of an ironshod horse, but a softer sound. It is almost the sound of raindrops on the leaves of a banana tree. (S. P. Somtow, Tagging the Moon, 2000) Interestingly, the sound of unicorn hooves can be muffled even by a mere absence of light: The only sound was the steady rhythm of the unicorn's hooves, and even that seemed somehow muffled by the unrelenting dark. -- Simon Green, Blue Moon Rising (1991) Janny Wurts hears in those rhythmic clip-clops no less than echoes of nobility: Exalted form spoke in the purity of tossed manes, and high tails, and in the stone hooves of the unicorns, dancing. (Traitor's Knot, 2006) Other accounts of unicorns' clip-clopping hooves in literature include: In a long moment, there was the sound of galloping hoofs. Then a unicorn stallion appeared. -- Piers Anthony, Question Quest (1991) Behind them the sound of hooves drummed on the grass; the unicorns raced away into the darkness. -- Sherwood Smith, The Emerald Wand of Oz (2005) They followed the clip-clop of the unicorn's hooves. -- Danielle Peak, The Enchanted Conquest (2003)