Houyhnhms

The story of the Houyhnhms can be traced back to, of all places, the peculiar, little-documented dimension known only as the Radical Land. Said dimension once was home to an evil unicorn by the name of Sparklelord. The unicorn briefly visited Earth during the First Century CE, where he mated with a mare, producing a foal gifted with immortality, humanlike intelligence, and the ability to speak the tongues of man. This horse was named Incitatus, and would eventually come into the possession of Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus- more commonly known as Caligula.

Caligula soon learned of his steed's ability to speak, and the horse became his most trusted adviser and confidant. The other Roman politicians were unaware of Incitatus' talents, and just assumed that the Emperor was mad. Caligula's appointment of the horse to the position of consul was deemed to be the last straw by the Senate and nobility, and they began plotting against the Emperor. Incitatus knew that he too would be butchered in due time and, deciding that he could not coexist with humanity, captured several dozen mares and snuck aboard a ship leaving Italy for Spain.

The ship (which was sailing along with another Roman transport) was caught in a storm, where it briefly caught sight of a mysterious Island with a statue of the Egyptian goddess Tawaret before being blown completely off course (the other ship crashed on the Island, never to be seen or heard from again). Due to the Island's strange effect on space-time, Incitatus' vessel, after the storm concluded, ended up transported into the South Pacific. Incitatus and his mares took over the ship and made land.

On this new island, Incitatus's descendants would inherit their father's speech and intellect, taking the name 'Houyhnhm' for themselves. The ship's human occupants devolved into primitive 'Yahoos'. This society lasted for several centuries, with Lemuel Gulliver's arrival in the early 18th Century as its only contact with the outside world.

This peace was finally broken in the early 20th Century, when the mad German scientist Dr Totenkopf arrived on the island and deemed it to be the perfect base for his 'World of Tomorrow' project- a plan to destroy all life on Earth and begin it anew on another planet. Totenkopf brought with him dinosaurs that he had captured in the South American 'Lost World', and these creatures destroyed the ecosystem that the Houyhnhms had grown to depend on.

The few surviving Houyhnhms fled to all corners of the globe, where they faded into the general horse population. A few notable Houyhnhm survivors included the actor and Toon Horace Horsecollar and the Horse Boxer, key playerin the Manor Farm rebellion of the 1940s. Others fled to the realm of Equestria, which contained creatures like themselves.

But perhaps Incitatus himself has the most interesting life after the fall of his civilization. He made his way to America after Totenkopf's arrival and befriended the architect Wilbur Post, living with him comfortably for five years in the 1960s under the name of Mister Ed. But Ed began to tire of this life, and, after Post passed away, began to become a cynical misanthrope. Turning to a life of crime, Incitatus would eventually found the Evil League of Evil under the name Bad Horse.