Dear Celestia and Luna,
Happy birthday!!!
I hope the both of you enjoy this present, it will hopefully be good practice for your reading and writing!
I want you two to use this journal to write about how your day's have been, or just write down your thoughts, or just write for fun!
I would love to give you each a journal, although this is a special book given to me after the war, so I hope you are ok with sharing it. I might tell you the story of how I got it if I get the time, I am sorry I'm away for so long at work, and I'm very sorry I couldn't give this to you personally, I promise I won't miss your next birthday.
You two have fun writing! - Uncle Hopeful.
Hopeful finished his note, scribbling it upon the front matter of the book. The journal was a made of a gentle animal hide, very thoroughly polished and worked, that was tightly fitted around the abundance of blank pages inside. On the very front of the cover there was a grand, stylized sun, on the back, a moon of the same fruition and extravagance. ''The Dragon'', the ironically named pony who gave Hopeful this journal told him that it was excruciatingly important that he waited for this year to gift it to his daughters. And while the instruction was quite odd, Hopeful made sure to follow it, still unsure of why this year was important.
Although the thought quickly vanished from his mind as the carriage came to a stop, causing him to rock slightly forward. His hoof jolted up and pressed against the rim of the bar in front of him, causing him to turn his head up to the sunny, clear sky, realizing he has arrived at the train station.
He tucked the journal under his leg and hopped out of the carriage, finding himself hopping up the stairs to the platform as the carriage he arrived in speeded away.
“Hopeful!” A bright-eyed unicorn mare waved him over as he appeared into her view, wearing his full, official commander's uniform.
He quickly hobbled over, trying to keep the present intact beneath his hooves. “Thank you Dream, really, I wouldn't know what to do without you.”
“Please, it's just some babysitting, your the one going off to Zeberia.” Her soft composure helped to calm Hopeful as he rushed to leave.
“I just know how much of a hooffull the girls can be, I also have ugh, this here...” He unraveled himself with the rest of his bags to give over the journal.
“Oh, what is this?” She lifted it up with her magic, bringing it into inspection range.
“It's a present, their birthday is coming up in two days and I won't be able to make it, would you please give it to them?” Hopeful quickly flipped his saddlebag around his shoulders from the ground.
“Oh, why of course!” She slid it into her own bag of belongings, the rim tall enough to stick out of the top.
The train whistled, preparing to leave.
“I better go, good luck with Tia and Luna!” He scuttled over to the train, stopping with one hoof in the doorway to wave back to his caremaid.
“Good luck to you too! Don't start any wars!”
“I'll try!” He joked, stepping into the train's shutting doors.