Fiona watched the sun lowering in the sky as she wandered through the forest on the worn away path. She had done nothing but walk that day, away from the terrible town with the terrible people, eventually coming to a quiet trail in the woods with far less foot traffic. Her journey had been largely aimless; she'd barely exchanged a word with anyone and had no idea where the next place to settle for the night was. She only had three potions left, and one of those was for the rapidly approaching night. That left her with three days to secure her true love's kiss. The tiny sliver of hope she had was dashed as she threw another glance to the pink and orange sky. Anyone she'd met was either married, rude, or hurried. Meeting people was hard, she concluded. It seemed far more convenient to sit in a tower and let people come to her. She never put any thought into finding someone to love her, in her mind he'd always just present himself. Everything was useless and ruined - her plan, her hair, her life.

There was no point in seeking out a bed, there were no signs pointing in any direction, and no people around to ask. She just needed a patch of grass away from the trail where she could take the potion and block out the cold night.

There was a gathering of shrubbery, little blue flowers sat among the leaves. She headed over to it. That spark she kept alive for so many years urged her to daydream about a princess alone and defeated laying on the ground surrounded by pretty flowers. What a beautiful sight that would be. Perhaps she wasn't just living one fairy tale, but many. She reached out to touch one of the flowers when-

"Ow."

A tiny red thorn pricked her skin. How fitting, she thought to herself, if only she would now sleep for one hundred years until her true love kissed her.

She carefully moved some of the greenery aside, sucking on her sore fingertip and stepped away from the sight of the trail. It was enough, she deemed. She sat down upon a patch of grass, once again checking through the items in her satchel and securing it across her body. She took hold of a potion. The sun hadn't completely set yet, but she was in no hurry to feel the pain for even a second. She plucked the seal from the glass and hesitated.

"Here's to you and your non-existent true love, Fiona," she mumbled to herself sadistically, before gulping the potion and laying down.

It wasn't comfortable on the ground, not in the slightest, but it didn't matter. The potion was magic, after all. She certainly could have used it while in the tower for some particularly awful nights. As she closed her eyes, she imagined she was laying in her tower room - the soft glow of the torches, the low burble of the lava churning below, the odd pop and splatter of a magma bubble. The comfort of familiarity, until the potion took her to sleep.

Typically, Fiona awoke unremembering of anything over those nights. The potions allowed her a dreamless sleep that let time pass quickly until morning. Except this night was different. There were voices, hazy and low. She couldn't make out what they were saying. It was strange, everything still so dark behind her eyelids.

The dream sensation drained quickly as she became acutely aware of movement, movement in her body - movement she wasn't controlling. She awoke, her senses coming alive despite the magic. Her head was pounding, protesting the disturbance. Her eyes didn't want to open but she suddenly realised the movement was someone touching her shoulder. A tugging sensation. Shaking her awake perhaps? No. Hands were then on her head, holding her, either side of her face. She forced her eyes open, murmuring her confusion. As her head was briefly lifted, she was met with the blurry sight of a man, dressed in green, a flash of red on his back. He dropped her head quickly, it hit the ground but she didn't feel anything, her eyes only closing involuntarily. "No," she mumbled as coherently as she could, "Leave me… alone." She felt herself say the words rather than hear them as she drifted in and out of sleep. He was speaking to her, but she couldn't make out what he said. She forced her eyes open again. There were more people watching her. More voices. She couldn't keep her eyes open for long enough to see anything. Perhaps they were helping her? As she sleepily recalled her recent experiences, that positive argument didn't hold up much of a fight. It was painful to think. Her attempts were halted as she heard another voice. It stood out, loud. But she couldn't listen. Only hearing the rest of the voices quieten. The satchel, her brain managed to hold onto a thought, their touch made sense now. She felt them rip it away from her. "No…" She made a blind grasp for the strap, but her hand only clutched at air, it felt as if her hand was floating. She sensed the presence leaving her in peace again. Her brain losing any thoughts it had once caught hold of. Her body felt like it was floating too, further and further away from the world until she slipped away again.

Fiona felt herself slowly waking, there was a warm breath on her cheek. Could it be a rescuer? She didn't open her eyes. She felt herself smiling, she took a breath... And immediately screwed up her face, whoever was breathing on her smelt like an animal.

"Hey! She's waking up!" a loud voice shouted from above her. The princess immediately opened her eyes and shrieked as she found herself face to face with a grinning donkey. "Good morning, sleeping beauty!"

"Wha-No..." Fiona sat up quickly, she then threw a hand to her aching head. Trying to steady her breathing, she watched the animal warily. He spoke, she finally registered her abnormal alarm clock. She furrowed her brow, tilting her head at the spectre. Perhaps she was still dreaming, she had made friends with a donkey in that barn after all. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the drowsiness, wiping her face with the backs of her hands - hoping with all her might when she looked to the world again, he'd be gone.

He wasn't. Instead, the animal sat in front of her, grinning. Though, his grin vanished, he cocked his head to one side-

"Hey, so you okay?" he asked, there was concern in his unexpected voice.

She blinked at him, slowly coming to the realisation that he was in fact real and not a strange side effect of the potion she had taken. She composed herself, smoothing her dress over her legs, and instinctively went to stroke her braid - it wasn't there. "I'm fine, thank you," she responded. The less of a scene she made, the better. She only hoped he would leave her alone and get on his way. "And I'm not Sleeping Beauty, that's someone else."

The donkey didn't move; he only laughed at her. "Aw man, no that's just a phrase. But you could'a been! You wouldn't wake up for no one!" he exclaimed. "We tried, didn't we, Shrek?"

The animal looked past her. She instinctively followed his gaze, turning to look over her shoulder - and gasped. Her eyes widened in sudden fright. It was an ogre approaching her out of the forest. He was large - both tall and round - completely bald, face unsightly, and worst of all he was frowning at her.

She scrambled onto her feet, taking a few panicked steps backward, only stopping as she almost tripped over the animal who remained unbothered by the obvious threat.

"Aye," the creature spoke simply in a low voice, he barely threw a glance at her. "And now she's awake we can go."

"What?" the animal protested, "And leave her by herself?"

Fiona swallowed her fear, stepping away from the donkey, realising the two were together. She dusted herself off. "I'm fine actually," she held her head high. She'd read once that if you appeared calm and confident in front of large creatures they wouldn't attack.

The ogre glanced at her, scoffing and then smirking at her dismissal. She crossed her brow, growing even more eager to leave. Why were they surrounding her anyway? She wasn't about to be some ogre and his pet's breakfast.

"Fine?" the donkey was shocked at her response, "You was absolutely, one hundred percent not fine last night when we came across ya! And y'know, I'm not sure it's such a good idea for someone, y'know, like you, to be left alone again after displaying that kinda taste in sleeping accommodations. Sure! Outside is fine for - I dunno - a donkey. Us donkeys are born outside. But you?"

Confusion stopped her from simply turning and running. She looked to him quizzically, desperately trying to recall what he was speaking about. She had taken a potion on the side of a trail, surrounded by shrubbery, and had fallen asleep until sunrise, like she was supposed to. Her eyes widened again as she suddenly became aware of her surroundings. She wasn't where she had rested her head to sleep. She looked at the tiny prick on her finger; the thorns were nowhere to be seen. She looked to the ogre in fright - he had kidnapped her and… her satchel! She looked around again, it was gone. Her gaze landed accusatorily on the ogre; ready to either run for the hills or see how she would do slaying a monster of her own. But her brain didn't allow her the time to make a decision when the vague memories of her half awakening hit her. She drew in a breath-

"We saved ya, Miss not Sleeping Beauty." The donkey nodded at her, catching on to her brief lapse in memory.

They saved her.

"Not sure about we," the ogre commented drily.

"Hey, keeping look out is an important job. Who would'a known if those guys had backup? I would, that's who!"

She let their brief conversation wash over her, as the ogre dismissively accepted the donkey's excuse. Her eyes then landed on the ogre. He saved her. The thanks got stuck in her throat. Did she really need to thank an ogre? Surely not. It was what anyone would have done if they'd come across an unconscious woman in the forest being robbed… by... by other humans. Her thought process was broken. She crossed her brow. Her brain was unwittingly brought to Charming on their first evening together. The unease crawled over her skin and down her spine.

The ogre rolled his eyes at her silence, kicking dirt over the dying embers of a fire. "She said she's fine, Donkey. She can tackle tomorrow night by herself, I'm sure." His tone was laced with sarcasm as he began to walk off.

She frowned, her conflicting emotions rendering her stuck in silence.

"Wait! No way, Shrek." Donkey – an apt name – scrambled and jumped in front of the ogre, halting his movement. "I ain't letting no girls be ambushed on my watch. Hey!" he addressed her again, "Where are you going?"

Fiona blinked at the ground. "I-I don't know." She shrugged. Sadness joined the interesting cocktail of emotions within her. She didn't know. She supposed she should go home to whatever trap awaited her. But even that meant many nights of unimaginable pain without the potions. Against her best judgement she sat down in place.

Donkey slowly approached her, brow knitted, the ogre forgotten.

"So what're you doing out here all by yourself?"

"I'm…" She hesitated. The ogre huffed, folding his arms. He was as eager to leave as she was a second ago. "I'm finding my destiny." She tried to pull her dignity back from wherever she had lost it.

"Wow." Donkey took another seat in front of her. "That's some deep stuff. You had any luck?"

She sighed at her unlikely conversation partner. "No, none at all." She frowned, feeling her spirits lower even further. She didn't know why she would even open up like that to an ogre's pet donkey called Donkey. But… she supposed she should open up to someone, and of what consequence would this creature be?

The animal threw a glance at his companion before he grinned. "Well, now you've got us to help you out!"

His enthusiasm made her laugh despite herself, though it faded as the ogre scoffed.

"Who said anything about us," he stated. "After I've done this fer Farquaad, I'm going back t'my swamp, alone." He then met her gaze. "You can get on yer way now."

She narrowed her eyes at him. Her conflicted desire to give him any thanks faded away. She was clearly shocked by all that had gone on, it wasn't unreasonable to be silent. However, the princess deemed it absolutely unreasonable to hold a grudge like he was toward her. She had enough evidence in her mind to assume Donkey was the one who wanted to save her, even if the ogre did the muscle work.

"Psht, yeah we've got our own mission, but don't listen to him!" he jerked his head in the direction of the ogre, irritatedly, "He's grumpy all the time. But I'll help you out! So… you have any idea where to find this destiny?"

"I- um…" She tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm not sure."

"Well, hey!" The grin was back. "I've got a great idea! We're travelling cross country right now! You can stick around with us, go where we're going, maybe you'll find some inspiration!"

"Um-" Her thoughts about his offer were interrupted.

"Ah, lady, I'm so rude." His ears flattened. "I'm inviting you on an adventure and I don't even know ya name! My momma always said I have to be polite and get to know a person. I'm Donkey! Who are you?"

Despite everything, Fiona gave him a smile. "I'm Fiona." Her name felt strange on her tongue without her royal title. Though, her smile vanished as she saw the ogre begin staring at her.

"Ha, that's real funny." The donkey barked a laugh. She looked between them - the ogre not moving his gaze at all - suddenly suspicious that she'd made a grave mistake not running when she had the chance. "See we're looking for a Fiona. But she's a princess. We're heading to that tower right now."

Her eyes widened.

"I know there's a dragon, but we've got this, eh Shrek?" He laughed again, oblivious to her sudden distress. "It's the princess we're worried about!" He winked at her.

Despite the fear that she should have felt in that moment, she only felt disappointed. Jackasses and literal asses were the only ones coming to save her. He confirmed it. She pursed her lips. "You won't find her there, sorry, she's already been rescued."

"What?" The ogre was suddenly invested, joining their conversation from where he had planted himself on the ground in defeat a few moments earlier.

"How'd you know that?" Donkey was oblivious. "Farquaad said…"

"Farquaad doesn't know anything," she confirmed. She folded her arms, pouting. "I am the princess."

They both stared at her, eyebrows raised, Donkey's mouth agape.

"You serious?" Donkey asked.

"Yes. I'm Princess Fiona."

"Well, Princess, you just made ma job a whole lot easier." The ogre heaved himself up and advanced at her.

"Wait, Shrek," Donkey hurried between the two of them, "how'd we know she's telling the truth?" The animal was suddenly suspicious of her. She couldn't help but roll her eyes at them.

"Oh, I can tell." He was confident.

"How?"

The ogre shrugged him off. "Besides, as long as Farquaad gets someone, I get ma swamp back. And if I don't have t'get my ass roasted doing it, then that's a bonus."

"Hey! You talking 'bout me or your-"

"Excuse me, gentlemen," Fiona stood, interrupting their back and forth, "But there's a problem with your plan. I'm not going with you." She held her head high and spoke clearly. She wasn't anyone's pawn, not anymore.

"Oh really?" Shrek raised an eyebrow at her. "'Cause I've got an agreement that says ye are." He took a step towards her, opening his arms.

"You wouldn't dare." She stood her ground.

He only gave her a smirk before grabbing her waist and throwing her over his shoulder.

She shrieked, yelling at him and flailing, but she was no match for his strength.

She'd been rescued, rescued herself from her rescuer, had her dreams shattered, been taken advantage of, stolen from, rescued and kidnapped by an ogre… her happily ever after was not off to a good start.

. . .

Now I KNOW people were waiting for this one! He's here! One happily ever after coming right up… maybe…