The Magical Quest

Before we continue to daybreak, let's return to Peteland one last time to check up on the one being who hadn't been seen in a while. Pluto had been awake for a long time. He hadn't even had so much as a single nap today, which was unusual for most house pets.

And how could he sleep knowing his master was risking his life for him? That was a huge burden to bare. Of course, having heard that Mickey was still alive from when the guard read the report of Ingo's demise, he did at least feel a bit confident.

Of course, now the dog was tired. He simply looked out of the window next to his cage, up at the moon with a look of worry in his eyes. As he lay there and folded his paws, his eyes slowly started to close as soon enough, Pluto had finally gone to sleep. Maybe, just maybe, everything would be alright.

Soon enough, morning came as Mickey stretched and yawned, smacking his lips and looking over at the sleeping princess next to him. He then noticed that his hand was wrapped around hers as he chuckled nervously, prying her fingers off. Had she woken up, that would have been awkward.

Goofy was still snoring really loudly, Mickey rolling his eyes at the sight of this. However, what the peasant saw next struck fear into him... or rather it was what he didn't see.

Donald was nowhere in sight. He wasn't lying down sleeping or anything. Mickey poked his head outside of the tent and looked back and forth, not noticing Donald anywhere in sight, and he could tell Donald was nowhere near the camping spot as the clouds and sky were much lighter now.

Mickey turned to Goofy and shook the dog by the shoulders saying, "Goofy, wake up," then turning to Minnie, he lightly tapped her on the shoulder, not wanting to be too rough with the love of his life. The jester seemed to have completely ignored Mickey's pleas, but at the very least, Minnie had felt his soft touch.

"What's wrong, Mickey?" the princess asked groggily, rubbing her eyes and yawning as Mickey pointed at Donald's empty spot and replied, "Donald's gone missing."

Minnie was now wide awake as she noticed Goofy still asleep and shook him by the shoulders, receiving more response as Mickey shrugged before the princess proceeded to slap the jester in the face. This caught Goofy's attention as he slowly opened his eyes and placed his hand against his cheek stating, "Now that's what I call an alarm clock."

Mickey simply stared, his eye twitching. That bad joke could have worked better had Minnie actually bonked him on the head, but this was no time to contemplate that as the two explained that Donald was missing.

"Aw, shucks, he ain't missing," Goofy replied, patting his hand against Donald's empty sleeping space adding, "He's right beside me, aren't ya, Donald?" then looking at the spot, his eyes went wide as the jester gasped, "Donald's gone missing!"

Mickey slapped his forehead in response to this while Minnie put on a serious look, exited the tent and stated, "Well, what are we sitting around here for? We need to find Donald!"

"But where do you suppose he went?" Goofy asked, scratching his head as Mickey nodded saying, "We don't really have any real leads," while Minnie sighed, turning to the two and stating, "We'll search every inch of this mountain if we have to! No one gets left behind!"

Mickey smiled with admiration for these noble words as Goofy chuckled and nodded, Minnie pointing toward the direction they were headed and started stomping her feet up and down while saying, "We gotta go forth and never look back!"

The peasant and jester nodded in response to this, joining in with the princess's march as all three proceeded forward while the princess chanted, "We have to look deep inside, erase all fear and go in for the attack!"

With that, the three marched through the area while stating in unison, "We may be small but we are strong! When we look inside ourselves, we can overcome any wrong! If we give up and stop believing, then we're sure to get nowhere! But as long as we're braver, we've got no ill to bare!"

"We need to stay strong!" Mickey stated as Goofy nodded and added, "We cannot fall back!" Minnie smiling while chanting, "We need to keep our eyes front, forget our troubles and make up for what we lack!"

At that very moment, a swarm of bees emerged from a corner, eggs with eye holes and the legs of newborn chicks sticking out of them also joining in and watching the three while all of them joined in as all of them chanted, " We may be small but we are strong! When we look inside ourselves, we can overcome any wrong! If we give up and stop believing, then we're sure to get nowhere! But as long as we're braver..."

"As long as we are stronger!" Mickey exclaimed, Goofy adding, "As long as we're courageous!" Minnie also stating, "As long as we believe!"

"As long as we're braver," the group shouted, "we've got no ill to bare!" the three marching off into the distance while the chicks and bees cheered for them. Nothing was going to stand in their way now.

At that moment, Donald was walking along, not really having a whole lot of trouble. So far, nothing had attacked him or anything. It seemed like smooth sailing for him.

"Hey, this isn't so bad," the duck said with a confident smile on his face, "Maybe being on my own isn't so bad."

However, just as quickly as his confidence had come, it soon left him when a large hawk swooped down towards the duck, Donald crouching just in time to avoid being snatched by its talons. A look of fear came over the bird as the hawk turned around, soaring at him again.

Donald quickly ran fled behind a nearby rock, the hawk picking up the large objects and crushing it between its talons before glaring at Donald yet again. The sailor was once again in panic until he realized something he could do.

As the hawk dove in for the kill once again, Donald backed up towards the mountain next to the one he was standing on, placing his back up against it. As the hawk closed in, Donald quickly shifted his body to the right as the large creature rammed hard into it, its beak now jammed into the wall.

Donald looked at this with a smile before breaking out in hysterics. The hawk looked absolutely pathetic now, so the duck couldn't help laughing. However, the hawk very quickly pried its beak out of the mountainside before glaring at Donald once more.

When the duck wiped a tear from his eye, opening both of them, his laughter soon ended as he panicked, fleeing for his life once more. What was he to do now? It would only be a matter of time until he was captured. Maybe going off on his own wasn't the best idea.

As the hawk dove in for another go, it heard footsteps entering the area as it turned its gaze to see a peasant, a jester and a princess approaching, all three freezing in place with fear in their eyes. Donald looked up with shock. He couldn't believe it. Not the fact that his friends had come to help him, but the fact that they'd caught up with him so quickly. After all, he had been travelling on his own for well over an hour.

Nevertheless, he couldn't have been happier. He now realized he wasn't fit to face the world on his own, be him a former marine or not.

Mickey soon noticed the duck right there and tapped his friends on the shoulder, pointing in Donald's direction as the two soon noticed him as well, Goofy smiling and chuckling, "Ahyuck, we found Donald!" as Minnie nodded and remarked, "That hawk seems to have found him first."

Goofy blinked and asked, "What hawk?" looking back at the giant bird and chuckled, "Ahyuck, that hawk."

The jester had a clueless expression on his face for a few seconds before realizing how serious the situation was. That hawk was intending to have their friend for dinner. Well, the jester wasn't going to stand for that as he quickly pulled out his rubber balls, juggling them around.

The hawk was just about to go in for the kill when it noticed the balls being juggled, its eyes following them. After a few seconds, its eyes started to spin as its movement began to falter, the creature distracted long enough for Donald to return to his friends' side.

"Thank you so much!" Donald cried out, still trembling from the shock of it all while Minnie asked, "Why did you run away?"

Donald let out a sigh and explained, "I wanted to prove myself a hero by saving Pluto before you guys could make it to Pete's castle, but I guess I do need you."

"But Donald," Mickey replied with a compassionate smile on his face, "We need you too. You complete our team," as Donald let down a tear asking, "R-really?"

However, this would have to wait as Goofy fumbled with the balls and sent them flying into various directions, one beaning a bee over the skull and another landing atop an egg, said egg cracking as the baby chick blushed and held its stubby wings over its lower body.

The others were in panic again as the hawk regained focus, letting out a loud battle cry and flying toward Goofy, lifting him up into the air. The others stared in absolute horror as Goofy was carried up to the top of the mountain. The hawk's nest must have been up there.

"GOOFY!" Mickey and Donald cried out as Minnie put on a worried expression, Mickey turning to the princess with a serious look and stating, "We'll just go up there and save him!"

"But how?" Minnie asked as Mickey's ring started to glow, the peasant replying, "We're small but we're strong, remember?"

Suddenly, Mickey's body glowed as soon his clothes were replaced by a green tunic and a matching feather cap, much like how Robin Hood dressed. Minnie was taken aback as her own ring glowed, the princess now sporting an outfit of her own, only it was red as opposed to green.

Donald's own ring started to glow as his sailor uniform was replaced by a big green cloak. Unfortunately, the cloak was too big, so the hood immediately fell over his face as the duck simply lifted it up and placed it a little bit back so he could see through it.

But this wasn't all. While Minnie and Mickey both had grappling hooks by their sides, Donald had a rope. This was perfect. As if the rings just knew where they were the situation they were in, all three now had climbing gear.

Donald let down a tear of joy, now finally taking on his second form. Perhaps they could save Goofy after all.

"I know these might look like they're at their worst," Mickey said, shooting his grappling hook towards a pole sticking out from a mountainside, "I see a minor setback," swinging over a gap as the other followed him, Donald using his rope like a grappling hook.

"We're not down yet, that's the way it is, as long as we launch the first attack," the peasant continued as the others followed him, now climbing up the mountain towards a higher level.

"I see a world full of danger and strife," Minnie added, "But if we ignore that, we're sure to get by."

"It's not always as bad as it appears," Donald quipped, almost falling as a swarm of bees helped him up, the duck adding, "Though it's scary, to that I'll not lie."

As the three reached the higher level, Mickey shot his hook to the side attached to the next level stating, "If everyone looked in their hearts, maybe things wouldn't be quite as hard," then noticing Minnie slipping, his grabbed her arm, helping her up as he continued, "We've faced the odds, so we all know we can do this as long as we don't drop our guards!"

As the three continued their climb, Goofy was in the hawk's nest as it looked out, the jester's stomach growling as he said, "Hey, Mrs. Hawk, I'm hungry," the hawk glaring at him, rather offended by that statement for reasons it couldn't explain because, well, it couldn't speak English.

This truly was quite the predicament, but at least the jester hadn't been eaten yet. For all he knew, his friends were probably on their way to rescue him right now.