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Undertow	By : pronker Category: +M through R > Penguins of Madagascar Views: 11341 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I make no profit from this fanfiction set in Dreamworks' Penguins of Madagascar franchise. I do not own its characters, basic premise or settings.

Chapter List
- 1-1/?
- 2-2/?
- 3-3/?
- 4-4/?
- 5-5/?
- 6-6/?
- 7-7/?
- 8-8/?
- 9-9/?
- 10-10/?
- 11-11/?
- 12-12/?
- 13-13/?
- 14-14/?
- 15-15/?
- 16-16/?
- 17-17/?
- 18-18/?
- 19-19/?
- 20-20/?
- 21-21/?
- 22-22/?
- 23-23/?
- 24-24/?
- 25-25/?
- 26-26/?
- 27-27/?
- 28-28/?
- 29-29/?
- 30-30/?
- 31-31/?
- 32-32/?
- 33-33/?
- 34-34/?
- 35-35/?
- 36-36/?
- 37-37/?
- 38-38/?
- 39-39/?
- 40-40/?
- 41-41/?
- 42-42/?
- 43-43/?
- 44-44/?
- 45-45/?
- 46-46/?
- 47-47/?
- 48-48/?
- 49-49/?
- 50-50/?
- 51-51/?
- 52-52/?
- 53-53/?
- 54-54/?
- 55-55/?
- 56-56/?
- 57-57/?
- 58-58/?
- 59-59/?
- 60-60/?
- 61-61/?
- 62-62/?
- 63-63/?
- 64-64/?
- 65-65/?
- 66-66/?
- 67-67/?
- 68-68/?
- 69-69/?
- 70-70/?
- 71-71/?
- 72-72/?
- 73-73/?
- 74-74/?
- 75-75/?
- 76-76/?
- 77-77/?
- 78-78/?
- 79-79/?
- 80-80/?
- 81-81/?
- 82-82/?
- 83-83/?
- 84-84/?
- 85-85/?
- 86-86/?
- 87-87/?
- 88-88/?
- 89-89/?
- 90-90/?
- 91-91/?
- 92-92/?
- 93-93/?
- 94-94/?
- 95-95/?
- 96-96/?
- 97-97/?
- 98-97/?
- 99-99/?
- 100-100/?
- 101-101/?
- 102-102/?
- 103-103/?
- 104-104/?
- 105-105/?
- 106-106/?
- 107-107/?
- 108-108/?
- 109-109/?
- 110-110/112
- 111-111/112
- 112-112/112
- 14
- 15
- 16
Colleen never knew when the urge would hit. No, not the urge to mark her territory, because that was a given with all horses. One corner of her stall received all the waste her body could muster, for how else could her stablemates know not to intrude on her space? And if any ignorant human tried to force a colleague into her stall, Colleen was guaranteed a rearing, snorting, bugling display of resistance. The entrance or non-entrance didn't actually matter; it was the display that counted to continue camaraderie among her kind. Cramming horses into unfamiliar surroundings discomfited the horse, the handler, and Nature itself.

Weeks later, Penny would deduce the reason for today's odyssey to Colleen's smothered resentment over her tail bobbing that would have ached from the previous morning's rain. Not only did Penny figure it would have ached for days, but the tail no longer existed to whisk away flies from her, her stablemates' or her sister's hides in friendly fellowship. Bobbed tails went against Nature.
Colleen loved Nature more than her sister did. When the urge to wander, to explore, to roam visited, she proved herself sneakier than an orangutan at lipping open her stall's closure. Wild and free, she made it time after time to parts of the park she had never visited: the Hallett Nature Preserve once, where seeing the sad remains of a falcon's kill cured her of visiting it ever again, and the jaunt last weekend to Strawberry Fields Memorial with its delicious flower sidewalk tributes to some musician. Whinnying and sidestepping, she had been driven away from nibbling a rhododendron bouquet by a fellow who others called Mare Dos Santos.
Penny and that nice Mohawk man who rode her sometimes led her back to her stall on that occasion, Penny being a complete noodge about the Code 507 while muttering they'll pull you from their carriage lineup, you wait and see and humans have only so much patience they're not like us animals. Colleen ignored the scolding and smiled benignly at the good intentions. Penny meant well, for a police horse career girl. As a steady puller of tourist carriages day after day, year after year on the same old horse path except for her three maternity leaves, Colleen valued freedom perhaps a scosche more than Penny did.
Today, Central Park Zoo called to her and as she clip clopped through the open service entrance gates, humans shifted out of her way this midmorning fearlessly with no uniformed human in view. Colleen called greetings to her fellow creatures as she toured. How pathetic that they were behind moats and steel bars. They had even less freedom than she did. Her heart thudded in sympathy and she had to stop walking until it ceased pounding unevenly against her ribs.
She perked up when she saw four penguins that Penny had told her about. "Hi!"
The bird with the most rounded tummy returned the greeting. "'Allo there! Welcome to our zoo! Fancy seein' a splashdown routine this fine Halloween?"
Colleen paused. The space program represented the humans' delight in exploring Nature, so she said yes.
Another penguin taller than the first one took charge. She thought the shape of his head and her driver's top hat had a lot in common. "Way to meet and greet, Private, I dig it. Team, Operation: Make Waves is a go!" Colleen noticed the penguin's gesture, they all rolled into the water rather than dove and then the routine began. She strained to see it through blurred vision and shook her head to clear it. Eh, age was catching up to her and she'd better enjoy her freedom all she could.
Seven humans joined her, shoulder to shoulder in easy friendship. Colleen made horse sounds that the humans imitated gleefully as the four black and white birds upended and pointed straight down to their moat's bottom. A suspenseful minute passed before the four shot skyward as one, joined flippers and fell as skydiving humans did before separating into two pairs and splashing down.
"Cor," giggled the roundest one as he surfaced, "I love that routine, it's a corker, it is. Like it?"
Colleen bobbed her head enough to shake her roached mane. "More! What a treat!"
The penguins smiled and waved cheerily at their audience, but the mood collapsed like an overcooked soufflé.
"Stupid cart broke down again, I get so much grief from this stupid job. All right, break it up, zookeeper coming through! Gangway!" A chunky human wearing a uniform nudged aside her fellow humans, who parted reluctantly. "You! Outta my way!"
Colleen flattened her ears to her skull at the strident voice and tough manner, a sure sign in horses of displeasure. She reared and if the humans had been complacent with her presence before, they lost it as she flared her nostrils and snorted. She would not be returned to her stall this soon! Freedom was worth it, worth more. Maybe Penny understood humans better and wouldn't get so riled at authoritarian interference, but Colleen was not Penny. Colleen dropped to all fours in a six-bounce staccato crowhop and then bowed her muzzle to the bricks before throwing her hind hooves to the sky as she sunfished.
"Runaway! Look out, everyone!" The uniformed human backed off, palms raised. "Whooooaaa, Nellie! Whooooa, girl! Cool it!"
Too late. Colleen reared to rake her hooves toward the clouds blowing in and danced on her hind feet. With her bay hide taut over muscles hardened by years of hauling, she resembled the war horse in the park's statue depicting José Julián Martí four blocks south and one long block west. Certainly Colleen's emotions rose to the boiling point as much as that other horse's did and she trumpeted to the sky. A pleasant outing this turned out to be! Whatever next!
What happened next remained a kaleidoscope of blurred images for animals and humans alike to sort out later: the seven nearest guests turning tail to escape the kerfluffle, four penguins escaping their captivity lightning-quick to settle onto Colleen's back, Colleen bolting like a scared rabbit for the service entrance gate and coming to it closed, which didn't stop her from lunging full force at it. The closure popped as Colleen and her passengers raced through to freedom. Why, how silly of her; she was running out of breath at this tiny exertion.
Before she knew it, she darted across macadam and towards the confusing scents of both stagnant and fresh water. She broke into a canter that must have shaken her passengers, or maybe it was a running walk gait, ah it didn't matter if she remembered the term or not. Nobody had ridden her in ever so long and the sensation felt weird.
"H-H-Horse! Where are you takin' us?"
Once she got away from the brick walkways and cement curbs, Colleen calmed. A pond promised a drink and a chance to breathe. She trotted towards the pond and answered the question at last. A human couple scattered before her with shouted warnings to each other.
"It's not that you're unwelcome, but what the forage are you doing?" Colleen couldn't see directly behind her to spy on the penguins perched on her back. The penguin in authority climbed toe over toe up her mane to sit between her ears and the other three leaned far to either side so her rearward horse vision could get them in range. "I don't know why you rode along! I'm just out for a stroll!"
The penguin cupped her ear to speak directly into it. "We protect this zoo, equine, and you ran off the rails. You could have hurt a guest back there and we can't allow that." She swiveled her ears forward. The bird's words gave her a chance to think as she slowed to a walk.
This time of day, hours after her dawn wide-awake brightness, was when Colleen's brain wearied of facing anyone, human or animal. Sludgy thoughts, heightened feelings and impulsive notions formed her new reality since about three months back. Penny was worried about her, but she was not worried about herself. Whatever would be, would be. "I could have hurt a human, couldn't I. Hmmmm."
The mushy footing by the pond slowed her pace as much as the hour of day slowed her thoughts. She plodded hock deep into the water, stumbled and stretched down her neck. She felt the birds' weight bobble on her back at her misstep as she grinned around a snatch of watery grass. "How about a swim here in the wild? I'll wait for you and take you back."
Several enthusiastic replies met her ears, or was that the buzzing of insects? Why was she confused about what was going on with her body? She regarded her peaceful surroundings through a halo of wavery black. The bird's reply took her by surprise. "Men, Alice will clomp in here any moment now with backup to gather this odd-toed ungulate. We need to make sure she doesn't wander away. This sitch isn't over yet. Stay frosty."
Colleen heard a chorus of awwwwwws and a large Nutz! and then silence as deep as she'd ever experienced swamped her senses. Nary a buzz or animal voice met her ears. How strange was it that the grass lost its taste? She dribbled it into the mud. Hey, her tail stub didn't ache anymore! It would be both fun and soothing to play in the water, get dirty and make the humans fuss over her! How easy peasy to kneel and then splash on her side. She didn't hear penguin warnings or feel the penguin riding her head jump off along with the penguin clinging to the left half of her back. She rolled into the muck to thrust her nostrils above water with a final burst of strength.
IOIOIOIIOIO
"What the hamsteaks! Watch out, she's collaps--- "
Kowalski shouted to Rico. "Rico, get out from under! Private, she'll squash you! Bail off!"
Skipper and Kowalski slapped the mud to break the short fall and leaped to their feet. "Private! Rico! Sound off immediatamente!"
"Skipper, they got trapped under her!"
No more words came forth as the two penguins flailed away mud and swampy water from around the barrel of Colleen's motionless body. Minutes passed that they didn't bother to count, precious minutes' worth of oxygen they breathed and their teammates did not. Skipper called on all his strength and Kowalski thought desperately that Rico must have been knocked out because he spouted no helpful floor jack from his amazing gut. The two flung mud like a combined Elmer, Becky and Stacy to free their friends.
When Kowalski felt a thick thigh, he crowed, "Rico's here!" He pulled as hard as he could before Skipper joined him. One sturdy tug from their combined strength and Rico popped out. They tossed him onto higher, drier ground and sought for a smaller body. Another two minutes passed as agonizingly slow as Skipper's dread at his final test before he passed OCS.
When Private's limp form surfaced, the slack features nearly broke his commander's heart. He and Kowalski lay the two side by side and compressed lungs, cleared airways and pushed legs hard up into bellies to force out water. Three more laboring minutes passed before two sputtering intakes graced their earholes from gasping beaks in retching bodies.
"Close --- so damn close to losing --- "
"Can't --- think about it --- no options left --- unacceptable --- "
Kowalski and his skipper drooped over their loves in nervous exhaustion. When Alice ran up to scope out the disaster, the mud stuck the four together in a sodden brown ball and they wouldn't have had it any other way.
"Penguins! Why did it have to be penguins?"
A few guests had run with the zookeeper to see the excitement.
"What the --- where did this horse come from, anyway? Is that a Park carriage horse brand?" Alice plopped beside Colleen and wrestled the mud spattered bay head onto her lap. "You! Call the zoo doc! You! Call 911, yeah I know it's only a horse! No, this is not a Trick!"
Five minutes later, the commander's and his lieutenant's concentration on their comrades remained so intense they did not hear the zoo's truck surge over the East Drive's curb and fishtail through the mud to reach their location.
IOIOIOIOIO
Colleen rested easy, her work done. She blinked slowly as the uniformed human with the strong arms and gruff voice held her in a firm grip. The world darkened, yet Colleen's sense of smell remained keen. She sniffed long and deep and what her nose told her opened her blind eyes to perceive beyond mundane sight. I will soon be free, human lady, but you are about to lose your freedom for decades at a time because your job is just beginning, thought Colleen. Her ribs heaved thrice and then no more.
The autumn breeze bore away the spirit of a dutiful animal to the Rainbow Bridge and its crossing proved as simple and natural as Colleen herself.
IOIOIOIOIO
"Aw, for cripes' sake, after the trouble you caused, are you done for?" Still and all, Alice sat in the mire holding the horse's head until the emergency vet vehicle beep beeped backwards to the shoreline with an outstretched winch. She relinquished her duty to Doc with a resigned grimace. "I'm all right, Doc, don't fuss. Yeah, I ran cross country like a gillygalloo to keep 'em in sight 'cause I didn't wanna wait till you got the truck going. I got promoted last week from hourly to salary pay, so I guess I gotta give a hundred and ten percent nowadays. Sheesh. Gimme that cage, willya?" She scooped the four penguins inside a large container.
As Doc pronounced the death and Alice traffic copped away nosey Parkers, Skipper found his voice. "The Grim Reaper? Really?"
Kowalski stroked Rico's unconscious face as he stared out the bars of their cage. "It was her time. Heart attack after her runaway, most likely. She looked long in the tooth for a carriage horse."
Skipper leaned his back against the bars as he held Private's flipper. "Then it's a relief we don't have teeth."
"Heh, yeah." The winch hauled half a ton of horseflesh up the truck's ramp. "Yeah."
IOIOIOIOIO
- 14
- 15
- 16
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Undertow