I was looking for something to read. I am so glad this updated.

Man, this was an excellent chapter; and it’s great to see Rarity and Atchmon reunited.

The bit where the Ursa Major and Minor became stars when they Hibernate is a very interesting and clever idea.

more to 'em if you bother to listen xD also, nice chapter.

Please continue

Then as an added humiliation; Rarity tied a pretty red bow atop the Dire beasts head.

JAJAJAJAJAAJAJA!!!

whoa it feels like forever, love the adventures

Giant bear race awesome

Oh no, they forgot to ask which direction Ponyville was

a vary sweet chapter so much love and a huge friend made.

Poor Rarity, she had the rotten luck of being in the middle of a frikking monster street brawl, i loved the part where she pretty much just lost it and went "Oh come ON! Really!?" it was hillarious!

Also loved how Atchmon made friends with a celestial star bear, that was awsome.

I love this story so much and it makes me so happy to see it up to! I wish it could be updated faster but I understand it is what it is. Keep it up I always check my feed excited with anticipation of this appearing there. Keep it up!

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I'm glad you thought so! I wanted to bring the Devils Tower legend into the story. And I had a really clear idea on how I wanted to do it with the Ursas, by having them fill nearly every role from the legends. I thought about adding an explanation that told how Ursas become furrier like regular bears the longer they stay on Earth. I hoped that mentioning their furry bodies and barely mentioning their translucence from the show accomplished that. And also Their hibernation acts as both itself and as a means of 'repowering' their magic. But since I couldn't make sense of that bit, and it distracted from the flow of the story; i decided to leave it out.
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Bestest mom ever!
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Da ba dee da ba dai... I guess, I dunno!
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Will do! It's gonna be my life goal to finish this thing, and a sequel.
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Would've been longer if I stuck to my first plan and finished the upcoming chapter first, THEN this one. Shouldn't be more than a week or so for the next since it's so close to being done.
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Shouldn't be too hard, since Canterlot Mountain sticks out like a sore thumb.
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I thought about using a line very similar to that instead of the one she says in the MLP movie. But it was just too perfect to NOT use it. Glad you liked it!
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I understand, and I wish the same. I get very excited and anxious when a new chapter is close to finished. I start stressing out over if people are gonna like it, or if what I'm doing is stupid, then it takes longer because I convinced myself it IS stupid and people AREN'T gonna like it. And then I forget why I thought it was good to begin with. Then I'm like forget it; if they don't like then they can just DEAL WiTH IT, before I hit that Publish button. Which is funny, because if this didn't get as popular as it did, then I wouldn't have gone very far with it. I originally just wanted to improve my grammar and writing skills because I was so bad at it in school. Now I'm determined to finish and release quality chapters for you guys. It gripes me to see popular stories that have crappy grammar or writing style. Not saying mine is superior. (even though I think it is).

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This begs a bigger question: How the hell did Snips and Snails manage to find this damn ursa?

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Some constellations are only viewable during certain times of the year due to the Earth's orbit around the Sun. So when it's not time for their constellations to appear the Celestials are able to roam around Equus. And when it's time for the "Changing of the Night Sky" that's the time for the Celestials to hibernate among the stars, and their constellations become viewable until the next changing of the sky.

That was my thought process anyway. I kept overthinking, and kept flipping on whether or not to include this idea, but again it distracted from the flow of the story. And by Celestials I don't mean JUST the Ursas. This idea applies to all possible constelations that could appear in MLP. Like Scorpio, Cancer, Leo, Taurus, ect.

The massive crater with the star-shaped mesa is a Star Point (so original). It's basically the waypoint that allows Celestials to travel between Equus and the stars. I like the idea that there's Star Points scattered all over the world in very remote places that coincide with their place in the night sky as well as whatever aspect the Celestial represents. So if Cancer is a crab, this its Star Point would be in the ocean.

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Once again I over thought the question. And the simple answer would be: Plot convenience.

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I'll give a bit of happenstance instead. Damn thing was probably near the edge of the forest in a cave resting and nopony noticed it moving about

A garbled whimpering and barking noise shocked him enough to open his eyes; and he saw the unmistakable visage of a canine snout, a body of half fur and half fish scales, with fins for legs and a tail.

'Dog-fish...' Atchmon smiled weakly.

I get that reference! American Tale 2: Fivel Goes West.

Overall fantastic chapter! Things happened, the plot and story were advanced, the characters were reunited, and Rarity proved how much of a Damsel Boon she could be. (Pun intended)

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Think if Atchmon remembered to give the Ursa Minor the laaaaaaazy eyeeee, things would've turned out different.

That's where I got it from, but on top of that it's a call back to the Prologue when Atchmon is talking to his imaginary friend about never finding Dog-fish in the river he fishes.

Smiling maniacally. Yes. A longer than usual chapter.

I look forward to it...

https://i.gifer.com/VPq6.gif

sees eight-pointed star
My exterminatus hand starts to act out again!

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Hope it doesn't disappoint. Lemme know how you feel about it.

Not going to lie. I haven't been a big fan of Stephens work for the most part.

Still liking your story though quite a bit!

Alas, I have caught up. This some goodfic.

This is one of the stories I read immediately when it updates.

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I'm glad to hear it. Let me know how you liked this latest installment!

9270811 Unfortunately, most of my initial introduction to RGRE was via some adult stuff, and only really a set up for putting the mares "where they REALLY belong"... it was not a good first impression of the trope. That and in spite of the prevalence of politically powerful female characters, cultural gender bias/roles seems relatively nonexistent in the show itself? seems pretty even as far as businesses go.

It's not my preferred setting, but I do like the work you've put into making it still feel close to the balance the show has while still being RGRE. That and a lot of the other little cultural things like the temp tattoos are neat little pieces of world building.

Also... ALL THIS JUST TO PREP FOR A SEQUEL. You're nuts. Simply nuts. I love it.

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Sorry you didn't get a good first Impression to the genre. If I may make a suggestion: If you haven't read Xenophilia it's pretty much THE story that really kicked off the RGRE and a lot of the world building that goes with it. However it is VERY adult, but it has an excellent love story and everything else thrown in.

That and in spite of the prevalence of politically powerful female characters, cultural gender bias/roles seems relatively nonexistent in the show itself? seems pretty even as far as businesses go.

Yeah, it's few and far between. I think the most we ever got was Rainbow Dash telling Big Mac at the Sisterhooves Social that she's "not gonna take it easy on you just 'cause you're a Stallion."
I think RGRE mainly popped up as a means to explaining why there was always so few Stallions in most scenes compared to mares. But this was way back around Season 2. It's still a fun genre/trope to play with despite everything evening up in later Seasons. We even got some Female Canterlot Guards in Season 8's finally.

I try to put as much world building as I can; while keeping it with the Native American mythology theme. I really didn't want to do the Tattoo, because I thought it'd be too badass Marty Stu-ish, but I did like the Branding and Temp tattoo ideas enough to go through with it. Plus one other reason I can't reveal for spoiler reasons. I'm a big fan of The Walking Dead and Daryl's character. So the Angel wings tattoo is a bit of an homage to that character as well as symbolic to Atchmon's familial loss and his personality as a Guardian.

Why didn’t they ask “hey which way to Ponyville”

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Atchmon and Rarity had no choice but to go along for the ride. So long as the Ursas went in the general direction they wanted to go; they were fine with the escort.

They were going straight-ish to Canterlot Mountain, but I thought the nearby scenery with the trees breaking left and right was a better 'scene' than describing Canterlot Mountain and how it sticks out like a sore thumb. The imagery just isn't there when I think about that particular Mountain. I've always imagined it being similar to Fuji Mountain in terms of height. And the City itself is about 2/3s the way up.

After double checking; Fuji mountain can be observed as much as 200 miles away. Wich on foot would take nearly 72 hours to walk to its base; which is what I've based their journey on.

"Don't you just love it?" Rarity teased, before moving on to leave the poor wolf in peace and to focus on her delima.

dilemma

Rarity tried to run away from the four-headed hydra as its other three snake-like jaws struck out like at the panicking pack of wolves. The 'fearsome' canines scattered all around, but not before a half dozen were snached up and swallowed whole by the great mythical serpent.

Rarity rolled bodily atop the hard rock-like hide of the cragodile during its charge, and slid down to the tip of its tail, before being whipped up and sent her flying into the shallow swamp.

"Boy, what you goin' t' kill out thar; a dern bare 'er somethin'?" Atchmon mocked in the gruff craftsman's voice. 'If only he knew...' Atchmon chuckled in mirth at the irony.

"How does Applejack and you make this look so easy." She huffed. "And why can't I use my magic, again? I've shown that I can use the sparks from my horn to make a flame."

The wall of rock he had to climb in order to find Rarity; and saw the countless number of holes which pocked its surface in a whole new, and terrifying way.

This bit seems like it's missing a piece.

Atchmon carefully removed himself stealthy away from the cave entrance and the snake-monster residing inside.

He swung his spear in order to ward off his attacker, only for the plant whip itself around and bat Atchmon's spear out of his hand.

"And I know how easy it easy it is to be the bully.

The bear flinched way and uttered a low growl; causing Atchmon to draw his hand back slightly, but was otherwise undeterred.

Big Blue uttered a long gunt, letting Atchmon know he was ready.

"I wanna see if she'll let me ride on her; I wanna be up high get a good look around," He replied. "HEY MOMMA BEAR!" He shouted.

Seeing two ursas ascending must truly be a once in a lifetime experience
The kind that makes you think about how life is beautiful

" Sooo ... how do we get down?" Atchmon questioned, while turning in place.

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I agree, but there's something to be said about practicality in the immediate sense, they can marvel over the majesty of Ascending Star Bears once they're not faced with a problem.

Over the years Atchmon encountered dozens of magical beasts. In nearly every instance, there was some sort of weakness to be discovered in order to even the odds. Whether it be a soft spot, an opening to attack, weakness to fire, or simply grabbing it by the tail ; the hunter would find out eventually and exploit it. Turning the great magical beasts own power against them.

With the context of fighting a giant star bear, this reminds me so much of MHW it’s almost not funny. Almost.

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Or just video games/movies/anime in general. ;)
But I haven't played that game. Not sure I'll ever get around to it. Looks fun tho.

So cool that you were able to weave a considerable amount of Native American legends so well into the MLP setting that borrows very heavily from Greek, Persian, Indian, and Chinese mythologies--and they all fit very well together.