Prologue
It was a dark night. All was still and quiet. Nothing could be heard, not even the hoot of an owl. No sound… except for the sound of machinery from the dark cavern of Shadow Lair. Inside several Changelings, shadow wolves, and unicorns with yellow manes were working on their project. Up on a balcony, two unicorns with green manes were watching with interest. Their names were Ucia Unicorn and Midnight Unicorn, the wicked villains of Fantasyland.
“This plan of ours is going to work!” Midnight said to Ucia. “I know it!!!”
“Yes,” said Ucia as she smiled at him. “As long as those pesky Guardians stay out of our way, nothing will stop us from taking over Fantasyland for good.”
“Well,” Midnight replied, “they won’t be giving us any trouble, especially now that we’ve got a little surprise for them.”
“True. They won’t know what hit them.” Ucia said with an evil laugh.
Just at that moment, a Changeling dropped a piece of metal on the floor where it gave off a loud CLANG!
“HEY! WATCH WHAT YOU’RE DOING YOU CLUMSY FOOL!” Ucia and Midnight screamed angrily.
“I’m t-terribly s-sorry my lord, my lady.” stammered the Changeling nervously.
“OH SORRY. YOU MEAN YOU’RE SORRY FOR BEING AN IDIOT!” screamed Ucia. “Now everyone: GET BACK TO WORK!”
What Ucia and Midnight didn’t know, was that just outside of the cavern another pair of unicorns, one with a light blue mane and the other with a light purple mane, had heard everything that was said.
These unicorns were sisters whose names were Ulyssis Unicorn and Ulyssa Unicorn. They were part of Fantasyland’s team of heroes known as the Guardians of Fantasyland. Starlet White Wolf was their leader along with their friends James Red Fox and his twin brother Vulpes.
Ulyssis and Ulyssa were crouched outside of the cavern and were horrified by what they had heard.
“What do you think they’re planning?” Ulyssis asked Ulyssa while whispering so as not to be heard.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not going to be good,” replied Ulyssa with a shudder. She and Ulyssis crept forward in order to hear more.
The cavern was so dark that they could only see a few meters ahead of them. But they didn’t dare light their horns for risk of being spotted. They didn’t have to anyway. Ucia and Midnight were yelling so loud, the two could be heard as if Ulyssa and Ulyssis were seven miles away. They went on silent hooves, which was difficult considering that the ground was covered in loose gravel.
As the sisters got closer to the cavern, they noticed a large tarp in a corner of the room. As Ulyssis and Ulyssa watched, several Changelings and unicorns carrying bits and pieces of metal disappeared underneath it and came out several moments later with no metal in sight.
“What is that?” asked Ulyssis.
“I don’t know,” replied Ulyssa. “But I have a really bad feeling about it.”
Then they saw several Changelings carrying five glass cylinders to the tarp followed by several unicorns and wolves each carrying a bundle of glowing green-blue crystals. They too disappeared under the tarp and came out without them.
For some reason, the sight of the crystals gave Ulyssis and Ulyssa a weird feeling, like a chill up their spines.
Finally, Ulyssis turned to her sister and said, “Let’s get back to the others and tell them about this.”
“Starlet will be pleased,” said Ulyssa in agreement.
But as she and Ulyssis turned to go, Ulyssa slipped on a smooth stone and would’ve fallen had Ulyssis not caught her. Their hooves however, made a clear clip-clop on the stone floor. A wolf nearby heard this and turned just in time to see the sisters disappear into the tunnel that led to the lair entrance.
“INTRUDERS!” he yelled.
Upon hearing this, Ulyssis and Ulyssa knew they were in trouble. As shouts and howls filled the cavern, they started to run to the entrance. Since the shadow wolf had spotted them a bit late, the sisters had an advantage. Before anyone could catch up to them, they were outside and rolling a large boulder in front of the entrance.
“That...was way too close,” breathed Ulyssa.
“No…fooling,” gasped Ulyssis. “Come on. We have to get back.”
Ulyssis and Ulyssa walked away from Shadow Lair hoping they would never see it again.
But unbeknownst to them, they would return to Shadow Lair. And they would return for a very different meaning. Neither of them could’ve known that their adventure had just begun.
