//------------------------------//
// Courses 
// Story: The Chase Is On 
// by HorsesandMOARGaloar 
//------------------------------//

Burr navigated a sea of complacent Yahoos to what appeared to be a roller coaster ride, with a long queue of irritated Yahoos ahead by the round ticket counter. It was exactly as what Krastos said, with a large head of of a clown devouring any coaches that went up a ramp, and what sounded like screams from the hills and buildings behind the tracks.

As a quadrupled, he was a curious oddity to the Yahoos around him. To them, he was either a weird, lanky animal, or a creature who could barely understand one of the Yahoos' languages. Some of the Yahoos recognised him as the rampaging beast that ran over and pushed aside several poor Yahoos, and they either avoided him or threw food at his long face. Seven of them stood in front of him and formed a barrier.

"Go away, zluesnico," their leader, a light blue man with a long neck, shouted at Burr. He brandished his knife, and continued, "We don't want you or your disgusting kind here in Palédera."

"Yeah, you weak deer," his dark green friend added. "You filthy sack of organs should get lost, before we'll cut you for autumn equinox dinner."

But another Yahoo emerged from behind the row of giants: a man in a vest-covered shirt and trousers, with red-and-white-streaked striped hair that graced his head and over his mouth. He was not as tall and burly as them, but he was as agile and witty as a fox.

"Pardon me, gentlemen," he introduced himself with a bow and a tip of his boatman's hat. The seven tall Yahoos bowed back to greet him, out of respect towards his status as one of the workers in this amusement park. "My name is Flamvóain Plaráscanesjen, and I have intended that this creature to be a special guest.

"But he is a disgusting lifeform with a reckless, skinny body, Sir Plascansen," a stumpy red Yahoo argued. "He will run around and injure your guests without even thinking!"

"And he won't fit into your carts, would he?" the blue Yahoo with a knife added. He was accompanied by his friends' laughter. "Much less fit properly on a seat belt."

"I'm afraid that's my boss's orders, gentlemen," Flamvóain answered. "He's coming with me, whether you like it or not, and my seat's just big enough for creatures like him. Also," the Yahoo whipped out a button, which formed a leash that wrapped itself around Burr's withers, electrocuting him if he ever struggles, "I will personally escort him myself."

"Then we'll speak to your ridiculous manager about this," the blue knife Yahoo shouted back, and turned to his six friends, "right, boys?" They resounded with "Yeah!"s and other curses all about.

"You may find her ... over there." Flamvóain pointed to his right. Unsure about his advice, the blue Yahoo stuck his knife to the mustached Yahoo's throat.

"We would rather go to jail to preserve our reputation, than to let a worthless liar get away with his pathetic trickery," the blue Yahoo yelled. "Are you sure or not, tree trunks?"

"Uh-huh," Flamvóain confidently answered. "I once spoke with her this afternoon."

The giants released him and left him with Burr, not without the green Yahoo turning back to spit at the Houyhnhnnm under his control. "We'll be back once we've finished speaking with her," the knife Yahoo threatened. "Take your foul steed and let it enjoy injuring itself on the ride! What manner of 'safety regulations' does this garbage dump of a park even have?!"

And Flamvóain led Burr past the queues of disgruntled Yahoos, up to the sparsely-used priority lane. "This is Selásnjen's invitation for Burr, brother of mine," Flamvóain presented a green paper slip to a similar-looking Yahoo man sitting within the ticket counter, who snatched it with his hand.

"Business as usual, brother," the manager spoke, before going back attending to the queue's visitors to his right. "You're clear to go!"

Burr was taken to a series of two long blue cars that fitted around a dozen passengers. His front seat was a bit narrow for him, but as he used to sit on chairs back in Houyhnhnnm Land, sitting there would not be a problem for him.

"How are you doing, Burr?" The Houyhnhnnm turned around: at first he was delighted that his two friends were behind him, but dismayed when he saw the three goblins bickering about in another row of seats further behind. It was Blackie who spoke to him.

"I'm almost alright, had it not been for that well-dressed Yahoo's painful leash," Burr answered. By now the other two horses noticed the scar lines around his neck.

"And you're not alone." Schubert and Blackie presented to him their scars on their withers and neck. "I'm sure that once the car starts, the big clown's mouth becomes our way back to Earth. And I sure would like to have a tuna sandwich."

The goblins' leader, Agent Akloron, banged his pistol at the back of Schubert's seat, and aimed for his head. "One more word," he threatened, "and I will — agh!"

He got himself jolted by the moving car as it quickly went up the ramp into the clown's mouth, and he knocked over his two quarreling squad members. The three horses felt uneasy, not only in the speed and height of their ride, but in that the clown's face started to turn into that of another animal. It was something like the others had never seen, a bearded grey head of a deer with mismatched antlers. Its two amber eyes sank down to gaze at the passengers, especially at the three horses in the front, who despaired at this familiar horror before them.

"Welcome, all of you, to my world," the creature grinned. "Hold on to your seat-belts, and prepare for the longest ride in your life! Hahahahahahahaha!"

Outside, hundreds of anxious Yahoos, including the group of giants who searched for Selásnjen's office, stopped to watch the monster possess the ride, as it tried to devour the two cars that approached its teeth. Clouds began to coalesce and darken the night skies, as lightning swirled and crackled like a ominous crown.

The two cars, filled with their screaming, frightened passengers (some who were actually delighted instead) plummeted into the creature's gaping mouth. Once its jaws had been sealed shut, the monster and its storm vanished, and the amusement park reverted into its original state.

Meanwhile, the giants who searched for "Selásnjen" and her office went around the amusement park for several hours, before they gave up and went to a tavern outside the park. As soon as they entered through its door, they (and only they) noticed that the mounted deer's head resembled the monster in the car-mountains. Whenever they looked at it, they got themselves bound into its gaze and into its echoing laughter ...