IIRC in the book they send Bilbo to investigate a light in the distance, not realising that it is a troll camp. The ponies aren't involved at all. He tries to steal a purse from one of them in order to impress the dwarves with his pick-pocketing skills but gets caught (it's a magic talking purse). One of the trolls asks him what he is, and he says, "A bur... er, hobbit" which they hear as "a burrahobbit" (not burglar-hobbit as in the movie). The dwarves come to rescue him one or two at a time and each get caught in turn. Thorin comes last and puts up a good fight but is overwhelmed. In the confusion Bilbo escapes but is unable to do anything to help. It is Gandalf who arrives near dawn and imitates the trolls' voices in order to make them argue about how best to cook the dwarves. He does say the line, "dawn take you all" or something similar, but doesn't break a rock in half with his staff.
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