The Princess and the Knight

The Princess and the Knight

          Princess Sally rode away from the little village on her white unicorn, Uguali. Unicorns rarely let anyone ride them, but Sally was the nicest person in the kingdom and Uguali's friend.

          Sally's long, white dress went all the way to her ankles, so Sally had to ride sideways on the unicorn. Because being a princess was such a boring job, Uguali and Sally traveled the countryside together looking for adventures.

          Today, they were going to recover the magic stone the villagers lost. An evil knight, who wore black armor, stole the stone and took it to his keep deep in the forest. It was a long journey, but Uguali was strong and fast.

          As they rode through the forest, Sally noticed the trees looked sick. Many leaves were lying on the ground even though it was summer time. When they reached the keep, they saw the trees were bare and dying.

          "Please, come out," said Sally, "so I can talk to you."

          "Who are you to talk to a great man like myself?" The knight stood behind the wall of his keep and looked at the two strangers.

          "I am Princess Sally and my faithful companion is called Uguali."

          "Your companion is worth a lot of money. I will take him to be my own pet." The Dark Knight came down from the wall and exited his castle. "Give him to me now!"

          "Uguali is a female unicorn, not a male, and you must know only a woman of great kindness can win the heart of a unicorn." Sally stood on the ground with her hands on her hips. "Now, please, return the magic stone you took from the kind villagers."

          "You mean this stone?" The knight held a deep black stone in the air. The villagers told Sally the stone shone with a clear light in their hands, but in the Dark Knight's hand it was blackened by his greed and selfishness.

          "The woods are already dying because of your evil thoughts. Return the stone before anything worse happens." Sally held out her hand and waited.

          "You mean like this?" The knight transformed as the two companions stood watching. First his arms changed into giant bat wings, then his head and neck stretched, and shiny black scales replaced his armor. Before long, instead of a knight, a dragon stood in front of them.

          Sally jumped on Uguali's back as a blast of black fire hit the spot where she was standing. Normal dragons breathe hot flames, but a Dark Dragon's breath was cold.

          Sally rode the unicorn around the dragon to avoid his flames, shivering as a cold blast hit close to Uguali's feet. "We'll be turned into icicles if he gets any closer. What are we going to do?"

          Uguali ran toward the woods and the dragon followed. Running behind a large tree, she stopped and waited.

          Sally hung on tight, not sure what her friend was planning to do next.

          The dragon laughed. "Do you think a tree will stop me?" With a mighty breath, he froze the tree, causing the bark to crack and break.

          With a powerful kick from her hind legs, Uguali caused the weakened tree to fall on top of the dragon. Once he was knocked unconscious, the dragon turned back into the knight.

          "You did a good job, Uguali." Sally rubbed the unicorn's nose. "Tonight, you will get two apples with your supper."

          Sally ran over and took the magic stone from the knight. As soon as she touched the stone, it glowed with a bright light and the forest started to recover. The man was surrounded by the light and his armor became bright white.

          "I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble," said the white knight.

          "That's all right," said Sally. "Let's be friends."

          The three new friends rode back the way they had come. The villagers cheered when they saw the stone. Everyone celebrated with a big party and Uguali received her two apples. The white knight promised to protect the stone from then on and the stone was never taken again.