A/N: Alright, people! Let me introduce myself! Name's AnimationGirl and for the first time I have entered the Madagascar section. Actually, not the first time, but I deleted my first Madagascar story after two chapters last year. But now I am way better at writing English, and have this sort story in my mind that I just had to write.
Important notices: First I am from Denmark, and there can be some spelling mistakes that I didn't caught. Sorry for that. Second, the chapters in this story will be short, but that is because there have to be four chapters. One for each horse and then the date. Understand? And at last, I have only seen the third film one time and it was in Danish. So I can't really catch the animals' accent, so please imagine it. I know you can.
I would be very glad if you would review to share your thoughts.
I do not own Madagascar.
Triple Trouble
Chapter one: Esmeralda
Sometimes you just get the most crazy ideas. They come unexpected. At the time where you least expect it. They can make your day better. They can ruin it. Most of the times it ends okay. But sometimes you should just have forgotten all that idea.
Marty didn't do that.
The day started with waking up as usual. Then eating grass as usual. After that, training as usual. Ate lunch as usual. Trained again as usual. Ate dinner as usual. Slept as usual.
Everything as usual.
But the next day Marty got tired of it. To say it out loud, he got bored. And when he realized that, he got frustrated. How could a life in a circus become boring? How much adventure did he need?
So there he walked, lost in his thoughts, not paying attention to the world around. The circus had stopped their travelling for some days, and now all the animals had taken their chance to practice their acts. But Marty… Marty was too busy with thinking.
"Hey!" somebody yelled at him. Marty shrieked in surprise as six dogs suddenly raced past him, all with an incredible speed as they used their rocket-skates.
"Whoah!" Marty tried his best to avoid being hit by the dogs, and they tried desperately not to crash into the confused zebra. But as a dog maneuvered its way between his two legs, Marty lost his balance and stumbled backwards.
One of the dogs turned around and held up a threatening fist. "Watch it!"
"Sorry!" Marty tried and took a few steps back, only to be met by a panicking trumpet sound. The zebra widened his eyes as the next thing he saw was an elephant's butt swinging directly towards him. In the last second he managed the fall to the ground, so he exactly dodged the elephant that flew over him. But the poor animal was taken so aback by Marty's presence, that his training completely failed.
Still hanging in the air by the giant kind of robe that held it, the elephant swung around out of control. Finally it crashed into a big bunch of training equipment. Marty winched by the sound, and slowly backed away as some of the other circus animals stepped closer to see what had happened. The zebra was relieved to see from a distant that the elephant was okay, just a little dizzy.
But as Marty took one more step backwards, something sharp suddenly flew past him. Two seconds later, Vitaly had run out of knives. Luckily enough, Marty had avoided them all, using some weird dance moves and sharp reflexes. He could only blame himself; you were simply stupid if you dared to walk in the way of Vitaly while he was throwing knives. Even though the tiger jumped through rings when they performed, he still used some of his time on his old trick.
The tiger eyed Marty sharply, with crossed arms and an irritated frown on his face. Mary held up a hoof. "Sorry, man. It just isn't my day today."
"Zebras shouldn't be near knives," was Vitaly's only reply.
While Marty walked away he murmured for himself, "You are so right about. I thank my luck that I didn't end up like a…"
"Marty!"
The zebra nearly jumped in the air of surprise. He put his hoof over his racing heart, "It's just you, Stefano! You sure gave me some of a surprise! What's up?"
"You!" the sea lion declared while pointing at his friend.
"Me?" Marty asked. "Hey, if you saw what happened over there, then I swear it was an accident…"
"No, no, no, no, no. I'm not talking about some silly training chaos, no, no."
"Then what…?"
"I'm talking about you having a smile that turns the wrong way!" Stefano told him, following the zebra as the both walked.
Marty looked surprised. "What? Me? No."
"Then why did you nearly end up under an elephant's butt?"
"Lack of concentration, that's it. Nothing to worry about. All's fine! Just some silly, stupid thoughts…"
"About what?"
Marty glanced at Stefano, confused. "Again, please?"
"Silly, stupid thoughts about what, my friend?" the sea lion repeated.
"It's nothing, man. I am just being too thoughtful."
"You can never be too thoughtful! But sometime you just have to push the thoughts away and jump into the canon and then you can fly!"
Marty shook his head at the happy sea lion. "You are right about that, buddy, but this isn't about the canon."
"Then what is it then? The helmet?"
"What is wrong with my helmet?" Marty asked, but he didn't get an answer.
"The penguins?"
"No, they are great. What's..?"
"The sun?!"
"How can anything be wrong with the sun?" Marty asked, confused and curious.
Stefano continued smiling. "It could be too hot!"
"Wha…?" Once again the zebra shook his head. "Everything's fine! Perfect! Crack-a-lacking! Totally crack-a-lacking! Just look at my friends! Happier than ever, that's for sure!" he said, gesturing to Gloria, Melman and Alex that were training.
Up in the air, balancing on the tightrope, were Gloria and Melman dancing. Their happy laughter and giggles could be heard all the way down to the ground where Stefano and Marty were standing, looking up at them.
The animals turned their heads towards the big trapeze course, where Alex was busy with jumping, falling, grabbing and letting go. And he did all that with Gia. Don't get him wrong, Marty liked the beautiful jaguar. The thing was that he missed Alex. After the lion had gotten a girlfriend, he had become happy. Happier than Marty had ever seen him. Happier than when he was in the zoo.
Marty didn't and couldn't blame him for being happy. He just hoped that this romantic stuff wouldn't be too much. Now the only person Alex had in his mind was Gia. But they hadn't been together for that long, and maybe soon it would get a little calmer.
"Do you want to train me? Be cannonballs?" Stefano asked him, changing subject.
Marty winched. The thought of all the chaos he had caused by just walking wasn't exactly calming. When he was as distracted as he was today, being shot out of a canon wasn't really a good idea. Too many things could go wrong if he didn't keep his mind on the flight.
"Maybe later." Marty couldn't help but feel guilty when he saw the sea lion's disappointed face. "After lunch."
"Promise?" Stefano's eyes became visible bigger.
"Of course, man! After lunch we are gonna fly once again!"
"Fly like birds! Wild and free birds!" Stefano yelled as he walked away, back to the wagons.
Marty sighed as he watched him disappear. "Yeah, wild and free..." he muttered quietly. But as he was about to take the next step, he suddenly couldn't put down his hoof. Because on the ground were two lemurs.
"Hey, you better watch out down there. I could have stepped on you," Marty told Maurice and Mort, but none of them seemed to be listening.
"So you got lady problems, huh?" Maurice said with a somehow amused look in his eyes. Mort was standing behind him, hilarious happy as always.
"Excuse me? What lady? I don't see her," Marty said, standing up on two legs.
"The missing one. That's the problem."
"What? I think you are wrong about that one. Me and a girlfriend? No."
But Maurice didn't look convinced. "Because you are so happy without one? Hmmm?"
"Happy!" sounded Mort's voice.
"Okay, I surrender!" Marty said, holding up both of his front hooves. "Maybe I could use a girlfriend. But how did you see that?"
"It's in the eyes. When you go around alone and stare at them with that look in your eyes, it's not that hard to read," the lemur told him, stepping aside so Marty had full sight of his friends laughing and having fun.
"They do look like they are having fun…" Marty muttered, and at the moment, Alex and Gia pulled each other into a hug while falling onto the safety net. Melman's and Gloria's laughter could be heard once again.
"Happy!" Mort said again.
The zebra nodded. "Yeah, happy… But where should I find a girlfriend? I don't see any zebras around here!"
"Maybe not. But I see three pretty horses right over there," Maurice told him, and they all looked around where they could see the Andalusian Triplets where walking around, talking and giggling. The lemur shoved his elbow into the zebra's leg. "And they are from Spain."
Marty stomped a hoof. "Maybe you are right. They are nice, and what could go wrong? One date, I can do that. No problem at all."
"And if it ends in catastrophe you can always take the next one," Maurice told him, but Marty didn't listen.
He came down on all fours and bowed his head down in their level. "Thank you, little friends. Now, excuse me, but I am going to find a date." He started to walk away while shouting, "Spread the word! I'm going to be the master of romantic stuff!"
Suddenly he stopped as a bear crossed his path with a lemur on its back. "Oh, Sonya baby! Where are you taking me, love? Oh, now you turn left! Is the place going to a surprise? For me? You don't have to tell me where you are going; no matter where you want to go, I'll follow! Forever, baby! I'll follow you forever!"
Marty stared with widened eyed at the weird couple that walked past him. The zebra had stopped in the middle of a movement, but now he turned his head back to stare at Maurice.
The lemur shrugged. "Maybe you'll have to turn down the romantic stuff before you end up like him."
"Good to know."
"King Julien!" Mort yelled and stormed after the bear that had his precious leader.
Marty finally walked away from the scene, his eyes focused on the three white horses that he became bigger and bigger as closer he got to them. It couldn't be that hard, could it? He just needed to say some words, and then he would have a date! No problems there.
The girl horses giggled again, and suddenly they began to run. Two of them managed to disappear around a corner before Marty reached them, but the third stopped just in front of him.
"Señor Marty!"
"Hi, E…." Problem! Problem! Who was she? There were Esperanza, Ernestina and Esmeralda, but who was she? They all looked exactly like each other! Now he understood how Alex must have felt back in Africa.
"Esmeralda," she finished for him.
"Exactly! So, Esmeralda, what are you spending your time with?"
The mare tilted her head. "Nothing of importance, Señor Marty. There aren't any problems, are there?"
"No, no, everything's crack-a-lacking! I was just wondering, do you have any plans tonight?"
"I don't think so. My sisters and I…" She stopped as if she suddenly realized something. "No, nothing for tonight, Señor Marty."
The zebra smiled. "Just say 'Marty'. I am so much of a 'Señor'."
"I wouldn't say that, Marty." She smiled back. "But why did you ask?"
"Well, I was wondering if you might want to spend some time with me."
"With you?"
Marty scratched the ground with his leg. "Yeah, you know, me and my stripes. We could meet by the lake," he said, gesturing to the lake that was beside the train.
"That sounds good, Señor Marty."
The zebra's smile widened. "Crack-a-lacking!"
"I have to go now, my sisters are waiting. But I'll see you tonight, Señor Marty."
"See you tonight, Esmeralda."
The horse giggled and disappeared to find her sisters. Marty watched her go, a big grin on his face. "Man, wait to Alex hears about this. Tonight's going to be perfect."
That was what he thought.