The Yellow River Exploration

To my elegant Princess Celestia, in the 603rd YR (year of thy reign), my 7,234th letter

According to thy will, I am embarking on another dragon egg hunt. This dragon egg hunt has taken me to the Far East and the Yellow River. Oh, how apparent that words will fail me in my attempts to describe the beauty of this region and its ponies. Our little group is fortunate to have an artist and I hope that she (Brush Broom) can capture the essence of this unique place. Other members of this little group include Jelly Bread (our cook), Calm Pass (our mapmaker), the sisters Gail & Gentle Wing – (our aerial scouts) and Sea Salt (our guide and ship master).

Sea Salt is an old hand at these difficult types of journeys and like his name implies, he can be a bit rough when delegating duties. Like the great ocean itself, he can be unpredictable, seemingly calm one moment and erupting in anger the next. Still, his competence is unquestionable in all things nautical and he has had limited encounters with the locals in this area.

The Wing sisters are nearly identical in appearance and voice, only with careful and long study have I noticed that Gail is a bit more mischievous in temperament. You can see it in the twinkle of her eyes. Their name – Wing – sounds so much like a local word, that they win acceptance among these friendly people, although the sister’s mane color – white – is a bit freighting in local tradition. I could only guess at the reception your colors would induce. Thankfully, Gail & Gentle have shown themselves to be excellent eyes, and as Sea Salt has called them “guardian angels”.

“Mr. Pass”, as we have come to call him, appears frail in appearance, but is anything but. Calm Pass also has some nautical experience and remains implacable to Sea Salt’s blasts of outrage. Yet even he becomes exasperated with local legends and descriptions, such as a small village referring to some local creek as the largest river in the world. Many times did we almost pursue the wrong course up some stream and into rocks.

Jelly Bread, our cook, is nothing special. Jovial under all extremes, his fare is simple and modest. He has been experimenting (on us) with some of the local dishes, sometimes to our regret. Still, he always does his work with a smile and never complains about a lack of anything, sometimes substituting local spices and vegetables with exceptional results to our delight.

I now understand your insistence on bringing Brush Broom with us, thank you for her, as her green eyes inspire the locals to treat her with reverence. She has also shown herself to be skilled in understanding and communicating in the local tongue. Her inclination to doodle and dally has also been influential in our dealings. The locals often mistake her lackadaisical attitude for disinterest and give up their advantage that we might have pressing business.

I find myself acting as our muscle, while I do also have nautical experience; the operation of this tiny ship tasks me with most of the heavy lifting (to my advantage). For example, when Mr. Pass or Miss Broom, Jelly Bread and I (acting as porter) enter a village to barter for local goods and information, we are able to gather so much local lore and materials that sometimes we gain the attention of bandits. Fortunately my size and bulk dissuade them from most actions. Saying goodbye until my next letter, with all my generosity, loyalty, trustfulness, humor, and kindness, Sum-po-neigh Knot Yew.