"Start spreading the news!" Alex sang as he danced around. He was in Marty's hut back on Madagascar; supposedly packing for the trip. Alex was, however, too excited to sit still.

"I'm leaving today!" Marty chimed in. He was also supposed to be packing.

The both struck a dramatic pose, "We want to be a part of it!" they chorused, "New York, New York!"

At that moment, King Julien and Maurice walked in. Julien shook his head, "Why don't you sing 'I Like to Move It, Move It'? Your song is too short, and tricky to dance to."

"Oh, that's not the whole song," Marty explained, "there's more!"

"Yeah!" Alex grinned happily, "Sing it, Marty!"

Marty obliged, "These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray. And make a brand new start of it, New York, New York!"

Alex sang, "I want to wake up in the city that never sleeps. To find I'm king of the hill, top of the heap…"

"These little town blues are melting away…" Marty added.

They both jumped up onto Marty's bar counter and sang, "I'll make a brand new start of it, in old New York. If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere! It's up to you, New York, New Yorrrk!"

Julien shook his head, "I still prefer 'I Like to Move It, Move It'."

"Hey, that's cool." Marty shrugged.

Alex grinned even broader, "Besides, 'New York, New York' makes more sense if we sing it."

"Hmm," Julien thought about this, "Because that is where you are from!" he declared, "Maybe I should make a song about Madagascar."

Maurice smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"You do that," Alex nodded amusedly, "You could sing it for us when we come back for a visit!"

King Julien frowned, "I wish you did not want to leave. What's wrong with our home?"

"Nothing's wrong with it." Alex said, "It's just that we miss our home."

The lemur king nodded, "Myself, I can understand that. But the others, they do not. We will miss you, Giant Freaks."

Maurice agreed, "You've helped us twice, now. You got rid of the fossa, and the live people."

"Glad to help!" Alex said, feeling chipper.

"Now," Julien folded his arms, "Is there anything we can be doing for you?"

Marty thought. "Well, you could take care of our huts for us while we're gone."

Julien nodded in a kingly way, "Consider it done, Striped One. We will keep your lovely huts nice and cozy for your return."

Before they knew it, Alex, Marty, Melman, Cora, and Gloria found themselves standing in front of the ship. All of the supplies (including a huge crate of fish) had already been packed on board. It was time to say goodbye to Madagascar.

All of the lemurs had come to see them off.

"Y'know?" Alex mused, "I think I'm really going to miss this place."

"I know I am." Marty agreed.

Alex glanced worriedly at Marty.

"Don't worry, Alex. I'm excited about going to New York, too!" Marty reassured him.

"I can't wait to see New York!" Cora breathed, "I've been all over the African coast, and parts of America, but never New York."

Gloria smiled and sighed happily, "You are gonna love it, girl! Pamper city!"

"Of course I'll love it," Cora grinned, "I'm going there with my new best friends!"

Melman sighed at the tall staircase leading up to the boat, "I guess we have to go up again."

"Just forget that you have a fear of heights!" Alex said helpfully, "And don't look down!"

Melman took a step forward, hesitated, then backed up, "You guys go first." He said.

Marty bounded up, followed by Alex, who took the stairs two at a time. Cora giggled excitedly and trotted up the stairs. Melman waited.

"Oh, no, Melman!" Gloria said, "You are going up ahead of me! Go on, you can do it. You did it before!"

"That was before!" Melman protested, "This is now!"

Gloria gave him a push. The giraffe shut his eyes and stumbled up the stairs. The hippo followed him.

"Bye!" shouted the lemurs.

Alex pointed at them, "Look!"

The lemurs had arranged themselves by fur color so that they formed the words, "Bon Voyage" with their bodies.

Alex smiled as he waved to the lemurs, "Bye, little fuzzbuckets!"

The five friends waved from the ship.

"This feels familiar." Marty remarked.

"Yeah," Melman agreed, "Except last time, the boat didn't have gas in it."

"It does now!" Alex said proudly. Then he turned to Skipper, who was standing nearby, "Right?"

Skipper nodded, "All systems are go for departure," Skipper blinked, "Are you all present and accounted for?"

"Yeah, we're all here." Alex glanced around at the others.

"Then let's be on our way." Skipper hurried off to the cabin.

In no time, the ship was once again sailing away from Madagascar.

This time, maybe for forever.

It seemed like forever since the boat had left Madagascar. Cora was used to living on a boat, but the others had been asleep during most of the trip from New York.

Each animal had their own problems with the long voyage. The penguins were bored. Gloria longed for a good soak in a pool. Alex felt pent up and antsy. Marty wasn't complaining, but he didn't seem like his usual happy self. Cora wondered how they were going to survive the trip.

The stars sparkled above the horse sitting on the cargo boat deck. The constellations reflected in her eyes. Everyone else was asleep, worn out from trying to keep themselves occupied. Cora took a deep breath of the air. It tasted strongly of salt.

The horses back home would've loved this. Cora's mind drifted through thought, they always fought over the salt lick. I was never able to reach it. And now, I have more salt than I could ever want. I wonder what those horses are doing now? Probably sleeping in a barn. I always wanted my own stall, maybe with a nameplate on the door.

"Hey, Cora!"

Startled, Cora jumped out of her daydream, "Marty! Hi!"

"I didn't mean to interrupt you," Marty said apologetically, "If you want, I can go somewhere else…"

"No, it's fine." Cora smiled, "I was just daydreaming."

Marty sat down beside her, "Really?"

Cora waved a hoof, "Yeah, I was thinking about what my life would be like had I stayed in the States."

Marty nodded, "I did that once with New York."

"Only once?" Cora cocked her head.

"Well, after that, it just got boring." Marty admitted, "Same old, same old. I mean, that's one reason I wanted to leave New York in the first place."

Cora frowned in confusion, "So…you wanted to go? I thought Mist…Alex said you guys were transferred."

Marty winced, "Let's just say that my very short vacation earned all of us a very long vacation.

"Ahh," Cora said, "I see. And now you're going back."

"Yeah," Marty answered, "I hate seeing Alex so sad. He misses New York so much. He was a king there. Crowds came to the zoo just to see him. He really misses the special treatment and the popularity." Marty looked distant for a while, thinking about the world they'd left only weeks ago, and how much they had changed since then.

"So," Marty tried to start another conversation, What about you? How did you end up way out here from Kansas?"

Cora sighed, "I'm not from Kansas. I was actually born on a horse farm in Virginia. I lived there until I was a year old. Then some people came and took me away to a place called New Jersey, and that's where I grew up."

"No way!" Marty cried, "New Jersey's right near New York! Oh, but don't tell Alex that's were you're from."

"Why not?" Cora frowned.

Marty opened his mouth, closed it, and then answered, "Just don't."

"Okay," Cora shrugged, "Anyway, I was about five years old when that awful man took me to be his pack horse. I did that for four years. Four years. One day, I stumbled and accidentally spilled the gear. From then on, nothing I did was good enough. Except one thing. Occasionally, I could lure them an animal to trap."

Cora watched Marty's face, but he didn't seem bothered to be talking to a former murder accomplice, so she continued. She needed to tell this to someone, and she felt that she owed Marty an explanation.

She took a deep breath, "That was the only time he was decent to me. When he was mad, he threatened to throw me overboard. Then one day, luring small animals wasn't enough. The man said he wouldn't feed me until I found him a larger animal." Cora's blue eyes were wet and shiny like the sea.

"Me." Marty finished.

Cora looked down. "Yeah," she breathed.

"That's over, Cora!" Marty told her," That life is done! You can start over fresh in New York with us! The people would probably let you stay at the zoo. Or maybe you could get a job with the police or at the riding academy!"

Cora shook her head, "Oh, Marty, the police wouldn't take me with my record. However," Cora paused thoughtfully, "the zoo sounds nice."

"Um, sure!" Marty grinned, "You'll see, it'll be great. You can forget the past and live a whole new future!"

"Sounds good, Marty." Cora smiled. I can't believe you can forgive me. But I'll never be able to forget what I did to you and your friends. I don't deserve you guys. But I sure am grateful that you gave me a new beginning.

Somehow, Cora couldn't say her thoughts out loud.

Marty yawned, "I'm going to hit the hay. I'll see you in the morning, Cora!"

"Goodnight, Marty." Cora called to the zebra, "Sweet dreams!"

Alex was not having sweet dreams. He tossed and turned and twisted in his bed that Marty'd built out of a crate. Finally, he opened his eyes. The lion groaned the stars. It was still night, with no sign of a sunrise.

Go away. Alex thought grumpily at the stars.

And they did.

"Huh?" Alex sat up, still looking at the sky. He blinked.

The stars had started to disappear behind clouds lit by moonlight. Why were the stars hiding?

The sleepy lion soon realized that the ship was drifting under a cloud bank.

"Great, just what we need, another storm!" Alex growled, flopping back down onto his bed.

"Alex! Alex!" Marty ran up excitedly, "Did you see it?"

"Yes," groaned Alex, "I saw it. Man, I hate storms."

Marty looked strangely at his best friend, "What are you talking about? What storm?"

"That one." Alex pointed at the clouds.

"Uh, Al?" Marty grinned, "That's no storm! That's smog!"

"Smog?" Alex leapt up and peered at the sky, "Smog! It's smog! We're near a city!" The lion danced around, "I love smog!"

Amused, Marty grabbed Alex's paw, "C'mon! I wanna show you something."

Alex was dazed. We're near a city! Civilization! He thought, staring at the back of Marty's head as the zebra led him to the front of the boat.

Alex's grin widened, then melted into a look of utter joy when he saw what lay just beyond the front of the boat.

"It's…it's..." Alex gasped, "is it?"

Ahead of the boat were lights, thousands of lights. Lights from streets, lights from skyscrapers, moving lights, flashing lights. The boat was moving smoothly towards the sea of lights.

"New York!" Alex leapt up and yelled, "Yeah! I'm home!" The lion stood on the rail at the front of the huge ship and raised his paws above his head, imagining a crowd waving at him, "I'm the king of New York!" he yelled to the city. Marty watched him, grinning.

On the other side of the boat, the other three were asleep.

"Medic!" yelled Melman, waking up. Cora and Gloria jolted awake.

"Awww, Melman!" Cora yawned, "Why'd you do that? I was just falling asleep!"

The giraffe looked around, "I thought I heard someone yelling! Pee yew!" Melman wrinkled his nose, "I smell air pollution!"

Gloria listened and sniffed. She heard yells coming from the front of the boat, and she smelled the air pollution, as well. The hippo put two and two together.

Apparently, so did Melman and Cora.

All three animals raced to the bow, where Alex and Marty were watching the city drift closer and closer.

Ahead lay home.

"Honnnnnnnnk!" The boat slowed down as it approached what Cora correctly guessed was the famous New York. She smiled at Alex, "We're here, right?"

"Right!" Alex cried joyfully. Then he frowned, "Wait a minute…what's that thing?" He pointed to a large round wheel with lighted spokes. It slowly rotated, appearing to float above the land mass in front of the boat. All around it were other strange lighted structures.

"That's Coney Island." Melman informed them, "We are definitely back."

Cora watched in delight as famous New York landmarks seemed to float past. A thick fog was rolling in, hiding the water as the big ship sailed into the Upper New York Bay.

The Statue of Liberty rose through the fog from her vantage point on Ellis Island. In the distance, the East River bridges twinkled with traffic. Manhattan itself glinted in the foggy darkness, with the Empire State Building standing proudly in the skyline.

Alex sighed blissfully.

The boat turned.

Alex squinted, then ran to the ship's cabin. He blinked at the penguins, who were busily running the ship.

"Uh, guys, that's the Hudson! The zoo is on the east side of Central Park!" Alex cried.

Skipper looked Alex in the eye, "The bridges in the East River won't allow us to get through."

"Ok." Alex glared. I should've thought of that.

A bit miffed, Alex returned to his friends. The boat kept sailing up the Hudson.

Cora watched in fascination as the city went past. Alex approached her.

"Not in Kansas anymore, huh?" Alex grinned at her, his ego having recovered from the penguins.

Cora breathed, "It looks wonderful! So pretty with all the lights! But…"

"But what?" Alex frowned.

"But…" Cora turned to Alex, "I don't see any pastures or grass. Just buildings."

"Of course!" Alex shrugged, "It's a city. There is grass in Central Park, though."

"Is that where we are going?" Cora asked.

Alex nodded to the city, "That's where we are going."

Up in the cabin, Skipper twirled the boat's steering wheel, causing the large ship to turn into a docking area on the west side of Manhattan.

"That, boys, is how you park a boat." Skipper proudly patted the wheel.

The boat slammed to a stop in the docking area, throwing all five mammals to the deck. Cora picked herself up and peered down over the edge of the ship. She knew it was a long way down, and it looked longer with the dock obscured by the dense fog.

Alex bounced to his feet, "Come on, guys! Let's go home!"

Cora glanced doubtfully at the gangplank still on board from the rescue mission, "How are we going to get down there?"

Undeterred, Alex grinned, "We'll use a ladder! Marty? Where's the ladder?"

"I'll get it!" Marty dashed down the deck.

In no time, Marty and Alex had the long bamboo ladder lowered from the boat to the ground.

"Wait," Cora said, "won't the people notice a bunch of animals leaving a cargo ship and running around a city?"

Alex's grin wavered a little, "Uh…"

"She's right," Gloria said, "remember last time we went for a walk through town?"

"Uh huh." Marty groaned.

Melman shuddered, "I do not want to repeat that experience!"

"Well," Alex put his paws on his hips, "What should we do?"

Cora's eyes sparked a bit mischievously, "I have an idea…"

Cora, Marty, Melman, Gloria, and Alex all stood on the deck wearing their disguises.

"It's a good thing for us that the people left in a hurry." Cora remarked, donning a long brown coat and floppy hat.

Alex, wearing a blue shirt and suspenders, sighed, "I'm getting really good at picking locks. I can't believe how much luggage these guys packed! I think I opened more suitcases than there are in the whole of Manhattan!"

Gloria, hands on her hips, humphed, "It's not my fault these people were skin 'n bones! If they'd just had something that fit me…" She was wearing a coarse blanket tied around her body and neck, with holes for her arms.

"Aww, Glo, you make any outfit look good!" Marty grinned at the hippo. He slid a worn leather jacket over a black-and-white striped shirt and dark trousers.

Cora giggled, "Wow, that shirt is SO your color!"

"You think so?" Marty chuckled.

Melman struggled to get a shirt over his head, "I hope this isn't synthetic!" the giraffe's muffled voice said, "I'm allergic to all synthetics!"

Alex tried to help Melman, "Y'know, Melman? I'm not sure you're going to pass for a human."

"At least it's dark," Marty pointed out, "Dark and foggy."

The penguins arrived on the deck. They took in the clothed animals. Skipper nodded and stepped forward, "I see you have procured some camouflage. Are you prepared to depart?"

"Yes, SIR!" Marty saluted.

Alex's eyes glowed, "Let's go!"

The penguins slid down the ladder, followed by Alex. Marty watched the lion descend into the fog.

Next went Melman, very slowly, eyes shut tight, holding on for dear life.

Gloria followed the phobic giraffe. Once she disappeared, her voice came floating back up through the fog, "Come on, you two!"

Marty turned to Cora, "Are you ready?"

Cora smiled; it was a deep and sincere smile, "Yes, I am!"

Marty smiled back, "After you!"

Cora nodded prettily at him and then she, too, disappeared into the fog. Marty stood a minute on the ship before he followed her. This is it. I'm going back to life in the city. Thought Marty, but at least everyone else will be happy. The zoo's not so bad! He tried to convince himself. With a sigh, he stepped onto the ladder.

For a while, there was only Marty, the ladder, and darkness. Then his hooves met the ground.

He glanced around, locating his friends. The penguins were scoping the place out. Gloria and Melman and Cora were watching amusedly as Alex attempted to hug the ground. "I'm back! I'm home! I missed you soooo much, New York!" the lion crooned.

"Okay, guys!" Marty bounced, trying to appear excited, "Let's go to the zoo!"

Alex stood up and looked around, almost wildly, "Which way? Where do we go? Where are we?"

"West Side of Manhattan." Melman answered, "either that or New Jersey."

"Ugh!" Alex wiped himself off, "I hope not!"

Marty's voice called from somewhere in the fogginess, "It's Manhattan! That's the Empire State Building!"

Alex's eyes went worried, "Marty! Don't go running off alone!"

Marty reappeared in the darkness, "I'm right here, Alex."

"Don't do that! Stay where I can see you!" Alex told Marty.

Marty looked hurt, but he said nothing.

Gloria rubbed her head thoughtfully, "The Empire State Building's just down 5th Avenue from the zoo."

"So," Melman concluded, "We go to the Empire State Building, find 5th, and follow it north to the zoo. Sounds simple enough."

"This way, guys!" Marty led his friends in the direction of the Empire State Building.

They passed many cafes and restaurants. Delicious smells filled the air as the odd group walked down the sidewalk. Alex's blue eyes widened as they passed a seafood eatery.

"I should've eaten before we left the ship." Alex realized.

Alarmed, his four companions stopped and stared at him.

"Relax, guys!" Alex grinned reassuringly, "I'm not that hungry!"

"Shh!" Cora held up a hoof.

Several people passed the animals on the sidewalk. The people glanced at the animals, but didn't seem suspicious.

Alex, Marty, Cora, Gloria, and Melman sighed when the people were no longer close enough to hear them.

"It worked!" Alex cheered, hi-fiving Marty.

"Yeah, who's the…human?" Marty joked.

Alex grinned playfully, "No humans here!"

"Hey, where are the penguins?" Cora looked around.

"Who knows?" Marty shrugged.

"Who cares?" Alex said, "We're in New York! I still can't really believe it's true! We're on our way home!"