Two leading characters dropped from pleasant story (5)
I believe the answer is:
fable
'story' is the definition.
(fable is a kind of story)
I can't explain the rest of the clue.
(Other definitions for fable that I've seen before include "there may be a moral to it" , "Myth, legend" , "One of Aesop's tales" , "Moral tale" , "Aesop story" .)