I recently found out about a folk custom in Wales called “Mari Lwyd”. From what I can tell, a group of celebrants visit households with a festively decorated horse skull stick puppet. Once there, the sing or do poems that ask that they be let inside. Those in the house are expected to reply back with their own sinking and poetry, to give excuses to not let them in. This goes back and forth until one side gives in. If the household gives in, they allow the group in and give them food and drink. The event is supposed to bring luck to the homes visited. (You may want to look up Mari Lwyd online to get a better explaination.)

It is a festive event, and I found myself inspired to draw a pony based off of it. In my MLP headcanon, Mari Lwyd (which means “grey mare”) is an scary-looking, but good spirit, who appears at certain houses during the week before Hearth’s Warming. If she appears at a house, she will knock on the door. If the knock is answered, she will sing, asking to come in from the cold. If she is let in, she will happily sing and dance for the host, thanking them for their kindness, before later disappearing. Good luck soon follows.