Thursday, 4 November 2941 T. A.: Marching under the full moon

Ravens! Calling everything a pony that walks on four legs.

On this day, in 2941 T. A., which Bilbo Baggins recorded as the eleventh after the death of Smaug (and it was the twelfth of the new year of the Dwarves), the joined Wood-elves and Lake-men were marching north from the refugee camp that Thranduil had helped raise for the survivors of Esgaroth, and the head of their hosts reached the mouth of the River Running into the Long Lake. Bilbo's memories are a bit convoluted at this point but may be interpreted in such a way that Kili and Fili, who had by then rounded up the three surviving ponies, observed the advance from afar and decided to hurry back to Erebor, with their raven guide probably flying ahead of them.

The moon was shining full on the camp that the two hosts made in the Desolation of Smaug.