• Published 19th Oct 2016
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A Woodland Romance - KidatHeart5



A "Royal Canterlot Family" spinoff. This is the story of how Sunset Shimmer met her husband, Timber Spruce.

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Mending a Broken Love

Author's Note:

Before you read on, I advise watching the Pixar short “Your Friend the Rat” first. This chapter has a reference from it that will be easier to understand if you watch it ahead of time. If you wish to only get the reference and not watch the whole thing, fast-forward to the 10 minute mark.
And, yes, CartoonNerd12 put in some lines that are later in the chapter.

When night had fallen, Sunset was in her tent disclosing every detail of her hike to Daring Do.

The unicorn gushed, “...After we rolled down the hill, we gazed into each other’s eyes. It was like…looking into heaven for that one moment.”

Daring Do joked, “Since when has heaven become green?”

Sunset chuckled, “Oh, very funny.”

“So I take it you and Timber had a good time?”

“A very good time. It just seemed like he and I had a lot in common.”

Daring Do looked down and said, “Too bad the same thing didn’t happen with Quibble and me.”

Sunset said in pity, “Oh, Daring…”

She put her hoof on Daring Do’s, but when she did, she felt a quick and strange sensation. Her head slightly jerked back and her eyes began glowing white. In her mind’s eye, she could see Daring Do and Quibble together.

“You know, we’d make a pretty good team,” Daring Do said with a smile. “It does pay to have help sometimes.” She held out her hoof and asked, “Partners?”

Quibble shook her hoof and agreed eagerly, “Partners!”

A white flash followed and Sunset now saw Quibble and Daring Do running in the jungle. When they came to a waterfall and a vine hanging near their side, the Pegasus turned to Quibble and said, “You know what we have to do.”

Quibble nodded with a determined look and grabbed hold of Daring Do and the satchel he was carrying. They both gave a yell when they swung to the other side of the waterfall. They then landed roughly on the ground after Daring let go of the vine.

When they recovered their senses, they saw Ahuizotl shaking his fist on the far side of the waterfall. He shouted angrily, “You meddlesome do-gooders! I will get you for this someday, Daring Do! You and your…er…What is he again? Your pet or…?”

Quibble shouted in insult, “Partner!”

Just then, Daring Do gasped, “Where is it?! Where’s the satchel?!”

Quibble then looked behind them and saw a colorful light emanating from the satchel. He got up and said confidently, “Relax, D.D. It’s right here –“

He was about to look at it until Daring zipped in front of him and snatched the satchel. She held it in her arm and covered it with her wing as she warned, “Don’t look at it! They say it’s too sacred!”

“Then let’s get going,” Quibble suggested.

Without another word, the two of them ran deep into the jungle. Sunset saw another white flash before she saw Daring Do and Quibble approaching a very exquisite pavilion with the satchel in their hooves.

Quibble smiled, “I’m glad you documented everything that was trademark of the Rainbow-Eyed Ponies in this part of the jungle.”

Daring agreed, “Yeah. Without you, I never would’ve known that this particular pavilion was a shrine for the Rainbow-Eyes. I knew the dome had their mark, but I thought it was long abandoned.”

“Well, let’s find out.”

When Daring Do tilted her satchel over the stand in the center of the pavilion, a spherical object clothed in burlap rolled out and landed in the bowl. She and Quibble turned to leave, but they suddenly felt a breeze behind them. They faced the pavilion and instead of seeing the covered orb, they saw a token that was in the shape of a pony’s head and had a rainbow-colored jewel for the eye.

Quibble asked as Daring Do grabbed the token, “What does it mean?”

Daring smiled at him, “It’s a sign that we’ve been accepted as part of the tribe.”

Another white flash followed and Sunset now saw Quibble and Daring sitting by a campfire.

The Pegasus pulled out the token from the Rainbow-Eyes and said, “You know how I said that this represents being part of the tribe?”

Quibble answered in confusion, “Yeah. What are you getting at?”

Daring Do looked as if she was just figuring out what to say because it was important. Then she said, “Well…I want you to be a part of my tribe.”

Quibble asked, “Your tribe?”

Daring rolled her eyes and gave a chuckle before she said, “It means I want you to be my coltfriend.”

This surprised Quibble and he sputtered in shock, “What?! You – you mean you…want me to b-be your…?!” He swooned happily and fell backwards from the log he was sitting on. He said in a dreamy daze, “Happiest…day…of…my life.”

Daring chuckled as she leaned over him, “It’s not every day you get to date Daring Do, so get used to it.” She then put the token into Quibble’s hoof.

Sunset saw another white flash before an image played before her eyes. It showed Quibble and Daring Do being cornered against a rock wall by Caballeron and his henchponies.

Caballeron snickered menacingly, “Heh, heh, heh, heh…I’ve got you now, my pretty pony. No one, not even your sidekick, can help you now.”

Quibble scoffed in offense, “’Sidekick’? Okay, one…”

While he was ranting, Daring Do took this chance to find a crack in the wall and struck it. Mud gushed out from the opened crack and began to cover the ground with its thick layer of sludge. Daring then spread her wings and began to fly. She grabbed Quibble abruptly and carried him to safety on a cliff. She looked down the cliff and saw Caballeron and his henchponies becoming stuck in the mud.

She taunted the doctor, “Ha! Better luck next time, Caballeron!”

She then walked away from the cliff before Quibble caught up to her and said, “Thanks for saving my life, Dare.”

“No prob. Your ranting comes in handy sometimes.”

After a few moments of silence, Quibble retorted, “Excuse me? That wasn’t ranting. I was merely stating that –“

Daring interrupted, “No, you were ranting, like you always do.”

Quibble asked in an irritated tone, “Oh? And I suppose that’s why my name is Quibble Pants, huh?”

Daring turned to face him and said, “Well, maybe. ‘Quibble’ does mean –“

“To rant, ramble, talk needlessly? Oh, I see. You go for the strong, silent types, huh? Not the wimpy, rambling talk-talky kind of pony you’re dating right now!”

Daring asked with a raised brow, “Quibble, what’s gotten into you?”

“You know what? You’re not the pony I would’ve wanted to date, either!”

Sunset could feel the words piercing through Daring’s heart as the Pegasus’s eyes widened with shock. Then, Daring scowled as she said angrily, “If you’re going to speak that way about me, then maybe you should go back to wherever you came!”

Quibble shouted, “Fine by me!” He then started to leave.

Suddenly, Sunset’s visions ended and she found herself back in the tent. She put a hoof to her head to ease her newfound dizziness. She kept staring at the floor until…

“Sunset?”

She looked up to see Daring Do looking at her in concern.

The Pegasus asked, “Sunset, what happened? Why did your eyes go white all of a sudden?”

Sunset answered as she tried to recollect what she just saw, “I think…I saw you and Quibble together. They might’ve been your memories.”

Daring asked in growing alarm, “What kind of memories?”

“When you and Quibble decided to be partners, when you returned a sacred object to the Rainbow-Eyes, when you two began dating, and then…” She was almost afraid to say it in fear of triggering a bad response. “…when you guys broke up.”

Sunset braced herself for a blowout from Daring, but the Pegasus sighed, “I’d rather not bring up that day. Quibble said some horrible things to me. It was like…he went all Jekstall and Hide on me.”

The princess raised her hoof and said in comfort, “I know, I know. You don’t need to say anything else. If anything, I’m curious about why Quibble blew up on you. Maybe I can look into his memories tomorrow. That is, if my new ability doesn’t go away by then.”

“Yeah. I kinda want to know why Quibble acted the way he did. I mean, I was just stating the obvious.”

Sunset said as she climbed into her bed, “Well, maybe he just doesn’t like the hard truth.”

“No duh.”


When her mother’s sun rose again, Sunset had just walked out of her tent when…

“Sunset! Sunset!”

She turned to see Timber running up to her with a smile on his face. She asked, “Yeah? What is it?”

Timber panted happily, “Okay, you gotta see something. It’s where we had our picnic yesterday.”

This raised Sunset’s curiosity and she said, “Oh, really?”

“Yeah! Come on!”

When they neared the spot by the river, Timber covered Sunset’s eyes with his hoof.

He said as they inched closer, “Okay, just a little bit farther…Farther…”

Sunset chuckled, “Timber, what’s all this about?”

“Hang on…And…Here we are!”

As soon as he removed his hoof from her eyes, Sunset gasped in amazement. There was a tiny flower that was white and had pink splotches. A pink outline of a heart encircled the golden center of the plant and the shape of an arrow ran diagonally from one petal to another, as if piercing the heart.

Sunset walked up to it with enraptured eyes and breathed, “A Cupid’s Arrow orchid. But…that wasn’t here before.”

Timber said, “I know, right? But I’ve seen flowers like this pop up when two campers are in love.” He gave a playful smirk.

Sunset blushed and turned to him as she said in surprise, “Oh, Timber…”

She thought she would never feel the intoxicating sensation of her own heart pulsating with delight until that moment. To finally find somepony who loved her for her was truly a great joy. Maybe there was a chance the rest of her dreams could come true. Timber gazed into her cyan eyes and saw the ocean he always wanted to see. Why travel the whole world when it was right there in front of him? But was it impossible? After all, she had to pass the ultimate test.

Unbeknownst to Timber, Sunset suddenly got an idea about what to do with Daring Do and Quibble.


“It’s breathtaking up here, huh?” Quibble said as he and Sunset looked out over the ledge.

Sunset agreed, “You’re so lucky to camp here, Quibble. Ponies would envy getting a view like this.”

“Yeah, but considering where I’ve been, this is nothing.”

“Oh? Well, I have this new ability to see what you’ve seen, so maybe I could look at where you’ve been to see if you’re right.”

Quibble was a little surprised to hear that Sunset had a new magical ability, but when Sunset implied she wanted proof of the places where he had been, he smirked, “Of course I’m right. Take a look.” He then asked in trepidation, “You will only look at the memories of where I’ve been, right? Nothing else?”

Sunset nodded, “Only what I need to see.”

Before she could touch his arm, Quibble asked, “It’s not going to hurt, is it?”

Sunset smiled in reassurance, “No, Quibble. You’ll be fine.” She touched him and experienced the same reaction as before. In her mind’s eye, she saw Quibble carrying a pack of books and grumbling to himself.

He muttered angrily, “Why Daring Do isn’t the same anymore is beyond me. I like the smart Daring who solves puzzles and thinks a lot, not this new Daring who’s all about action, action, action! As soon as I reach the convention, I’m going to give A.K. Yearling a piece of my mind.”

Just then, a cloaked pony with a hat raced out of the alley besides the building. He knew at that moment that it was none other than Yearling herself!

He tried to catch up with her as he shouted, “Hey! Hey, Yearling! Hold up! I want to discuss something very important with you!”

Suddenly, Quibble was scooped up in a burlap bag. Caballeron chuckled as he spoke to the colt in the bag, “Heh-heh-heh-heh. Well, well, well. What have we here? A fan of Yearling’s work? Well, if there’s anything Daring Do can’t resist, it’s rescuing somepony.”

Quibble added in the bag, “And raspberry ice cream with hazelnuts. Book Six.”

“Well, let’s see if she’ll rescue you in the deep dark jungle. I hope you’re not frightened.”

As Caballeron and his henchponies hauled their captive away, Quibble said, “No, fortunately, I’m not.”

After another white flash occurred, Sunset saw that Quibble was tied to a pole and screaming at the top of his lungs. Spiders were crawling towards him and began chewing on the pole.

He screamed, “Okay, I take that back! I’m frightened! Very frightened!”

Just before the spiders could crawl up to him, a blur suddenly zipped over the pole. It wasn’t long before a lasso flew into the air and tightened itself around the top of the rod.

A voice then shouted, “Hang on!”

Suddenly, the pole was pulled out from the ground and rose into the air. Quibble screamed as his mysterious rescuer continued to drag the pole through the treetops. When they reached a clearing, the rescuer let go of the rope and let the pole crash and slide onto the ground. Quibble was shaking from the whole ordeal until he looked up to see…Daring Do! His heart skipped a beat, his eyes widened, and his mouth dropped in surprise.

After she cut the ropes, Quibble stood up and stammered in amazement, “D-D-D-Daring Do! Y-you’re real?! Like, ‘for real’ for real?!”

Daring Do tipped her hat in confidence and said, “Yep.”

Quibble said to himself in conflicting glee and doubt, “Wow…I…I can’t believe this is happening! The one and only Daring Do! But, wait. What if she’s just an actress sent here to rescue me? Pfft! Don’t be ridiculous, Quib! Only Daring Do would know to use a rope to drag a 10-foot pole through the jungle. But if…”

Suddenly, he heard a shriek and turned to see Daring Do getting freaked out.

She flew up in the air as she yelped, “I hate spiders, I hate spiders, I hate spiders!”

Quibble was confused until he felt something crawling up his hind leg. He looked to see a spider and shook it off of him in terror. He said, “Yeah, I hate them, too. I’m not gonna lie, they’re very hairy and they have eight legs! That’s more legs than they would ever need!”

Daring Do said as she landed back on the ground, “Please, can we not talk about spiders?” She gave a shiver before she explained, “They give me the creeps. Besides, I can’t let it distract me from my mission.”

“A mission? What kind of mission?”

“A very dangerous one. In fact, too dangerous for a pony like you.”

He scoffed, “’Too dangerous’? For your information, I read books about you since the beginning. I learned a lot from them and I could survive out in the wilderness for weeks!”

Daring Do said dubiously, “Yeah, right. Just like when you were tied to that pole and freaking out about the spiders?”

Quibble blushed and rubbed the back of his head. “Okay. Point taken.” He then asked her, “But couldn’t I help you just this once? I mean, maybe you could reuse your brains again like you did in the first three books.”

“Oh, like I’m not using them enough?”

He denied while waving his hooves in nervousness, “No, no! That’s not it! I was just wondering what happened to that pony after the third book.”

“Well, for your information, maybe she’s still here. You just don’t realize that.”

She turned to leave until Quibble quickly said, “Wait, wait, wait! I’m sorry I offended you. Please let me make it up to you by going on this mission with you.”

Daring faced him with a smirk and said, “Admit it, you just want to go on an adventure with Daring Do.” When Quibble blushed and stammered, she said, “I don’t blame you. I’ve had help in the past, so there’s nothing keeping me from accepting it this time.”

Quibble’s eyes widened with joy as he said, “You mean you will?”

“Of course. But you’re only helping me, not bossing me around.”

“Got it.”

Another white flash appeared and it faded to the same scene of Daring Do and Quibble being cornered by Caballeron and his henchies.

Caballeron menacingly chuckled, “Heh, heh, heh, heh…I’ve got you now, my pretty pony. No one, not even your sidekick, can help you now.”

Quibble scoffed in offense as Daring slipped away from view, “’Sidekick’? Okay, one: I am not her sidekick. Two: she and I are equals. And three: I don’t need rescuing like other sidekicks do.”

Suddenly, Daring Do grabbed Quibble and carried him to safety on a cliff. She looked down the cliff and taunted, “Ha! Better luck next time, Caballeron!”

When she walked away from the cliff, Quibble shouted to a now-stuck Caballeron, “Yeah! We totally kicked your flanks today!”

Caballeron mocked in a derisive tone, “Sure, stallion-in-distress.”

When he and his henchponies laughed, Quibble felt embarrassed and decided to catch up to Daring Do. He told her, “Thanks for saving my life, Dare.”

“No prob. Your ranting comes in handy sometimes.”

Quibble stopped with a slighted expression on his face for a few moments before he retorted, “Excuse me? That wasn’t ranting. I was merely stating that –“

Daring interrupted, “No, you were ranting, like you always do.”

Sunset then saw the fight unfold like in Daring Do’s memories. When Quibble began to walk away, she returned to the real world.

Quibble asked, “So, what did you see?”

She answered, “Oh, the jungle, the city, everything. It’s really quite fascinating.”

“Need more proof that I’ve been to places you never went to before?”

Sunset began to walk away as she smirked, “Yes, but I’ve traveled across Equestria in one night.”

When she entered the forest, she heard Quibble shout, “No fair!”


Discord pleaded, “Oh, come on, Tim!”

Timber refused, “No, and that’s my final answer.”

Cheese said, “Then how can you have a moonlight romance with Sunset if you’re chasing a monster all night?”

Spike agreed, “Yeah. If we do the monster hunting for you, then you can get some rest and probably have some quality time with Sunset.”

Timber said, “Nice try, guys. Besides, you’re royals. I’m a peasant. The arrangement will never work out.”

All three in-laws gave out a long “Uhh…”

Spike clarified, “Um, actually, we were all peasants before we married our wives.”

Timber was intrigued by that but surprised all the same, “Say what?”

Discord said, “Well, technically, I was the Lord of Chaos, but I still wasn’t an actual member of royalty, mind you.”

Timber said, “Even so, I’m not going to let you go out in the forest tonight. It may be too dangerous. I’m sorry, but it’s N-O. No.”

As the Earth colt walked into the forest, Spike asked, “Now what do we do?”

A sly grin then spread across Discord’s face and he said to his two in-laws, “What if we made a little arrangement of our own?”

Spike said, “You mean if we can catch the monster behind Timber’s back…”

Cheese smiled, “Then Sunset can have the colt of her dreams all to herself!”

Discord winked, “Exactly!”

All three cheered as they high-fived, “Let’s do it!”

At the recreation hall, Sunset met up with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie.

The amber unicorn asked slyly, “Hey, guys. Do you want to play a little game of ‘Matchmaker’?”

Pinkie Pie jumped up and down as she squealed in excitement, “Ooh! I love that game! Who are we gonna matchmake?”

Sunset explained, “Well, you know how Quibble and Daring Do are having trouble getting along? Well, I thought we could rekindle that flame.”

Rarity gasped, “Oh, darling, this is quite risky of you.”

Rainbow Dash said, “Hey, if Sunny’s anything like Twilight, then there’s a good chance her plan will work. Besides, I’m up for anything with Daring Do in it.”

Pinkie smiled, “If she’s in, then I’m in, too.”

Rarity sighed, “Count me in. I’d actually like to see a romance being rekindled.”

Sunset said as she huddled her sisters together, “Great. Now here’s the plan…”


That night, a campfire was set and Quibble was the only one there. He thought it was odd since Sunset had invited him in the first place.

“Hi, Quibble!”

He turned his head back when he heard Sunset’s voice, but he was surprised to see Daring Do with her.

He breathed, “You.”

Daring Do echoed, “You.”

Sunset could feel the tension growing between the two, so she said, “You two haven’t been having much fun since you got here. Why don’t you relax a little by the campfire? I’m sure you two have some funny stories to share. Oops! I forgot the s’mores! I’ll be right back.”

When she left, there was only silence between Quibble and Daring Do. After several moments, Daring deadpanned, “Sunset set us up, didn’t she?”

Quibble sighed, “Yeah. I really should’ve seen that one coming.”

Just then, Rarity came up to them with two cups and asked, “Hot cocoa?”

Quibble asked, “You’re not trying to feed us love poison, are you?”

“Why, I wouldn’t dream of it! I thought hot cocoa would be perfect for relaxation.”

Daring Do said as she took a cup, “Forgive him, Your Highness.” She glared at him as she gritted her teeth, “He always thinks the worst of everything.”

Rarity saw where this was going, so she said, “I think I’m going to see how Sunset’s doing with the s’mores. Excuse me.” She then left the two alone.

Quibble said accusingly to Daring, “Oh, I think the worst of everything?”

Daring said, “Yes, everything. My books, my adventures, even me!”

Quibble sputtered, “What? I never said anything like that!”

“No, but you always implied it.”

He scoffed, “’Implied’? I always thought you thought that I ranted.”

Daring Do groaned in exasperation, “You know what? I’m outta here.”

She was about to leave until Quibble chortled wryly, “Oh, no. Oh, this isn’t over yet. Oh, no, no. Daring Do, how many times did I say you would always deflect every question?

“What? I –“

“Look, now you’re doing it. Now, look at this.”

“Quibble, just –“

“It’s like it’s in your DNA!”

“Is it in my DNA to try to keep ponies safe, even when they’re ungrateful like you?”

“I, I, I’m uh…I’m surprised, I’m surprised. Ugh! You know, it’s typical. Business as usual. But you know what? You know what? My voice will not be ignored!”

“You’ve had your say.” Daring Do turned to leave again.

Behind the bushes near the campfire, Sunset and her three sisters were watching the scene.

Pinkie fretted in a whisper, “Uh-oh. We got mayday. We got mayday!”

Rainbow said, “Don’t worry. I can handle this.” She inhaled deeply and let out a huge roar that startled even her sisters.

Quibble yelped, “What was that?!”

Daring crouched with her backside towards Quibble and spread her wings to protect him. She told him, “I don’t know. Could be a Timberwolf.”

“What?!” He was scared for several moments until he realized that Daring Do was protecting him. “Wait, why are you protecting me? I’m not somepony worth saving.”

Daring Do said, “You’d be surprised at how many ponies I save at times, even when they’re ungrateful.”

“Like me?”

“Well, something like that.” She then sighed, “Look, I’m sorry I called you ungrateful, pompous, smart-aleck, loud-mouthed –“

Quibble chuckled as he held out his hoof to stop her, “Okay. So maybe one of those things is true. Yes, I can be loud-mouthed, but I can’t help myself sometimes. When I want to say something, I just say it.”

“Like the day we…?”

He sighed, “Yeah. That was really dumb of me. I shouldn’t have said that you weren’t the type of pony I’d date.”

Daring asked, “Then…what would be the kind you’d date?”

“Like you, but smarter and…” He put a hoof to his head and confessed, “Okay, I don’t want to date anypony else but you. Like you said, it’s not every day you get to date Daring Do.”

“But…should we try being marefriend and coltfriend again? I mean, it all came apart really badly the last time. I’m not sure if I even want to try again.”

“I don’t blame you. I really don’t. When we…you know, broke up, I was high-strung about being called a stallion-in-distress by Caballeron and his henchponies. I wanted to prove that I wasn’t a sidekick, but when I said I didn’t need rescuing and you rescued me anyway…” He then chuckled, “Well, I call that bad timing.”

Daring reassured, “You know, even powerful and heroic ponies need to be rescued from time to time. Do you know what happened when Sunset and her friends first accompanied me on an adventure? I was captured by Ahuizotl and…”

He finished for her, “…rescued by Night Glider? Wow. I thought that book was fiction.”

“Believe me, all of my books are true, even that one.”

“So you didn’t just write that story to please a princess.”

She chuckled, “Hey, I didn’t even know Sunset was a princess until after the ring was stolen.” When her mind dwelled on something for a few moments, she said, “I missed you since the day we went our separate ways. Did you feel the same?”

“Oh, definitely. I couldn’t help but moor over the fact that we were done. I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t want to believe it. Every day that I was away from you, it was torture to not be able to feel your lips once more.”

Daring Do gazed at him before she said softly, “Quib.”

Hearing that nickname spring from her lips again made him shiver with both ecstasy and surprise, “Dare.”

“Is this torture?”

“The worst.”

“I’m so sorry.”

Quibble said in surprise, “What? No! Don’t be!”

“What?! Why not?!” She then said with a bewildered smile, “Oh, I’m so confused!”

He chuckled, “Me, too!”

“Well, this…this is good. We’ve got one thing in common.”

Daring lifted him into the air and they both laughed as they twirled around. Meanwhile, the four sisters watched in content from behind the bushes.

Pinkie cheered, “Yes! We did it!”

Sunset smiled as she high-hoofed her sisters, “Mission accomplished.”

Rainbow agreed, “It’s a good thing, too, or else Pinkie would’ve been Plan D.”

Rarity asked, “May I ask what this Plan D was?”