Hello again to everyone! I'm on a writing spree right now, this is my second chapter posted in as many days! Goodness gracious me... I love writing :)

So, AutoCon4Ever requested the first of the two stories in this chapter, and the second one popped into my head late this morning.

Oh, good morning, Sparkling. You have not been to visit in some time! Have you been enjoying your break from school? I know you had a few days off, my grandsparklings were visiting. Yes, my granddaughter told me about the sleepover. It certainly sounds like it was an eventful evening! How long did it take to get the green paint off? Well, I suppose one must always take older cousins into account when one is in the pranking mood. "It does not do to leave a live dragon out of one's calculations", a great human author once said. Hm? Oh, his name was Tolkien. Well, it isn't a funny name to him!

Why do you look sad, Sparkling? You gave up your favorite toy today? Why did you do that? To give to the children who don't have families? Oh, what a tender-sparked child you are, dear one. Oh! He did? I'm sorry, little one. I know you don't want to be reminded for a little while. Still, you reminded me of something that happened to a couple during the War for Cybertron, many many years ago...

The Gift of the Primes

In the days of the War for Cybertron, the Autobots and Decepticons found themselves scattering across the galaxy as their planet was damaged by countless battles. On the side of the Autobots, there were two soldiers, who were sparkmates. Their names were Ironhide and Chromia. They had found themselves stationed in a humble outpost on an asteroid far from their home, and they had little money to spend on themselves. They each had one possession that they were especially proud of: Chromia had a cameo made from a piece of crystal from her home town. Ironhide had an antique pistol that had been passed down from soldier to soldier from the days of the Thirteen.

It was nearing the anniversary of the day the two had become sparkmates, and each worried about what to get the other as a present. Ironhide was sent with a patrol to another asteroid base, leaving Chromia enough time to travel to a nearby planet that still traded with Cybertronians. She wandered from shop to shop until she found what she thought was the perfect gift for her husband: a weapon upgrade for his antique gun. However, she did not have the money required to purchase the upgrade. So she sold her crystal cameo, and used the money to buy the upgrade, then she returned to the asteroid outpost.

When Ironhide came home, she presented him with the weapon upgrade. He looked at her in surprise. "I don't have the gun anymore, Chromia," he said, "I sold it to buy a chain so you could wear your cameo around your neck!" Chromia was shocked, and both were a trifle embarrassed. Soon, however, they were laughing about it. They realized that the gifts themselves did not matter: what mattered was that now they could see the lengths they were willing to go for the one that they loved.

Yes, that was a true story. You can ask them if you like, they still laugh about it. In fact, Chromia brings out that chain every anniversary to show her friends. True stories can be just as interesting as the folk tales sometimes, you know. You want an example? Well, alright...let me see. What do you know about Sentinel Zeta Prime? He was a bad Prime? Well, that's one way of putting it. Do you know how he became a Prime? No, I don't expect you'll find it in any of our history books. Only one mech chronicled the event, and that was Alpha Trion. Goodness only knows where his book is now, but he told me the story once when I was young. It happened a very, very long time ago...

Sentinel becomes a Prime

Now, at this time there was no Prime in Iacon, and every mech did what was right in his own optics. The people of Cybertron did what was evil in the sight of their Maker, and so Alpha Trion was sent to warn them that they were doing wrong. "We have no one to look to!" the Cybertronians said, "Give us a Prime to lead us!" Alpha Trion was exasperated. "Am I Primus, that I have the authority to grant the rank of Prime?" he scolded, "No! You were given laws, why do you not follow them?" But they did not listen, and demanded that someone be given the title of Prime.

"Very well," the Scribe said, "You will choose one from among you to be the Prime, but you will be subject to his laws. If your chosen Prime does not turn out the way you expect, you have no one to blame but your own selves, because you did not wait for Primus to choose your leader." "So be it," the Cybertronians said. And they asked Alpha Trion to tell them how they would know their new leader. Alpha Trion consulted his book of prophecy and returned to them. "The Prime you have chosen will come to the city carrying his wounded brother, and he will ask you for a staff to support him," he said to the council leaders.

Now, in a city not far away from Iacon, there lived a mech with five sons. They helped their sire load cargo into transports every day. On this day, the eldest son tried to lift a crate that was far too heavy for him, and it fell back on top of him. There was no clinic for miles, nor was their a medic in their town. The second eldest son, Zeta, took his brother on his back and carried him to Iacon. When he arrived, there was a great crowd of Transformers standing in the city square. "Surely there is a clinic here somewhere," Zeta said to his brother.

He pushed his way through the crowd, and nearly fell several times. Frustrated, he asked for a staff so that he and his brother would not fall. The mech he had asked was Councilor Ratbat, who remembered what Alpha Trion had said. Triumphantly, he led Zeta to the rest of the Council, who appointed him Sentinel Zeta Prime, leader of Cybertron. Zeta was astonished: he had not intended his day to end like this! All the same, he embraced the role of Prime quickly, and did many great things for his planet at first. He even fought back an invasion of the Quintessons when he was still quite young! But the power began to corrupt him, and he enforced stricter and stricter laws upon his people. It was he who decreed that Cybertron be split into castes, the system that oppressed the Cybertronians until two young mechs stood up against him, many many years later.

But that is a tale for another day! You see? History can be as exciting as a made-up story. You still prefer folk tales? Well, you are welcome to, Sparkling. Just remember: Those who do not learn from their history are doomed to repeat it. It means that those who ignore the things that happened in the past usually end up making the same mistakes over and over again. For example, Megatron did not learn from Sentinel Zeta Prime's bad example, and tried to enforce his own laws on his people. But you didn't come here to listen to stories about the War! Forgive me, sometimes I get caught up in my memories...Have you any other stories you wish me to tell?