Next chapter! Did you recognize the three folktales from the first time? Folk tales and archetypal stories have been a hobby of mine since I was probably twelve years old, so I have a lot of favorites to choose from... Oh well, here goes.

Transformers are the property of Hasbro, but the folktales belong to everyone!

Hello, little one! It is good to see you again. Have you been waiting long? I am sorry, I was coming home from work. Yes, I have to go to work too, just like most grown ones. How is school? My granddaughter isn't still gossiping, is she? No? You're friends now? Excellent! What? Somebody pushed a little human down at recess? That wasn't kind, was it? Oh, you did? Well that was very brave of you to stand up for him! Was the other sparkling bigger than you? Oh, she was, I see. Were you frightened? You weren't? My grandsparklings stood with you? It's nice when you have friends to help you. Yes, you're right, I do have a story about that. Many stories, in fact. Do you want a true story or a folk tale?

Oh, you think a folk tale would be more interesting? Well, I don't know about that, but I'll tell you the folk tale anyway. It concerns a young warrior who found himself in a very unusual situation!

The Battle of the Cassettes

Once upon a time, the son of a king went out to see a battle. What is a king? That's right, you haven't learned about human governments yet. Well, let's just say that a king is a little bit like a Prime for humans. The Cassettes and the Scraplets and the Turbofoxes were all fighting each other, and the young mech had promised to tell his sire how the battle ended. In the end, the Scraplets overwhelmed all but a single cassette. The prince intervened and defeated the Scraplets, saving the cassette. In gratitude, the minicon transported him to a great fortress, where they stayed for the night. The next day, the minicon transported the prince to another fortress, where a tall, mysterious mech waited. He thanked the king's son for rescuing the cassette, who was one of his subjects.

As a reward, the stranger gave the prince a mysterious crate, and warned him not to open it until he was in the place he most wanted to be. The young mech thanked him and began the journey home. When he was nearly to his sire's fortress, curiosity overcame him and he opened the box. Out came a fortress easily as big as the king's! A rather nonplussed Predacon appeared and demanded to know why this structure had suddenly arrived on his property. When the prince sheepishly explained what had happened, the griffin offered to put the fortress back in the box-in exchange for one thing: when the prince had a sparkling of his own, he was to give it to the Predacon as soon as it was old enough to have armor.

Rashly, the prince agreed, and then moved the crate to a space near his sire's home. When he opened it this time, a great palace appeared, with a beautiful femme inside, whom the prince married. In time, the femme gave spark to a little mech, and as soon as the sparkling had grown his first set of armor, the Predacon came. The prince and his sparkmate tried to make excuses, to delay the griffin, but in the end were forced to keep their word. They watched in trepidation as the giant creature flew away with their only child.

For many years after, the Predacon raised the prince's sparkling as if he were his own, alongside his three Predacon daughters. One day, when the youngling was nearly full grown, he heard music and followed it to find the griffin's youngest daughter sadly playing her harp. When he asked her what was wrong, she explained that her sire, his foster-sire, planned to betroth him to one of his three daughters. She was worried that he might pick one of her two sisters, when it was she who had always loved him best. The prince's son assured her that she was his choice, and told the Predacon so.

The Predacon was annoyed that his plans had been told early, and wanted to make certain that his foster-son was worthy of his youngest daughter. So he devised a series of near-impossible tests for him. The first day, he set the young mech to clean the entire armory from top to bottom. He warned him that if he failed, he would be off-lined. (Of course, he meant no such thing, but he wanted to see what the youngling would do). Determined to prove himself, the youngling threw himself into the task. He worked hard, but the armory was simply too big for him. Halfway through, the griffin's youngest daughter came to see the young mech, and sang for him. Before he knew what was happening, he had fallen into recharge.

When he awoke, his beloved was gone and the armory was clean. The griffin did not accept this, however, because he knew that the youngling had not finished the task on his own. So he set another: to repair the roof of the fortress with Scraplet teeth. This time, the griffin kept a close watch on his daughters. The young mech didn't know what he would do, until a small cassette suddenly appeared to him. "Rest, o prince's son," it said, "Your sire once aided our people, now we will return the favor." Again, the youngling found himself in recharge, and awoke to a roof thatched with Scraplet teeth.

Frustrated, the Predacon set him one final task: to identify which daughter was the youngest, and the one that he picked would be his sparkmate. This was a trap, for all three looked and sounded exactly alike. The youngest daughter came to the young mech once more, the night before the test. She warned him that it was a trap, and despaired, for she could find no difference between herself and her sisters. The prince's son, however was confident, and encouraged his beloved to bear up under the circumstances.

The next morning, the Predacon lined up his three daughters and said to the youngling, "My daughters are known throughout the system for their beauty. If, as you claim, you truly love my youngest daughter, then you will know her in an instant." The young mech did not hesitate, but held out his hand to the one in the middle. "Each of you is more beautiful than the stars, but this sister's optics shine differently to me." The Predacon relented with a secret smile, for the prince's son had chosen correctly. The minicons escorted the youngling and his beloved to the kingdom of his sire and carrier, where the two were married, and ever after retained the friendship of the Predacons and the minicons.

Did you like this story? You wanted to hear more about the Predacon's daughter? I see. You want more stories about courageous femmes. Well, there certainly are a lot of those! For now, however, it is time for you to go home, little one. Your parents might start to worry! Come back tomorrow and I will tell you another story. Be safe, Sparkling, stay on the path and don't delay!

That last sentence will play into the Librarian's next story...