Friendship on Madagascar

Tragic backstory to a plan

The circus train was traveling through the night as the zoo gang and equestria group talked about the bad performance. "This is a disaster!" Alex said. "We blow all our money on a bad circus, and we're not any closer to New York!" Gloria said sadly. "lf anything, we're further away!" Melman added. "We could have at least bought a circus that knew how to circ!" Marty then said. "It's just like an apple that looks good on the outside but is rotten inside when you take a bite." Applejack said.

Skipper then appered inside and box with the other penguins. "l don't even know why we bought a circus in the first place. We had enough dough for a plane!" He said and everyone looked at him shocked. "Are you kidding me?" Rainbow said mad. "You must have some money left over." Gloria said before Skipper pulled out some teeth of gold. "l used it to buy teeth and then have them capped in gold. Now l can eat apples! Sadly, l discovered l… I don't like apples." He said before throwing them aside.

Alex looked outside the train as the others kept talking. Fluttershy and Trixie walked over to him. "Don't beat yourself down." Trixie said as she and Fluttershy stood beside him. "Why not? Our chance of us going home is gone." He said sadly while still looking out. "I'm sure everything is gonna be fine." Fluttershy said and patted his back.

Just then they saw Stefano who gestured to them to follow him outside. Alex opened the door, causing them all three to fly out. The others looked where they where. "Where did Alex go?" Gloria asked. "And Fluttershy and Trixie?" Twilight added. "l don't know." Marty answered. "Maybe they flew away with some cotton candy clouds." Pinkie said as the others looked at her confused.

Outside the train was Alex hanging on the side as Fluttershy held Trixie while flying.
They managed to get on top of the train. Stefano then shouted at them. "Come on! This way!" Alex shook his head scared. "No, no, no. You come this way!" Alex said. "Hey Alice, Tracey, Fluffypie watch your heads!" Stefano then shouted before pointing at a tunnel coming up. They ran before Trixie used her magic to teleport them inside the cart in the last moment. "Thanks Trixie." Alex said while breathing out in relief. "You're welcome." Trixie said out of breath.

Stefano walked into the cart. "Amazing. Best magic trick I've seen." He said and Trixie smiled a little. "l hope this is important." Alex said. "Come this way, Alice, Tracey and Fluffypie." Stefano said and lead them the way. "By the way, it's "icks" not "iss." Alex. Like New York Knicks." Alex corrected. "l know. New York Kniss. ls not hard." Stefano said. Fluttershy and Trixie shrugged as they didn't mind him saying their name wrong.

Soon they entered a cart full of old pictures and posters. "Whoa. What is this place?" Alex asked. "l know you think we are a stinky, poopy circus, but there is something you must know. There was a time when Circus Zaragoza, we were a great circus! Numero uno in all the Europa! And Vitaly... he was the biggest star of us all. He was fearless. Taking risks. Always new. He jump through the hoop like he could fly!" Stefano started as he got a flashback from when Vitaly jumped through very small rings.

"lt had never been done before because it was physically impossible! And the people... they loved it! Viva Vitaly!" He continued as Trixie's eyes glimmered. "And the hoop, she got smaller! Like the ring on a finger of the tiniest lady with the slimmest of fingers." Stefano said. "Wow." Fluttershy said. "He would not stop pushing. And one fateful day... ...he push too far." Stefano said as a flashback of when the ring was on fire which ended up burning Vitaly. Fluttershy, Alex and Trixie was shocked.

"He fly too close to the sun... and he got burned. Literally. The extra virgin olive oil is extra flammable. And he lost everything. His wife, she run off with a musician. He lost his dignity... his fame... ...his passion... and his fur. And when it grow back, it is less soft. More like a prickly beard. His only passion now is the borscht." He ended the story. "Whoa." Alex said as Fluttershy and Trixie stood there quiet. "It's so sad!" All three jumped as they saw Pinkie crying. "How did you get here?" Fluttershy asked. "Oh. I was just walking around the train when I stopped here and heard the story." Pinkie answered and they just shrugged.

Stefano put the small ring away. "He was our inspiration. So when he lost his passion, well... as Vitaly goes, so goes the circus. This is why we need your help." He said and turned to Alex. "What sort of help?" Alex asked. "You can teach us to do new circus. Americano style! We find a new passion. Make a new show. And we go all the way to US and A! A! l know. lt is stupido idea. We are a lost cause." Stefano answered as Alex thought about it.

"No, no, no, this isn't stupido. This could work!" He said. "What?" Stefano asked. "What you just said." Alex answered. "What?" Stefano asked again. "Your stupido idea!" Alex smiled. "lt could?" Stefano said hope full. "Stefano, you're a genius!" Alex said. "No, no, no, no. l am only average intelligence. Some say l'm even slightly below." Stefano said.

Alex and the other three walked to the group and talked about their idea. "We are gonna rethink everything anybody's ever known about circus! l call it Phase 4-7B, wherein, in order to get home, we will come up with something fresh, something amazing, something brand-new! Fresh, never before seen! Off the chain! Something that'll blow that circus promoter away!" Alex said before getting knives thrown at him the next day. "I missed." Vitaly said as he had just thrown the knives.

The other circus animals wasn't that happy. "I don't think they loved your idea darling." Rarity said. "Circus has been same for generations! We make good, classic family entertainment." Vitaly said holding an axe.
"Aha! But last few generations, families... not so entertained. Mmm.." Stefano said before getting glares from the others. "That's right. Families not so entertained because you're just going through the motions out there. lt's missing passion." Alex said. "How one to have passion for stool poked in face?" Vitaly asked.

"Exactly! And by stool you mean chair, right?" Marty said confused. "The fact is, you guys, you got stuck in a rut. You stopped pushing, you stopped taking risks. But those days are over. Because now we're going to completely change the show." Trixie said stepping in. "Then it wouldn't be a circus, would it?" One of the dogs said. "Circus is not about the acts you do. Circus is in here." Alex said and pointed at the dog's heart. "How comes Freddie gets all the circus?" Another dog asked.

"Circus is about following your passions, wherever they take you!" Alex said. "Pftt. You cannot change circus. There is long tradition!" Vitaly snarled. "That's what everybody thought, Vitaly, until those French Canadians came along, drunk off their maple syrup and cheap pharmaceuticals, and completely flipped the paradigm." Alex said. "Now they play Vegas. Fifty shows a day in 52 separate venues. And one of them completely in the nude." Marty added. "Yeah, that's right. And you know how they did it?" Alex asked. "Take off their clothes?" Stefano said.

"No. They got rid of the animals." Alex said and the circus animals gasped. "Well, you know what l say to that! l say they can take the animals out of the circus, but they cannot take the animals out of the circus!" Alex then said and everyone looked confused. Fluttershy stepped in. "He means. They can take the animals out of the circus, but they cannot take the circus out of the animals!" She said and everyone cheered.

"We don't need humans because we've got passion. What does a human say when he's passionate? He says, "l'm an animal!" Well, we are animals!" Alex shouted as more cheered. "We'll make an all-animal circus! Because if we follow our passion, we can go anywhere." He added. He continued and soon the circus animals was ready to do this.

"Fur power! Fur power! Fur power! Fur power! Fur power!" The circus animals shouted. "Take our circus back, and we'll do it together! That’s right!" Alex said before they split up. The equestria group gathered. "This is gonna be awesome." Rainbow said and the others nodded. But then Starlight spoke. "But. What about if we get to New York. What are we gonna do then? Tell them the truth?" She asked and the others looked at her before realizing it was true.

"It's gotta be so bad if they do." Spike said. "Yeah. It's gonna be a sad third act where a bad truth comes out and a conflict comes. It's so so bad." Pinkie said and the others looked at her confused. "What are we gonna do Twilight?" Applejack asked. Twilight thought a little before speaking. "Let's just focus on this right now. The other we think of after." She said and the others nodded. Right now was time to help the circus animals getting ready for their new performances.