Diamond woke up as the sunshine poured into the room and attacked her eyelids. Mornings. She never liked them, and now they were worse. Sighing quietly, she remained in bed, it was cold and she was VERY reluctant to give up the warmth in her blanket. Rolling onto her back, she raised her hoof up into the gentle morning light, she was still wearing the necklace as a bracelet. Her ears twitched as the sounds of the other foals' snoring reached them. Mornings. Reaching behind her head, Diamond picked up her pillow and covered her face with it, in an attempt to block out the noise. It didn't work well. Her thoughts drifted back to last night, Princess Luna's offer was still valid, with a simple word, Diamond could leave this orphanage and never come back. Then her thoughts drifted to Silver Spoon. Her very best friend. Even if they could see each other, it just wouldn't be the same.
Wrapping her blanket around her, Diamond hopped off her bed and walked to the window. Her hooves were freezing! Why did winter ALWAYS have to be so cold? Gazing out the window, she could see a lot. In fact, if she squinted, she could just make out the school, way off in the distance. Walking back to her bed, she unwrapped herself, and instantly regretted it. But instead of complaining, she made her bed, and very quietly exited the room and walked down the old, creaky stairs. Now that she was at the bottom, she headed towards the lobby. Carefully, she peaked in, Miss Free Notes wasn't there, that was good. She walked in, and looked to the wall on the left, there was that old Grandfather clock. It was so tall compared to Diamond's little body, that she had to strain her neck just to see the time. It was 7:30. Now that she new the time she turned around and quietly walked back to her room, if Miss Free Notes caught her walking around, she'd be in big trouble. Why? Nopony knew, Miss Free Notes liked to scold ponies all the time, she didn't really need a reason.
Climbing back into bed, Diamond attempted to regain the warmth she had woken up to. Of course the blanket was cold now, so Diamond was even colder, but eventually the blanket heated up. Even though the bed was lumpy, Diamond was so warm and comfortable that she could have been sleeping on a cloud right in front of the sun. But, that wouldn't last long. Suddenly the sound of a ladle banging against a big pot violently shook her from her blissful rest. Everypony groaned as they climbed out of their beds and made a single-file line at the door. Then they all walked down into dinning room very orderly, and took their seats at the table. Soon enough, Miss Free Notes and Nightingale came in. Miss Free Notes took her seat and scowled at everypony, and Nightingale began passing out plates and waffles. When she was done she took her seat next to the scowling mare, who, once again, scowled at everypony.
"Thank you Miss Free Notes, thank you Miss Nightingale." They all said it, but they were really just thanking Nightingale.
"Very good, lets eat." Miss Free Notes said, still scowling, always scowling. That mare probably never smiled in her life, but at least there was Nightingale. Everypony began shoveling the fresh, warm waffles into their drooling mouths. Diamond ate her food with sophistication and grace until she was the last pony eating. Letting out an agitated sigh, she stuffed all the food into her mouth, chewed as quickly as she could, and swallowed hard, making sure everything went down with a glass of water. All the orphans jumped from their seats and charged off, in one direction or another. Diamond got up slowly and quietly walked to her room, when she got there, there were a couple other foals getting their scarves and boots. Quietly skulking over to her bed, Diamond did the same. Her Hearths Warming present was about to be put to use, it was a relatively plain get-up, but it was warm, and she would need that warmth for her own important mission. Now that she was dressed and warm, she walked to the lobby and exited the door.
As she tramped through the snow, the events of last night rose up in her head. Since she had no idea of what to do, she was going to the only pony she knew could help her. Silver Spoon. The trek through the snow felt like hours, but eventually, she made it to the Silver Mansion. Desperately wanting to get out of the cold, Diamond knocked on the door rapidly until the butler opened the door and let her in. She hadn't even taken off her scarf, when a little gray ball of energy came flying down the stairs, coming to a quick stop right in front of her.
"Diamond! Why didn't you tell me you were coming over?! I could have had the chef make some cookies!" Silver Spoon began, and she would have kept going if Diamond hadn't pulled her into a hug and started crying. "Diamond, what wrong? What happened?" Silver asked as she caressed the back of her friends head.
"I-I don't know what to do." Diamond managed to squeak out.
"Come on," Silver started as she ushered her sobbing friend towards the stairs. "you can tell me all about it."
When they got to Silver Spoon's room and made themselves comfortable, Diamond told her all about last night.
"Diamond that's amazing! You could actually be a real, live Princess!" Silver shouted with joy.
"But, I'll have to leave and go to Canterlot. And that means leaving you."
"Nonsense!" The gray filly shouted, throwing her friend off guard. "Think about it Diamond. If you accept this, then you'll become Equestria's next Princess. You'll have a new family. And its not like my family would be unwilling to go to Canterlot! I'm sure that we wouldn't be able to see each other as much, but we could send letters to each other ALL THE TIME! But, if you don't accept it, then you'll probably be in that orphanage for a long time. We never exactly had a good reputation, so its likely that ponies around here would be reluctant to adopt you. And not many ponies really want to move into a little back-water town like Ponyville, so that even lowers your chances." She stopped and looked down at the floor for a while, before looking back up into her friends eyes. " Diamond, I can't decide for you, only you can do that. But I can tell you how I feel, and what I think. I think you should let Princess Luna adopt you. I know that I would miss you, but, I also know how much more special it'd be when we did get to see each other again! And no matter what you choose, I'll support it all the way, because your the best friend I've ever had!" She stated and pulled Diamond into a hug. "Never forget that."
Diamond cried into Silver Spoon's soft fur for a while before she found the words to say. "Thank you, Silver Spoon."
*********************
Diamond laid in bed, thinking of what her friend had told her. Not long from now, Nightingale would come and get her upon Princess Luna's arrival. But who know when the Princess might show up? And apparently that time was closer then Diamond had originally thought, because as she was thinking that Nightingale stuck her head through the door, signaling that the Princess had arrived. As Diamond made her way down to the lobby, it he felt like she was taking a turn at a fork in a road. The road that was her destiny. Her future. Her fate. Entering the doorway leading into the lobby felt like an eternity, but soon enough she could see Princess Luna in all her nightly beauty. Slowly coming to a stop at her hooves, Diamond looked up at the Lunar Majesty, who gazed down in reply.
"So then, have you decided?"
"I have. I accept your offer, of adoption."