Zecora had visited Cheerilee's schoolhouse one day, impressing the foals with her exotic ways. She told them of her home — the Marengeti — and how she had come to live in Everfree forest: she had been performing a ritual to speak with the spirit of an ancestor, but had accidentally used too much of a certain flower in the special incense that was used to guide the spirit to her. Instead, the ritual ended up sending her away, and she appeared just outside the forest. Being unable to find any of this flower in Everfree and also being uncertain if recreating the accident in the ritual might make things even worse for her, she decided to simply accept her lot and make the forest her new home. 