D-Wave like Spot always picks up his brothers, and lead them to the round red rug we use for circle time. Bee follows with Light in his arms.

Once everyone's sitting, my "components" in a semi-pile—Star and Bee leaning into each other, with the Twinlets in their laps—I step back into the main classroom to find Ms. Olivia at her desk. "Ms. Livy?"

She leans down to me. "Yes, Marianne?"

"We knows you knows now. You can call me Mariposa."

She nods and corrects herself. "Mariposa?"

I run the toe of my left sandal across the floor in a tiny arc. "The others wan' me to tells a story from my pasts, an'…we wanted to knows if you wanna come hears it too?"

"Of course I want to." She stands and takes my hand, allowing me to lead her to the red rug. Once she's sitting in her usual place, I step into the center of the circle. I take a deep breath and let it out before starting to speak. "Back on Cybertron, several orns ago, just before Praxus…" I pause, and step over to where I can squeeze Bluestreak's hand gently. "I was the youngest junior medic working under Ratchet…" Ms. Olivia looks surprised that I could be a medic and still have to (re)learn how to read and write. "When we got news that a transport ship had crashed outside one of the city-states. Of course, I knew who it was because of my bonds, but Ratchet didn't."

Blossom looks up at me. "He had to be told, right?"

I nod. "He was told by one of the other medics, a mech named Siren, that Sigma-17 was reporting to the crash site because of their engineer. Then we heard they were bringing Blades in."

"How many incoming?"

"Just one so far. Sigma said it's Blades."

I whimper softly, and rub my spark in tiny circles, like Blades used to do on my back when I'd been missing Cybertron—and my siblings—back on Earth. "Bwades…"

"Ratchet, they're asking for a medic to check the scene."

I look up at Ratchet with pleading optics. I have to save Defensor. I promised Blades he wouldn't have to be alone. "Mariposa? Ready for a little house call?"

I bounce on my heels. "I cans really go!?"

"Only because you'll likely follow me if I don't let you come."

"That was one time, Ratch." I giggle and take his outstretched hand. "Let's go."

Snowfire lets out a soft gasp. "But there's never only one part of a combiner." She whispers.

"I know. I think I was keeping him going back then, actually…" I shrug. "Anyway, so Cybertron HQ called for a medic to check the scene when Sigma-17 were finished, and I begged Ratchet to take me." I look down. "The ship, to me, looked worse than anything I've seen in the war, and as a prime, I've seen a lot of awful stuff."

Bluestreak looks up at me sadly. "Worse than Praxus?"

I crouch down and crawl over to him. "Blue, this was my Praxus." I hug him gently before returning to my spot in the center and sitting down. "We found their commander right away, and Ratchet pulled the almost-grayed frame away from the wreckage." I blink, a tear slipping out of my eye. "It was Hot Spot, Blue. My big brother." I sigh softly before smiling. "He was still colored though, so we still had some hope. The second I saw that, I remembered a promise I had made to Blades back in my old dimension."

Ms. Olivia gives me a confused look. "Old dimension?"

I nod. "A little less than a vorn ago, I was living in another dimension as a human adult, close to your age, even though I was only four vorns. I'd been sent there so I wouldn't have to suffer under the caste system they had on Cybertron at the time. They did the same thing with Star, too. We met when I was seventeen, and she became my best friend, but that's another story."

Star giggles. "A long and complicated one."

"Defensor's parts were left there to keep an eye on us, just in case danger came looking for us. That's when we formed our sibling bond." I sigh softly. "Where was I…oh yeah!" I smile. "I had promised Blades that I wouldn't let him wind up alone, like he was in a TV show based on this dimension, so I had to save them—even if it killed me."

Bubbles gasps. "Really?"

Buttercup shakes her head. "Puh-lease."

Electro huffs angrily, like his Carrier usually does. "Just listen."

Electra elbows him. "Be nice."

I can't help but giggle at the two human girls. They remind me so much of First Aid and Blades back on Cybertron, it isn't funny. "Really, Bubbles." I smile. "So I started digging down into the wreckage, looking for—"

Lyric leans forward. "What were you looking for?"

I scowl, but continue. "I was looking for the other Protectobots. Ratchet tried to make me stop many times, but I kept saying no because I had made a promise."

Bee smiles. "For I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep."

"It's from Robert Frost's poem, "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening"."

"Yep. That's actually one of my mottos." I giggle. "So…it took almost a breem—Cybertronian hour—but we got everyone back to the hospital. That was the first day I worked two shifts in a row, even though I usually wasn't allowed, because I had to save them…I had to save Blades."

"How are you feeling?"

He scoffs. "Bout as good as you'd expect."

I nod. "I understand. If something happened to my siblings, I'd be devastated." I lay a hand on his after clambering onto his berth. "It'll be all right, Blades. You'll get through this."

"I've never been this alone before…" He blinks, and a few tears roll from his optics.

I wipe them away gently and cuddle into him carefully. "I know. I'll never let you go." I lay my head on his chest. Not that I'm tired, mind you—even though I'm exhausted—but I know he needs the closeness, and being half of a split spark myself, so do I. " Don't you dare look out your window, darling. Everything's on fire. The war outside our door keeps raging on… Hold onto this lullaby, even when the music's gone… "

"Don't leave me here alone."

I smile slightly. "I won't, Blades. I'll be right here. You just rest. It'll be all right. Just close your eyes…you'll be all right…come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound. "

"And you did…right?"

"They're in Griffin Rock right now, Bubbles, so yes." I sigh softly. "But Blades still changed because of it. He used to be a brawler—the toughest fighter of any rescue squad—but he became timid, jumpy…really quiet, and scared of heights from the fall. They moved him to Sigma-17 so he could get a much-needed break from the job that had traumatized him, and…" I sigh softly. "You'll see the result of the crash plus half a vorn of separation from his gestalt caused at my party this afternoon, but he may never be the same again…even with his brothers nearby."

Blossom instinctively reaches to grab her sisters' hands. "That's so sad…"

"I know, Blossom." I look out the window. "But there is a good part to the story."

Her face brightens. "What is it?"

I smirk. "Because he was sent to Sigma-17, he found someone who loved him no matter what, and he's got a little girl of his own now." I shrug. "She's just a baby still—only about a month old, and I was there when she was born—I was visiting Defensor at the time, since they had just gotten to Earth."

"Cool!"

I nod. "I'm actually looking forward to seeing her again. I haven't been to Griffin Rock since she came." I sigh softly and look up at the teacher, causing Bee to stand. "Ms. Livy…C-can I have some cuddle time wif famiwy?"

"Of course, Sweetheart." She picks me up and takes Bee's hand before leading us to the nap room with Star and the Twinlets following. "You five can come out whenever you're ready, okay?" We nod. Once we're settled in our cot, she leaves the room, leaving the light on.

Third POV

"Ms. Livy, is Mari okay?"

She nods. "Of course she is, Blossom." She smiles. "They're just…" She sighs softly. "Mari gets upset about her past easily, Sweetheart, and she needs to spend time with Ba—Bee—and the others, so she can feel safe and happy again. They'll be back out to play in a few minutes." She laughs softly. "Unless they fall asleep again, then we'll wake them up in time for lunch."

"Okay." Blossom sighs for a moment, looking at her feet, before looking up to Ms. Olivia with a grin. "Can we do an art project?"

"What kind of project?"

"Can we all make a big card for her?"

Ms. Olivia nods. "That's a great idea, Blossom." She turns to the others. "Everyone get to your seats around the table. Blossom, would you like to help me get the art supplies?"

"Sure!"

11:30 AM, third pov

"Snowy, could you go wake Mari, Claire, and Bee for me?"

She nods and slips silently into the nap room. "Star…Star…" She shakes the femmeling gently. "It's time to wake up, Star."

Normal POV

I blink up at Snowfire before smiling. "Hi."

"Hi, Sleepyhead. It's time to eat."

"I'll be ou' soon as I wakey famiwy."

"Okay." She slips back out as I turn to Bee. "Bumbee, wakey up!"

"Huh?" He sits up. "We takey nap."

I nod. "We takey nap. It lunch time now."

"Oh…" He gives me a sad look. "Siwe's not here yet."

"Nope. Soon, though." I give Star a light shake. "Wakey, up, Star. Time'a eat."

"Time to eat?"

"Uh-huh. Almos'." We wake the twins, then step into the lunch room and take our seats while Ms. Olivia checks the food she brought for today.

Blossom smiles at us. "We made you something." She slides a card over to us. It's dark pink with yellow writing, and there are bees and a butterfly on the front. I open it, and the inside is yellow, with a pink butterfly behind another bee.

"Do you like it?"

I nod, and hug her before turning to the others. "Thanks, guys."

"Who's that?" We all look up, and Bee and I grin.

"Sire!"

"Daddy!"

"Dad!"

"Dada!"

"PAPA!"

We jump up and run to the door. "Calm down, Little Ones. Wait for him to get to the door!" Ms. Olivia laughs as she opens the door. "It doesn't take him long when he's picking up his babies."

"Actually…"

"Yes, Mr. Prime?"

"I have asked you to call me Orion." Sire shakes his head. "I am actually picking everyone up today." He turns and kneels to Blossom. "I assume you are the young girl I spoke to on the phone?"

She nods and smiles. "I'm Blossom, sir. These are my sisters, Bubbles and Buttercup."

He nods and stands. "Go get your things so we can go."

Blossom looks around and notices we've already got our backpacks on. She nods up to him, and the trio darts over to get their backpacks and overnight bags.

We clamber into the semi-truck one at a time. The others settle on the folded-down cot while Bee and I settle into the passenger seat with Star between us and the Twinlets on our laps, all of them making sure I can see out. After the first time my carsickess caused everyone to purge, they've made sure I can. He slides the seat belt around the five of us, then starts to the base.

"So…where do you guys live?"

I giggle. "In a rock." Bee and I outright laugh at their confused expressions.

"My Mariposa is right. Our base is a former missile silo inside a rock formation."

~You excited to see 'Fensor again?~

~Yeah. I can't wait! You think 'Breaker's gonna be there?~

~I hope so. I haven't seen Auntie Star in AGES!~

"I assure you, it has been shorter than that since her last visit."

"How can you—"

I giggle. "Daddy's got a bond with us too, Buttercup. So does Mommy."

"Oh…"

"Don—" I trail off before grinning. "We're here!" They look out the window to see the large rock formation, and a door sliding open in the cliff-face. "Is 'Fensor here yet?"

"Not yet." Sire sighs softly as he pulls to a stop. "You know I have to go after them because of their cover." He opens the door to let us all out. Everyone's in the main room, waiting for their younglings.

I slide out and bounce in front of him, still in my pretender form. "Can I go too?"

Sire sighs softly. "All five of you can come with me, since your Carrier is picking up your teacher and Agent Fowler, but we are not leaving just yet. You need to get changed and show your guests where they can put their bags."

"Yes, Sire." I turn to the girls, but before I can speak, they do.

"Who is everyone?"

I nod. Good a place as any to start. "Okay…" I rub the back of my neck. "Cliffjumper's the red guy with the horns. He's Lecto's Daddy. Aunt Arcee is the blue girl holding him. Ratchet's the guy at the computers. He's cranky, so be careful around him. That's Snowfire's Carrier. Her sire is the guy standing beside Ratchet. He's Red Alert. Prowl is the black and white guy with the police lights and doorwings. He took a half-shift so we could have my party this afternoon. He's Blue's brother and Lyre's Carrier. Her sire is the bot in America's colors that's mostly white, also with doorwings. Carrier's the pink girl with doorwings, Sire's the red and blue guy behind me. Bulkhead's the green big guy. Our mini's in the doorway over there, so he doesn't get stepped on. His name's—"

"Fixit, at your surface—" I facepalm and run for the minicon. "Series—" I giggle and reach up to bonk his head. "Service!" He turns to me. "Thank you."

I giggle. "Don't mention it." I wave my hand toward the triplets. "These are our new friends, Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup."

"Nice to meet you." He turns to me. "How was school?"

I smile. "Good. I got to tell the story about 'Fensor at school."

"The one where you saved them?" I nod. "Oh, Mari…"

I hug the minicon as tight as I can. "I'm fine, Fixie."

"That's good." He starts for our bedroom. ~Want me to get the room ready?~

~For the last time, Fixit, you're not my slave. You don't even HAVE to feed my symbiote, but I'm glad you do.~ I sigh softly. ~No. We'll do it together, once we're in there. I do want you to get your stuff picked up so it doesn't get broken, though.~

~I'll get right on that!~ He runs off toward the room.

I blink quickly, trying not to cry.

I take Fixit's hands and help him off the medical berth before moving to where I'm in front of him. "Slowly, now. It's going to take a little while before you can do it on your own."

"I know. Just be careful. I don't want to hurt my bitlets."

"We'll be careful, Mini-Mech." I start walking backwards, my tiny doorwings acting as my eyes as I help the minicon take his first steps. "Just put one foot in front of the other. Don't worry about falling right now, because I'll catch you if you start to."

"Thanks…" I let his hands go, but keep them hovering close—just in case—as I take a couple steps back.

"I don't know if I can do this…"

"Just take it slow, Mini-Mech." I smile. " The smile on your face lets me know that you need me, there's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me. "

His optics light up when he recognizes the song. "The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall…" He sets one tiny pede in front of the other. "Keep going?"

I nod. " You say it best, when you say nothing at all. "

All day long I can hear people talking out loud,
But when you hold me near, you drown out the crowd.
Old Mr. Webster could never define,
What's being said between your heart and mine.

He takes a couple shaky steps before joining me. " The smile on your face lets me know that you need me, there's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me… " A few more wobbly steps—each one steadier than the one before. He looks up from the floor to meet my own optics with his as he reaches out to grab my outstretched hand. " The touch of your hand says you'll catch me if ever I fall… " Two more steps, and he's in my arms. " You say it best, when you say nothing at all. "

I hold his helm to my chest and smile down at him. "You did it, Mini-Mech."

"You two can go back to your quarters." We look up at Ratchet. "Mari… I'm trusting you. Don't let him over-do it. He's still in the middle of a high-risk carriage."

"I'll be careful with him, Ratch." I smirk down at the minicon in my arms. "Trust me, neither of us want him on berth rest again. He's not the easiest patient, you know."

Ratchet chuckles. "I know."

I shrug. "Then again, doctors—and nurses—always make the worst patients." I look down to Fixit. "Want me to carry you, or—"

"I wanna walk."

"Mari?"

I start and turn to find Blossom's hand on my shoulder, and Bubbles standing in front of me. "You okay? You're crying."

I giggle and rub the tears off my face. "Happy crying." I sigh softly. "Fixie couldn't walk when he first came to us, Bubbles. Sometimes I cry when I see him walk or run."

"So…"

~Bee, get over here! It's time to show them around the base!~

~Coming!~ He picks up Light and falls into step with me as I start for our room. ~Where's Fixit?~

~He's cleaning up his things so we don't break them. You know he works in our room sometimes.~ I scoop up D-Wave, who giggles and grabs at my hair.

~Especially if Ratchet's working on something dangerous.~

~Yep.~ I turn to the girls with a smile. "So, that was our main room. We've got a sitting area for any humans who come to visit on the platform across from the monitors. The medical bay is to the right, and Carrier and Sire's room is on the left. Then there's a bot bathroom on the right, and Ratchet and Red's room on the left, then an empty room followed by our playroom on the right, and Aunt Cee and Uncle Cliff's room on the left." We pass the end of the rooms on the right. I point to the left. "That's Jazz and Prowl's room, with Lyre's inside, and Bulky's room." We reach a lone room on the corner. "That's our laundry room."

We lead them around another corner, and Bee takes over our monologue, pointing right, then left as we go down this hall. "That's empty, that's just a giant elevator… There's a small indoor pool in there, that's empty…" Now he points solely to the left as we pass the youngling quarters. "That's Cee's kids' room—it has a door to Aunt Cee's—Blue's room, Snowy's room…" Solely to the right. "Human kitchen." We walk up a little more, and he opens the door. "This is our room."

"Hi, Fixit." I smile and scratch Glimmer behind her ear. "You can put your things up, then we'll show you around the rest of the base."

"Who's this?"

"This is our Cyber-cat, Glimmer. She's sentient."

"Senti-what?"

Blossom giggles. "Sent-i-ent, Buttercup. It means she's able to feel and understand."

"She can talk too, she just doesn't like to." Fixit turns to me. "Can I come?"

I nod as the trio tosses their bags onto the floor beside our large berth. "Come on."

Star takes over the monologue. "Over there's the security room, and that's our training room." We walk around two more corners. "This is our storage hall, so it's not too impressive."

"But there is a human bathroom in the second-to-last room. We also have one in our bedroom."

"They like to live in their pretender forms because of Mari's and Star's past." Fixit explains.

I nod. "Now, we need to get back to the "giant elevator", which is really a 'quipment elevator, and go down to the basement." Once we step off the elevator, I nod to Fixit.

He smiles before taking over. "Optimus built a skating rink down here because Mari likes to skate and Star likes to be active in general, so that's right in front of us. There's an indoor playground sized to fit both their pretender and Cybertronian forms on the right, followed by a game room. We walk straight, then around a corner before he continues. "The two rooms on the left are empty at the moment, though they've been encouraging me to choose one for a lab… The door on the left leads to a large indoor pool. There's another Cybertronian bathroom on the left, and a larger training room, called the "Safe", on the right. We've got different holoform projections to keep our soldiers combat-ready—and train new scouts—" He winks at Bee. "To fight as well. So far, everyone but my brothers and sisters have been allowed to use it on its higher levels, though our rescue teams are seldom here to use its disaster training settings."

I smirk. "We've used it for simple things, like practicing with our powers under Ratchet's watch, but we've never been allowed to fight anything worse than the Joker or Bizarro, thank the All Spark." Bee gives me a look. "I don't want to fight, Bee. You and I being superheroes is one thing, being soldiers is another. I've already fought one war, in case you forgot, and I don't want to fight another." I look down at my tiny hands, remembering when they were larger, and covered in Hot Spot's energon after Lockdown attacked in my old dimension. "These hands have already killed once, and once is one time too many."

"Mari…"

"No, Bee. I don't want to be cheered up. Bad guy or not, he didn't deserve to be melted alive." I sigh heavily. "Sorry about the weighty topic there, guys…"

Blossom gasps. "You killed someone?"

Buttercup grins. "Who!?"

Bubbles gives me a sad look. "Why did you kill him? What did he do?"

I sigh softly. "His name was Lockdown, and he was a bounty hunter after me and Fixit—Fix because we kinda stole him from the council—and before you comment on that, the council was using minicons as slaves, so we saved him." I sigh. "And he shot Hot Spot in the back when they were merged as Defensor. Spot almost died to save me, and I ended the mech who hurt him before he could actually kill him. I'm not proud of myself, but I do feel relieved that he's not still around to hurt my family." I nod to our minicon. ~Fixit?~

~I've got my own stories—~

~Tour first, stories tonight.~ I smile and squeeze his three-fingered hand. ~Besides, I know which story you want to tell, and it's too long for right now.~

~Okay…~ He sighs softly and waves to the left. "There's another medical bay, just in case someone gets hurt while training, another set of monitors in case something happens up top…" He sighs heavily. "And the med-bay."

"Thank you, Fixit." I hug him. "And I know how hard it had to be for you to say that without glitching."

"Why would he—"

I turn to Blossom with a soft sigh. "Fixit's glitch, like Prowl's and Red's, gets worse when he gets upset."

"Prowl and Red have a glitch?"

"What's a glitch?"

"A glitch is a mental disability of some sort. Prowl crashes—like a computer, but fixable—when something illogical happens, and Red fritzes—panics—or crashes when his hyper-vigilance gets too extreme. Fixit has an issue with anxiety on top of his vocal glitch, but it's not bad enough for him to get as bad as Red as often as Red does. I think he's only crashed about…four times…and he doesn't fritz like Red does, so I haven't brought it up with Ratchet. I've just been handling it on my own."

~Ratchet's gonna be mad when he finds out, Mari.~

~I know, Bee.~ I sigh heavily. "I don't plan to let him find out."