"Do you have any idea where we are?" Scootaloo asked. She and Grey had kept walking past the lizard pens, now finding themselves on a bridge over a small artificial creek with a loud chorus of ribbit, ribbit filling the air. Surrounding them was a thick layer of trees; this small section of the zoo had been marked off as a miniature forest. As the filly leaned on the railing of the bridge and craned her neck over to see the banks below. And, of course, she could spot many a multicoloured frog in the mud below.

"Of course I do," Grey replied. "C'mon—we've made good time so far but we need to get to the centre before... before it gets blocked off."

This caught Scootaloo's attention; she turned away from the railing, giving Grey an odd look. "Blocked off? How come?"

"Let's just say my distraction involved some tampering with exhibits in the large mammals area." Grey smirked. "And we're almost there." He began trotting across the bridge, leaving Scootaloo no choice but to leave the frogs behind.

"You know, I think frogs are my favourite animal," Scootaloo remarked once she had caught up with Grey.

"Oh? How come?"

"I dunno. That sound they make is pretty cool."

"This one?" Grey asked. "Ribbit, ribbit."

Scootaloo blinked. Somehow, Grey had made a completely perfect frog call. "Wh—how'd you do that?"

Grey laughed. "I've had a lot of experience transforming into other animals, and a lot of time to practice. Once you've spent enough time in so many shapes, you kinda get used to the ways you can make one form more like a different form."

"Huh, I guess that makes sense. But it seems like that would take a long time to master."

Grey didn't say anything in response; he merely winked. Scootaloo was about to say something—maybe ask more questions—when she realised they were exiting the darkened forest as the path led them out into a clearing where the path converged with others from all different directions into a circle in the middle lined with rectangular hedges that had a few benches and a few streetlamps.

Without warning, Grey slowed down next to Scootaloo and gently nudged her aside. At first, the filly was startled; then, when she saw the guards pouring out of a few of the paths ahead, she realised what the stallion was doing and followed him to the right behind one of the hedges to stay out of sight. Then, centimetre by centimetre, both of them peeked their heads out around the leafy edges of the hedge, careful to remain out of sight.

From what they saw, though, they didn't need to be particularly careful about it. The guardsponies running around looked very much distracted by whatever they were doing, running in groups from paths in the far left and far right. Most of them appeared to be filling up the central circle, creating what appeared to be a pony barricade that faced the left. Others galloped to a nearer path on the left until they went out of view.

"No, no, no... I don't understand," Grey murmured.

"Huh?" Scootaloo looked up at the stallion. "What's wrong?"

"It's... they're not going in the right direction! They're supposed to be all going to that path over there"—he nodded to the far right—"or at least trying to blockade it to stop the... uh... large mammal from escaping. But something's wrong..."

"Maybe something happened somewhere else in the zoo?" Scootaloo pondered.

"Maybe, but what?"

Scootaloo had no answer, but it didn't look like she needed to have one; the answer decided to unfold in front of them like a particularly uncooperative piece of origami. A pony burst out from the left path that guards had been moving towards, and that pony had several guards running quickly behind her, in pursuit. When she got to the barricade of ponies in the centre of the circle, however, the pony stopped dead in her tracks.

And, even though the scene was playing out dozens of metres away from where Grey and Scootaloo were hidden, the filly could still recognise that pink-coated mare with the cream mane anywhere—out in that circle, in the midst of the guards, was Mochi.