Not wasting a second, Grey grabbed ahold of Scootaloo's foreleg and pulled her out from behind the hedge. At first, Scootaloo thought they'd be seen; then, she realised that the guards were distracted, running either to the right in pursuit of Mochi or to the left to attend to their injured comrade. Grey paused and turned to her.

"Scootaloo, there's been a change of plans. We're going to run after Mochi, and then once you catch up with her, we're gonna head to the northwest corner of the zoo—the aquarium. That's where your escape route will be. Okay?"

Scootaloo nodded. "Got it."

"Okay, cool. We're gonna start running now, and something really alarming is going to happen. Whatever happens, don't look back, and please, don't stop running."

"O-okay. I'm ready," Scootaloo affirmed. In response, Grey started running across the grass with Scootaloo following right alongside, both making a beeline from the hedge to the east path. The filly was surprised at how wet the grass was as little droplets splashed onto her legs—she wouldn't have guessed that there was dew underground. Though then she considered whether maybe it was an artificial watering system.

"Hey! You there! We need all civilians to stay out of the area!" a guard yelled off somewhere to her left, but Scootaloo didn't look—she merely focused on running. "You listening to me?!"

And then, somewhere ahead, Scootaloo could hear loud yelling. At first it was distant but then it grew closer, coupled with the sound of thundering hooves on the dirt. As she and Grey neared their destination, the eastern path, she couldn't help but look at the path to the northeast. Dozens of ponies—guards and normal passers-by alike—stampeded out from the mouth of the path, rushing out amongst the guards in the circle. Frenzied cries of confusion and fear filled the air.

"Don't look," Grey hissed. Heeding his advice, Scootaloo trained her eyes on the hedge-lined path ahead of them as they left the grass for the dirt and turned the corner. Above the path was a sign with a graphic of a bird on it, along with some of those strange glyphs below. Once she could see down the new path ahead, though, the filly nearly jumped back in alarm; several guards clad in green uniform were running directly towards them with frantic, worried expressions.

"Keep going," Grey whispered, and keep going is what Scootaloo did. Surprisingly enough, the guards paid them no mind as they ran past. That's when Scootaloo heard it—a loud ROAR that reverberated all around them. Followed by a series of thump, thump, thump, thump, thumps that shook the ground beneath the filly, nearly causing her to step wrong and topple over. Momentarily ignoring Grey's words, Scootaloo looked over her shoulder—and what she saw left her mouth agape.

On the side closest to her of the central circle was a massive grey animal, ten times the size of any pony she'd ever seen. Its wrinkled grey skin looked rough and sandpapery but what started Scootaloo most was the massive, curved horn that jutted out from its snout, with a smaller yet no less frightening horn right behind it. This creature itself was frightening enough but two things made the whole thing even worse—one, that the front horn was caked in a gooey mixture of red and white liquids that were dripping down the side onto the ground, and two, that the creature was charging straight at the ponies in the centre circle.

"Oh, Celestia," Scootaloo murmured as she ran further and further from the sight.

"Scootaloo, please, don't look!" Grey urged. "We... we can't do anything about that right now. Everypony's going to be fine, I swear—but you're not unless we get you out of here!"

"O-okay," Scootaloo stammered as she turned her head back forward. She really, really didn't like the idea of leaving ponies behind in danger, even if they were super mean, but she didn't really have much of a choice in the matter if Grey was to be believed.

As they ran by, Scootaloo and Grey passed several exhibits with cages made from small-weave netting that had birds of different colours flapping their wings around inside. But each time Scootaloo looked at one of the birds, she couldn't help but see the curved talons as being like the curved horn of the rhinoceros they were leaving behind to wreak havoc on the guards and visitors of the zoo. Eventually, Scootaloo started to just look down at the dirt of the path, counting her hoofsteps and making sure not to step in anyone else's.