//------------------------------// // Part 2: Out of the Mouths of Babes. // Story: On a Cross and Arrow // by Conner Cogwork //------------------------------// On a Cross and Arrow By Conner Cogwork Twilight and her five friends are transported during a botched spell, across dimensions to... Ponyville, Equestria? But not the same one that they knew. Sitting on a bench is Harpsy and Babar. The Doctoress avoids apples from an aspiring Applebuck. And in a library across town, six stallions join their forces as they try to decipher the appearance of filly look-alikes of themselves around Ponyville! Image credit to KtKat! Thanks SO much! Part Two Out of the Mouths of Babes ---------------------------- Out in a field somewhere outside of Sweet Apple Acres, two fillies were keeping their distances from each other. “Ah'm a bit worried 'bout those two." Applejack spoke, glancing between Twilight and Fluttershy, who were both sitting on the ground with their backs turned to one another, paced about three yards apart. Both ponies possessed a blush of sorts on their faces, and were also giving each other awkward glances and avoidances. "They just need time, dear." Rarity replied, though she herself was looking a bit twitterpated as well. "I mean, the reaction here is understandable after all. Did you get a good look at him? I must say, Twilight makes for a handsome colt." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "UGH. Isn't there like, a time and place for everything? We need to get our GAME together, guys!" "Dashie's right!" Pinkie interjected, her stance suddenly proud and tall. "We need to make a plan and get ourselves over this! Besides, it's no fun when your best friends are being all awky-awkward-pants with each other over themselves and their not-selves!" She seated herself between the unicorn and pegasus, and then implemented her as-yet-unexplained powers of Pie as her limbs stretched out and roped the two perplexed ponies together. "You two are still friends, are'ya not?" Twilight looked at Pinkie, before giving Fluttershy another glance, and a small, hopeful smile. A few seconds passed, before the butter pegasus returned the smile and spoke. "I'm sorry Twilight. I know D-Dusk is kinda like you, but, I should still think of the two of you as two separate ponies. It's... less confusing that way." The student nodded. "Thanks, 'Shy. I can only imagine if the roles had been reversed... if I had run into 'Butterscotch' back in our own world." "Speaking of worlds," the white unicorn interjected. "I think it's quite obvious now that the earlier 'Mirror circumstances' theory is thoroughly debunked." "Our other selves 'r still here." the farmer added, looking around at the field. "An' now we gotta worry about that other time-parradoxen-thingamajigger y’all were talkin' 'bout. Y'know, th' one where if we meet each other, we STOP EXISTING?" "I know, I know." Twilight replied. "Right... here's what we need to do. We need to stay out of Ponyville as much as equinely possible. I'll try to cast the spell again, but I need time to prepare it. Until it's ready, we all need to keep our heads low. That means all of us. Got it, Rainbow?" "Yeah, yeah, I hear yah." the pegasus snorted, hovering on her back. "Seriously, this is gonna cut way into my practicing time." "Y'still on that practicin' bit?" AJ eyed her with a crooked expression. "Well, I WAS. Before Twilight called us all over and we got caught up in this weird alternate-dimension business. I had a new trick I was gonna try and do. A DOUBLE RAINBOO-" She was interrupted as a twin explosion of color occurred in the sky right behind her. Everypony directed their attention upwards as two circles of multihued light spread out and covered the blue. Speeding away from the discs, was a solid beam of rainbow that twisted it's way upwards and away, fading into the distance. The last thing they expected was for Rainbow Dash herself to start jumping up and down, cheering at the sight. "WHOOOOHOOOOO! DIDJA SEE THAT! THAT WAS AWESOME! LIKE, WAAAY MORE THAN TWENTY PERCENT AWESOME! MAN, I am GOOD!! JUST LOOKIT ME GOOOO WHOOOOOOOO RAINBOW!!" To nopony's surprise, Pinkie joined into the cheering, and soon, even Fluttershy was jumping with them. AJ, Rarity, and Twilight hung back as they all looked at each other. "This is gonna be a challenge." The farmer pony quipped. "We've got our work cut out fer ourselves." "What do we do, Twilight?" Rarity asked. "Back home, Dash is the faster flier in Equestria. Now there's Two of them, and though she may seem... placated now..." she glanced at the cheering squad. "We all know that her pride won't stand for that." "One problem at a time, please." the unicorn pleaded, a hoof massaging her forehead. "Okay, so. We know that today is still today, thanks to that rainboom. We can put any lingering time-traveling doubts to bed. That said, we need to get out of town, first and foremost. Where's a good spot where we can hide?” "Oh, there's th' ol' treehouse. We can camp out there." the orange pony enthused. "AJ... You know about the treehouse." "Yeah, so?" "Think about it... anything that You know..." Green eyes widened. "Anythin' ah know... mah other self's bound t'know too! Well shucks, din' think o’ that!" "Oh, Oh! We can hide out at Sugarcube Corner!" Pinkie popped up, blue eyes gleaming as always. "Or SPACE? Wanna go to space? Hey, hey! Wanna go to space?" Twilight rolled her eyes. "That won't work Pinkie. Augh, I didn't think about it before, but this applies to ALL of us!" She lumped on the ground as the rest of the ponies gathered around her. "Any hiding spot that WE can think of, our other selves are going to think of too! And we can't ask for help from any of the townsponies, they’ll become suspicious!!" "Hmmm..." the party pony hummed to herself, before something in the distance caught her eye. "What about THOSE guys?!" As one, everypony looked in the direction Pinkie was pointing at. There was a red and orange blur working it's way down the path towards them. As it got closer, a noise began to fill the air... the buzzing of miniature wings. "Crusaders!" Fluttershy yelped, her eyes wide as she tried to make out the forms of three small ponies. "Ah... Twilight, ah..." A wide-eyed Applejack groped for words, a pit having suddenly appeared in the bottom of her stomach. "Ah... ah think we should get outta here Twi, ah... ah don't think ah'm ready for this..." "To tell the truth..." Rarity half-grinned, half grimaced as she trotted up next to the farmpony, muscles tensing for a bolt. "I'm... not sure I'm prepared either. Shall we... make ourselves scarce?" "Uhm..." again, Twilight bit her lip as she sighted the rapidly incoming wagon. She had been able to see female Spike from behind a window. This oncoming disaster would involve face-to-face meetings between the two elder sisters, and their little 'brothers'. She could see the reasoning behind their reluctance, but still- Apparently, she had been too slow. She found herself suddenly scooped up by Dash, as the pegasus angled herself for the nearby treeline. She was quickly joined by the rest of the gang as they fled the oncoming Crusader-mobile. Not that it did them any good. Applejack, heading the pack, tripped on an errant rock. There was a general cacophony of noises as limbs and bodies flailed through the air, Twilight herself knocked out of Dash's grasp by a wayward Pinkie Pie. The resultant pastel-colored pile of ponies rested at the bottom of a hill, a facehoofing blue pegasus hovering above them. And that's when the Cutie Mark Crusaders caught up. "Whoooooah-on there!" a squeaky voice called out. "Scoot! Slow down!" "I'm trying I'm trying!" said another. The fillies all grimaced as the wagon shot past them, screeching to a halt. A small orange pegasus panted as he fell off his scooter, wings twitching spasmodically. A yellow earth pony and white unicorn both fumbled at their helmets, unhitching the headgear and hopping out to help their friend back on his feet. "Ah... Applebloom?" the farmer gulped, her heart up in her throat. The yellow one turned to look at them. Though the eyes were orange and the mane was crimson, there was no sign of eyelashes or a bow-adorned ponytail. Instead, a faded-red, backwards-pointed baseball cap adorned the young colt's head. He looked the group over, eyes full of worry. "GOLLY." he spoke, voice not that much lower than his original. "Y’all alright? Looks like y’all took a real tumble!" He was joined by the white colt, his lavender hair slightly straight up-front, only curling in the back. His voice was quite squeaky as he spoke. "Oh, that looks like it hurt! Here, let us help!" He darted forward and grabbed a pink hoof, pulling as hard as he could. "It's, it's okay." Fluttershy stuttered, flapping her wings as she untangled herself. "We just, um, tripped." "Tripped, huh?" said the last schoolpony. As Twilight eyed the orange one up and down, she had to admit that besides the lack of eyelashes, he didn't look, nor sound that much different from his other self. "Must have been some trip if you made a mess like this. We didn't scare you, did we?" "Pfft." Dash replied as she landed next to a flailing Rarity. "As if we'd be scared of some kids onna red flyer wagon." "Y-yeah, imagine that." Applejack laughed as she got to her hooves. "Tain't easily scared by no-" She paused as she saw her 'brother' sitting right in front of her. "... nopony..." The little horse let his eyes travel up and down the applefarmer’s body, before he closed his eyes in a smile. "Howdy! Y’all ‘r new 'round these parts, ain'tcha? Ah'm Applebuck, an' these 'r mah friends, Silver Bell 'n Scooteroll!" "Hello!" Silver cheered, gaining a slightly panicked look from the dressmaker mare. The scooter pony simply nodded his head. "W-why hello!" Twilight greeted, walking up to the front. "Yes, we're... kinda new. Sorry for the running, we didn't know if you guys were... friendly." "Aww shucks, we ain't nothin' t'be 'fraid of!" Applebuck cheered, as his inter-dimensional relative continued staring at him with wide eyes. "We can give y’all th' grand tour o' Ponyville, if y’all like!" "Awww, c'mon." Scooteroll groaned. "I thought we were gonna try to get our high-diving cutie-marks this afternoon!" "HIGH-DIVING?!" Rarity blurted, eyes now going from one crusader to the next, though they always lingered on the white colt. "Good gracious! Do you-! I mean, do you three always do such dangerous stunts?" "More often than I'd like." Silver admitted, his green eyes doing a roll. It was now that Rainbow Dash's own eyes became wide, as an idea coursed through her head. Quickly, she trotted to the front, as she leaned her head down and whispered conspiratationally. "Hey... wanna try for a different Cutiemark?" The orange pegasus looked her over, a hoof going up and stroking his chin. "I'm listening." "Dash, what're you doing?" Twilight hissed between her teeth. "Just trust me on this." Rainbow hissed back, before returning to the crusaders. "Y'see, my friends and I are new in town, but the thing is... we can't just let anypony see us." "Y'cain't?" "Nope." She gave a shake of her multihued mane. "Y'see, there's a few.... mysterious folks in town. Folks that my friends and I are tracking." "Dash, what in tarnati-" Applejack was quickly silenced as a wing bopped her on the noggin. "We are..." here, the pegasus reared onto her hind legs as she struck a pose. "A secret sector of the Equestrian government. Ones who track down the ponies who do... stuff... with no permits! We are...MARES IN BLACK." Somewhere in the back, a unicorn facehoofed. However, the story was enough to sell the three colts. "Wooooooowwwwwww..." the trio gaped in unison. "That's so COOL!" "And right now!" Dash turned away and crossed her hooves behind her back, a pink pony mirroring her actions. "We need help. If we can, we'd like..." turnabout pose, a hoof pointed at the crusaders. "YOUR help!" "How!? Howcanwehelp!?" Applebuck gushed, words running together as he spoke a mile a minute. The blue one smirked, as she turned towards her lavender friend. "Agent T, would you care to fill our friends in?" "Uh... uhm, sure!" Twilight sputtered, stepping forward again. "What we really need right now, is a hiding place. Someplace that nopony else knows of, not your friends, and not... *gulp* your family. This is really important, do you know of any place like that?" The three ponies looked at each other, apparently deep in thought. At long last, Scooteroll lifted his head up. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked his friends. "Yep." the yellow pony replied. "The HEDGE." "I was thinking that too..." Silver added. "But that's right on the edge of the Everfree Forest. Do you think they'd be safe?" "Sure they'll be safe!" the scooty pony quipped, his eyes alight with admiration. 'I mean, c'mon, they're Agents. I bet they've faced down worse things than Manticores or Ursa Majors! They'll be fine!" "Sure!" Pinkie enthused, popping up behind the trio. "We'll take care of any meanie beanies that try to bop us! If anypony tries to gamble with us, they'll find..." here, the party pony pulled a pair of sunglasses out of hammerspace, before setting them on her face. "... that the dice... are loaded against them." There was an awkward pause, with copious amounts of staring. She stared back. "I thought there was supposed to be a yell, followed by a song." she explained, before slinking back into the group. Twilight shook her head. "Anyway! That sounds perfect, gi- er, guys. Can you take us to it?" "Can do!" Applebuck cheered, before all three colts joined up together and belted out their newest mission statement. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SUPER SECRET SPY MISSION, YEAH!!!" ---------------------------- "Hey." Silver Bell quipped some minutes later. "If you're supposed to be Mares in Black... then shouldn't you be wearing, you know... black?" "Oh, uhm..." Rarity's eyes darted around in thought. "Our suits are... currently at the dry-cleaner's, you see. They got filthy on our... last mission." The little unicorn nodded, apparently satisfied with that explanation. "Gotta keep them snazzy and neat, my big brother would say!" he cheered. "O-oh, does he really?" she replied, the thought of there being a male version of herself sending... she wasn't sure if they were shivers or tickles... down her spine. "W-what's your brother's name?" The boy opened his mouth to reply, but then closed it. "Um, I'm... I'm not sure if I should say. I don't want to get him into trouble. I mean... he's not in trouble, IS he, Miss Agent?" he looked at her with imploring eyes. She had to blink. For a second, that wasn't Silver, but Sweetie staring back at her, begging for forgiveness. This was going to be much harder than she thought. "I... I don't know, dearie. if I don't know his name, then I can't be sure if he IS in trouble or not..." Rarity then brightened with a reassuring smile. "But then again, maybe that's for the best. It's a better idea to play it safe after all, right?" Her 'brother' returned her smile at full power. "Right!" he agreed. The group was being led by the Crusader-mobile, going at a much slower speed than before. Rainbow Dash hovered alongside the diminutive trio, while the other five were strung out behind, slowly making their way to the periphery of the Everfree itself. "So." Scooteroll suddenly spoke up, turning to the blue pegasus. "What's up? What dya do in your group?" Dash gave him a grin. "I'm the speed reconnaissance pony. You can call me Agent D. I don't like t'brag, but you see, I'm the fastest flier in all of Equestria." Unbelieving purple eyes bored into her. "No way. You can't be the fastest, that title belongs to Rainbow Blitz!" For a split second, her wings faltered and she dropped a few inches to the ground, before catching herself. "Uhm... oh yeah? Was he the guy who did that Double-Rainboom earlier?" "He sure was!" His face took on a dreamy look as he rambled on. "Rainbow Blitz is the coolest pony who ever lived! He even won the Best Young Flier's cup in Cloudsdale! Man, someday, when I'm able to fly right, I'm gonna ask him to be my teacher!" Dash took a second for that to sink in. She knew that back in her world, Scootaloo hung out around her often. This was the first time she'd heard about flight lessons however. And if Boy-Scoot here had such plans... Her thoughts were interrupted as the orange colt spoke again. "Say, you sure you're not a fan?" he questioned, eying her mane and tail. "You sure look an awful lot like him. You... you even have the same Cutie-mark!" "Really?" she replied, trying to appear nonchalant. "Wow, weird. But nope, never heard of the guy till today. Maybe we're long-lost cousins, who knows. He came outta Cloudsdale, right?" There was a nod, as the two lapsed into a more casual conversation, discussing the exploits of her dimensional twin. Back in the wagon, Applebuck stretched his limbs, before sighing. "Ah'm gonna hop out 'n walk, mah hooves are fallin' asleep." "Oh, o-okay!" Silver hastily replied, as the yellow pony leapt out of their transport. Quickly, he found himself trotting alongside the other fillies, his eyes studying them. He'd never been with so many older girls in his life. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could see why a stallion could fall head-over-heels with one, his eyes gravitating towards the pink one occasionally. Still, girls are icky. he thought to himself. Ah don't need no fru-fru stuff crampin' mah style. Then, not for the first time, the young colt's eyes locked on the orange pony. If it weren't for the fact that she was a mare, she was a dead ringer for somepony he knew. Quickly he trotted up until he was walking alongside the Stetson-bearing horse. She didn't notice until a minute or so later, her green eyes flickering downwards, before giving a slight jump as she focused on him. "Ah... heya." Applejack stammered. "Hi!" the boy answered, voice as cheerful as before. "Don't be scared none, ah dun have any cooties, ah swear!" Despite the unease the farmer pony was feeling around her 'brother', she couldn't help but crack a smile at that. "Ah'm sorry sugarcube. Ah'm just... a li'l on-edge. Y’all can understand that, right?" Applebuck gave a nod in return. They continued to walk together in silence, their gazes flickering back and forth from each other. At length, he found himself speaking again. "Say... would'ja thinkit weird if ah said that... y’all reminded me o' somepony else?" The orange equine could feel the sweat beading on her brow. "Ah dunno... who do ah remind yah of?" "Mah big brother, Applejack. He an' I work onna farm not far from here, Sweet Apple Acres. We live thar t'gether wit' Red Gala and Grampy Smith. Ah could introduce y’all sometime if you'd like, they're all right good folks!" There was no answer for a few seconds, the blonde running the names through her head. Red Gala was more than likely Big Mac, though she was having a hard time picturing him as a female. However, what was REALLY worrying her, was the fact that her male self apparently still had the same name as she did. Ah guess Applejack's pretty non-gender-specific, ain't it? she thought to herself. She realized that the yellow pony was still staring at her. "Ah, ah'm sorry." she said quickly. "It's just that... well, y’all r'mind me of mah own li'l sister back home. That's... why ah've been actin' so weird t'wards ya." A confused, yet curious look spread across his face. "Ah do? Well don't that beat all... hey!" his eyes had finally spotted the trio of apples that served as her cutiemark. "Y'all got apples on ya! You wouldn't happen t'have an apple farm too, wouldja?" She looked down as she thought fast. "Uhm... yeah, ah do, it's just... clear on th'other side o' Equestria. Can't even make it to th' reunions usually." "Th' Apple Family reunion?" he enthused. "Y’all 'r Apple family?" Applejack finally lifted her head as she returned his gaze. "A few times r'moved... but yeah, ah'm proud t'say that ah'm Apple family." She thought she'd been making good progress on dealing with her conflicted emotions towards her alternate sibling. However, she was quite unprepared as the colt galloped up and rubbed up against her, in that familiar way. She tensed up as he cheered. "Yeah! Apples f' ever! Ah found a new cousin! Say Cousin, y’all never told me yer name now, y'know. What'cha called?" "Uhm..." her brain racked for an answer. "Y’all can... uhm... just call me JayJay, fer now. Mah real name's a secret. Super spy stuff 'n all that." ”Sure thing!" Applebuck replied happily, his excitement giving him cause to leap and buck into the air a few times as he dashed back towards the front. "Ah got a new cousin! Ah got a new cousin!" And there it was. As she watched him cavort, that emotion that she was scared of feeling flooded into her heart, leaving her light-headed. It was family. She felt the attachment forming, equal parts happiness and pride at Applebuck's cheerfulness. He's not Applebloom! she told her heart. He's a different pony from her, ah cain't start thinkin' that he's mah family! Ah just cain't! But her heart stood firm. ---------------------------- "We're here!" Scooteroll announced, as they finally stopped in front of a rather tall and wide gathering of bushes. Twilight looked over the mass of foliage with a wary eye. "This is the place?" "Yep!" Silver replied. "The HEDGE." "Oh dearie me," Rarity moaned. "We have to go inside THAT? Just think of the debris that'll get caught in my mane!" Applebuck chuckled. "Oh no girls, those bushes 'r just cover. Follow me, ah'll show y'all the entrance!" They all watched as the yellow earth pony trotted towards a smallish space between two of the bushes. He ducked down, and went inside, seemingly disappearing. He was quickly followed by his friends, and one Pinkie Pie, who stuck her head in first before entering. "Ooooh, spiffy!" she said, an echoing quality to her voice. Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged looks, before the unicorn herself trotted forth. As she got low and entered, she felt a slope of dirt extending downwards beneath her hooves. "Welcome to the HEDGE!" Scooteroll replied, as Silver Bell activated his horn, giving light to their surroundings. It was a burrow, and quite a fair-sized one at that. More than big enough for three schoolponies, there were already signs of furnishing, a rock table at one end and a log-bench up against the wall. "We were gonna use this as our clubhouse, 'till big bro showed us th' treehouse." Applebuck explained. "We haven’t used it since. Make y’all-selves at home!" It managed to hold all nine ponies at once, with some walking room still. Rarity found herself tisking as she began sweeping the floor. "My my! Such appalling conditions, but I suppose that's to be expected. With a little bit of work, this will be a cave fit for a king!" As Scooteroll and Rainbow Dash performed synchronous eye-rolling, Fluttershy inspected the roof. "This used to be a rabbit warren, I can tell." she spoke, soft as ever. "The bush-roots above are keeping the ceiling in place. We should be safe here for a long time." "Good enough fer me." Applejack replied, seating herself at the table. "Thank you, my little ponies." Twilight turned to the crusaders. "We'll be able to make our plans in peace here. I hereby declare that your mission, was a success!" "YAY!" the three of them cheered, right before looking backwards and lifting a leg to examine their flanks.... which still remained unadorned. "Awww..." they then groaned, dejected eyes hitting the floor. The sight made a yellow pegasus giggle. "Hey, chin-up guys." Rainbow enthused, stepping towards the group. "There's still lotsa stuff to try, you know! You'll get your Cutie-marks eventually." "It just takes patience." the white mare added, seating herself next to Slver. "And I know for a fact, that you've all got the patience you need. Just keep trying dears. They'll come." The crusaders nodded, their mood somewhat restored, before they turned to leave. The white colt however, paused as he turned to look back at Rarity. "Uhm... Miss... miss...?" Her eyes softened as she took in his awkwardness. "You can call me Rarity, dear." she replied. "Miss Rarity." Silver repeated, before turning around to face her. "You all sure you’re gonna be all right here?" "Oh of course dear, don't worry about us. We're full-grown mares after all." He nodded, before pawing the ground. "Y'know, I'm sorry I didn't mention this before... My big brother. His name's Elusive. You kinda..." he turned his green eyes back to her. "You kinda remind me of him... like if, you were my sister." It was all she could do to keep herself from sweeping him up into a hug right there. Instead, her eyes misted over as she tried to bring words to order. "That's... that's such a sweet thing to say... you're a perfect... gentleman, Silver... you take good care of your brother, you hear me?" The little unicorn blushed, before bowing and nodding. With a quick turn, he was up and out of the burrow. The six ponies remained silent as they heard the buzzing of Scooteroll's wings start up, before fading into the distance. Collectively, they let out a sigh. Applejack leaned up against the wall. "Celestia's Mane Twilight, PLEASE tell me we won't hav'ta do that again? Ah don't think mah heart can take it." Fluttershy trotted up to Rarity, nuzzling the purple-maned one. "Will you be alright? I mean, if you don't mind my asking..." The unicorn turned to face the rest of the group, tears flowing freely. "They weren't OUR siblings, Applejack... and yet at the same time, they WERE! I'm just... absolutely TORN! Please Twilight, tell me you can get us back home! I... I miss my sister..." Twilight looked around at all the faces present. Each one was beseeching the same request from her, to make things right again. Rarity had joined Applejack in the corner, the both of them hugging each other over their shared woes. Rainbow and Pinkie both looked at the pair, awkward expressions on their faces. And Fluttershy... Twilight had already had her moment with the pegasus earlier. She tried not to think of it again. "I... I'll try." she replied to all present. "But like I said, it's going to take time. The spell took a lot out of me the first time around, and I need to get my energy back." "How long will that take?" Dash questioned. The unicorn turned her gaze to the dirt floor. "Two... three days at the least. Plus I need those items. We had them ready back in our own world, but since they didn't get taken with us, we’ll have to gather them all over again." Fluttershy sighed. "Then for now, I guess we'd better... make the best of it." The six mares all looked at each other, having shielded themselves from a stallion's world. Surely, they could keep hidden and get back to their own world without causing a commotion, without alerting their other selves to their presence... Right? ---------------------------- To Be Continued... ON THE NEXT CROSS AND ARROW "Oof!" Fluttershy hadn't been looking where she was going, having collided with another pony. On top of that, the collision had popped the top off one of the bags, fruit spilling everywhere. "Oh! I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." She immediately set about gathering the loose produce back up. "Oh, n-no, it was my fault, I was distracted." came the other pony's voice, who bent down and began assisting her with the corralling. "Oh, think nothing of it, I didn't mean to disturb you." "No, it's okay, here, let me help you. I didn't mean to make you spill your stuff." "It's alright, this happens more often than you would think." "Um, if you say so. I'm still responsible though, here." "Oh, well, thank you, sir." "Oh, you're welcome miss... I mean, that is... if you don't mind..." There was one apple left, and two hooves alighted on it at once. Two butter-yellow hooves.