Chamomile isn't a train conductor. She isn't an engineer, either. She's just a widow taking care of her lonely Bridlewood tea shop and disabled son. Yet, when she receives word of a job opportunity from the newly instituted Equestrian Railroad Company, asking for ponies to extend the railroad to a forgotten realm in the Frozen North, she is intrigued. Perhaps such a place holds the key to changing her son's life for the better.
This simple task is colored by the group she's paired with: a reserved unicorn, a gung-ho pegasus, and an earth pony no less burdened than herself. As they journey forward, she'll find they bring out sides of her long since buried, and new sides altogether—not least the earth pony, whom Chamomile finds herself growing inexplicably closer to.
It'll be up to her how to react to this change—and what kinds of memories she wants to make.
This story is complete, and will be updated every Tuesday and Friday.
My eternal gratitude to all of my pre-readers and editors who, with all their various contributions, comments, and concerns, helped me bring out the best in this story:
Stinium Ruide
Ghost Mike
VoxArachne
Sledge115
Little Tigress provided the cover art. Their deviantart can be found at this link. Thank you so much!
This story was written and revised to be set during the Tell Your Tale YouTube Series and after the Make Your Mark special, and as such, departs from the Make Your Mark series. That said, I have tried to make it so that watching either the special or the series is not necessary to understand the story's contents.
Good start,but its really hard decision to leave your own home.
Honestly, this is an intriguing start, with the potential for lots of emotional exploration for our lead character. Still, for me in particular, it's pretty funny that her name is Chamomile. It obviously fits what you've shown of her personality so far, but I can't help but compare her to this Chamomile, who was named ironically. She's the punch first, ask questions later type who causes massive collateral damage constantly and wouldn't know the first thing about parenthood. 😅
I have to say, this has one of the best openings to fic that I've seen in a while. I know it's only the first chapter, but I'm this will win a Derpy.
11436335
Indeed - but in this case, even the slimmest chance may be worth the decision.
11436515
Funnily enough, I had a number of people in DMs and in pre-read sessions compare the character to other similarly named OCs. It was completely unintentional, believe me - I went with what sounded right and worked the character from there, and only learned later that it's pretty common. I'm hoping that my interpretation of the "Chamomile archetype" is a worthy addition.
11436710
Thank you! It's a softer opening than others, but I think it does set the tone quite nicely.
Interesting start, I haven’t really touched gen 5 much but this story sounds like it will be good anyways.
This is a pretty good start. I can't wait to see more. This is the third G5 story I've put in my book shelf.
I really like the start especially how you portray Chamomile.
You can clearly see here that she is not "ok" and hasn't been for a long time but she still going through the motions, kinda interested on how her character/personnality is going to evolve going forward into the story.
Juniper, little Juniper he seems like a good colt but it's still kinda sad to see the situation he is in without fully realising it ... ignorance is trully bliss sometime.
Penny, she seems to be quite the character If I had to describe her interaction here it would be with this quote " A true friend doesn't tell you what you want to hear but what you need to hear " I hope to see more of her or Juniper even if they stay behind.
To conclude this little review I'll just say that I had a really good time reading it, would totally recommend it and that I really want to see what comes next.
"You had my curiosity now you have my attention"
Your writing is quite enjoyable so far
Oh dang, Juniper is an actual magic wish baby? It wasn't a child-friendly explanation? I certainly wasn't expecting that.
A good start to a good fic, keep the reader wanting more and fallow Chamomile’s story!
Quite interesting chapter
Astral is full of secrets it seems
Hmm, quite a bit to unpack here. So as it turns out Astral wasn't a completely saintly pony whose only flaw is being dead, he actually did a bad thing here. Granted he still had no malevolent intentions,but it was still a selfish act.
So yeah, now your making me think about what I would do under those circumstances.
11449001
Sometimes we remember the deadly more fondly than they actually were...
It's almost as if most of the ponies who signed up for this are running from their pasts...
That was very good. I'm giving you six stars for doing a good job. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This chapter was three parts hilarious, sad, and worrying. Well done.
Hearing what Ponyville became after decades of separation brings a certain, nostalgiac feeling to me. More than that, the detail that everything around Ponyville has life while it itself is barren of it is interesting and makes me wonder just what in the world happened for it to get to that state.
Also, calling it now, that circle in the center is the Golden Oak Library.
So...
...on one hand, Enkimdu (clever name btw) could have probably done a better job letting the family know he wanted to leave.
On the other hand, he clearly had some issue that were gonna come out eventually, and since disaster was going to strike anyways, it might of actually been worse if he stayed.
So I guess things were gonna get rough no matter what.
Astral is definitely sad, but what is he hiding?
Izzy was adorable!
The way you're handling Chamomile's obvious crush here is fun.
Oh no, poor mares. Stupid Astral, doing whatever the romantic equivalent of cockblocking is to his wife from beyond the grave like an asshole. Closing your heart off like this isn't healthy!
11461172
Its just her imagination.
Also good chapter, i think Gaea kinda forced her progress with Cammie.
Oooo So close, but still got things to work through.
Heavy chapter, shame about clip.
I would've expected at least one of them to have died in the fall, they should count their blessings! At least the dire survival situation somehow gave Gaea and Chamomile their catharsis.
What just happened?
Never mind, death may well have been a better fate than being puppeted around by Sombra.
Something tells me they are not yet done with the north, but maybe I’m wrong.
Huh, I was sort of expecting them to find the Crystal Empire hiding underground, not to immediately go back. But it works.
This was a beautiful tale of love, loss, and acceptance. Of learning to look forward instead of back, of cherishing those in your life, old and new.
11494763
I'm glad you enjoyed it! I really wanted this to be a story about those three things, but I wanted it to also not be afraid to admit it isn't as easy as it is said.
On the path……to finding yourself.
Astral is definitely suffering from that one disease which old people forget things……likely because of his genes……poor family……
also Chamomile and others' actions……they're all seeing their past relations here in others, aren't they?
Beautiful story, thank you for writing it!
11567830
And thank you for reading!
I find how the seemingly normal things in the surroundings make our protagonist think about the deeper meaning in them and giving them special connections very thought-provoking. That and the calm yet sweet atmosphere made this chapter very comfortable to read.
I love how the characters interact with each other, effect each other's mood and learning together. It's just so relaxing~
11569811
It very much was an experiment in atmosphere as catalyst for characterization. I'm glad you found it effective!
You know, it's nothing new for a story to be named after its protagonist. It doesn't hint anything about the main character's tale except that it's their tale, like Jane Eyre the book or Moana the Disney film. I wasn't so surprised to see that it's titled "Cammie"-it's her name and its her journey of self-rediscovery, after all. However I have been wondering why use a nickname instead of her full name "Chamomile", considering that I hardly ever remembered her using it during my read. Not a really big deal, but it has been on the back of my mind.
Now that she let herself "blossom" and started a chance of love with Gaea, and told her to call her "Cammie", I think I understand now.
Nicknames are used between close people, and this obviously is a symbol of their closeness reaching a level where Astral reached before. (I mean I think I remember this nickname being used before with Astral, but I'm just a casual reader, what do I know.)
So the title "Cammie", it means not only her journey, but also put an emphasis on the part of finding "Cammie", which is technically different from "Chamomile", since it only existed between her and the one she opens her heart to. And it means that on this journey of finding herself, she will learn to open her heart again, be the loving "Cammie" to someone again, and be a blooming flower again. Needless to say it's awesome in hindsight.
Also connecting Astral's knowledge of the stars and the leeching darkness is quite fascinating. I love making connections for things~
One more chapter until the end, and I thank you for the tale in advance.
I……actually have been so caught up with Chamomile's tale that I had forgotten about her promise to find magic for her son. But then again, Chamomile did find some magic of love on her trip. And little Juniper just kept being an innocent child with "magical" love for her mother. I guess at the end of their little story they did get some magic and made the family whole again. Chamomile used up all her magic (temporarily), but she got to treat her life better again and start a new life with a new love (which is already super magical on its own).
Needless to say whatever happens next they will never be lonely facing them. I'm certain that he'll get that magic eventually. Their new story has just begun, afterall!
The story was great. Loved seeing the characters discover more about the world and themselves.
This brand-new world is full of mysteries and unknown history, and the fresh settings are all very intriguing to read. There are still dangers of the past lurking, tons of digging to do and some things…… just have to remain hidden.
But for now our characters return to their own lives and be themselves again, just like our own journey with stories, whether it's reading or writing.
See you next time, and may the spark of friendship, pony and creativity shines eternal!
11570666
I've thoroughly enjoyed reading your comments as you made your way through this story. It really warms my heart to see someone get so much out of it!
Cyclical stories are definitely something I enjoy. I like the idea of a story ending where it began, with something having fundamentally changed. In fact, when I started writing Cammie, I knew immediately that it would have to end right where it began - in the teashop - because it was the only place that made sense.
11570829
You're welcome! I like leaving comments When I thought of something that the other commenters didn't say. I especially felt the need to point out the thing about the story's title because at that moment of the story I felt like I suddenly understood it all. However My favorite part is actually when they explore the underground caves and talking about it in the aftermath.
You're right! How stories' lines come back to beginning is fascinating because in this way many aspects of the situations remain the same but the characters themselves changed so much. Like I said I like connections between things so it is certainly good for me. The characters didn't really know about the future at the end nor do they established a really firm connection with their new life but we knew that they will be okay.