SolarDash

Zecora comes from a faraway land nopony visited before. As a zebra, she's been part of a zebra herd all of her life, where zebras depend on each other. A life inside the zebra herd can be compared to the life of the citizens of Ponyville: Each family within the herd has their own special task to fullfil and takes care of the well-being of themselves and other families. This is similar to the special talents of ponies and how they use it to provide a better life for everyone. Herbalism runs in Zecora's family. Thus, she is responsible for the wellbeing of others and knows a lot about healing techniques, potions and the flora of her land - just like her forefathers.
A unique trait of zebras is their concept of life: They live in deep connection to nature and treat it with respect. A zebra believes that because it is born from nature, it is a part of it and must return to it eventually. The soil is the most important part of nature - it provides life for every creature and plant. Because of this, every creature and plant is equal to a zebra. While also Zecora believes in this theory, she discovered how both her task in her herd and the surroundings in which she spent most of her lifetime provided something special for her. Observing the stream of life, she discovered her love for art and the spoken word. It manifests in her habit to rhyme whenever she speaks.
While Zecora was happy with her life inside her herd, one day she decided to leave it. She couldn't contain her curiousity about the wildlife outside of her native land any longer. The Everfree Forest sounded like a magical place to her. She had already heard many stories about it and wanted to find out about the wildlife of it. She started her journey only a few years ago. When she arrived in the forest, she built herself a hut at a beautiful spot inside it. She lives in a tree close to the borders of the Everfree Forest and Ponyville, alone amongst the most beautiful surrounding she could imagine and keeps on pursuing her studies in herbalism. With lots of experimenting, she found out a lot about all the new creatures and plants of the forest which was now her new home. Her studies gave her the ability to even cure the strangest diseases like the Cutie Pox that Applebloom suffered from after taking some Heart's Desire. She also diagnosed Spike of "growing mature", which means she was the only one that knew anything about dragons, which are considered unexplored creatures among ponies.
In Ponyville, Zecora wasn't welcomed at first. Whenever she entered town, the streets were completely deserted. People told stories about the zebra mare and were convinced she was an evil enchantress and practiced cannibalism. This changed with the mane 6 following Zecora one day on her way home. The 6 ponies stepped into poison joke without knowing anything about the plant and although Zecora warned them about it, they ignored her advice. The next day, the mane six suffered from the consequences of the plant and blamed Zecora for cursing them. Little did they know that Apple Bloom had formed a friendship with Zecora and informed her about the problem they had. Zecora set up a brew for the mane six and waited for their arrival. The case solved later, when Apple Bloom returned to Zecora's Hut from searching for a few more herbs and discovered that the mane six had spilled her brew and destroyed parts of her hut. Twilight spread the word in Ponyville that Zecora isn't dangerous and that there is no need to fear her. Although things settled down since then, Zecora still didn't feel very welcomed in town. She rather sticked to herself, Apple Bloom and Twilight Sparkle being her only closer friends. Nevertheless, Zecora been part of the Nightmare Night celebrations as a story-teller.