It was a short walk to school, but it seemed to take forever. I could feel the stares of passers-by. Ponyville's large for a village, but word travels fast here. For all I knew, the whole class had heard already.
As I approached the building, Snips and Snails saw me.
"No way!" said Snips, as Snails's jaw hung open wide. "Rumble, you're a frozen!"
"Eh, not yet," I said, and pointed to the gem on the front. "Ruby, see?"
"Right, but all you gotta do is say 'yes'," Snails pointed out.
By this time, several foals had gathered around. I felt really awkward and tried not to look anypony in the eye as they gasped and gawked. "Today is gonna be a mess," I mumbled, pushing them aside to get into the classroom.
"Fillies and colts, please take your seats," said Cheerilee, as students filed into their desk chairs. "I have an announcement to make."
"Rumble's getting frozen!" blurted Chipcutter. The few students who hadn't noticed gasped.
"Lucky little runt," growled Diamond Tiara, wearing a contemptuous glare.
"Yes, that's the announcement. Rumble, why don't you stand up at the front of class so everypony can see your infinity band?" asked Cheerilee.
"It's not like they haven't seen one before," I said. "Sweet Pop still likes to play games with us, sometimes."
"And pretty much everypony's met Cinnamon Tea," said Sweetie Belle.
"I haven't met them yet!" said Pipsqueak. "They don't come to class here, do they?"
"Cinnamon Tea is too old, and Sweet Pop stopped coming three years ago," said Cheerilee.
"Oh. When I lived in Trottingham, we didn't have any frozen foals there," said Pip. "But I was really young, so I don't remember much."
"Frozen foals are very rare. There are still fewer than three hundred nationwide," said Cheerilee. "Ponyville is lucky to have three at the same time, given the small size of our population."
"It could have been four," said Silver Spoon, and Diamond Tiara giggled.
"Yes, I suppose it could," said Cheerilee with a frown in Silver's direction, "but it's only three. You may sit back down, Rumble."
I returned to my seat.
"Who's gonna own you?" asked Scootaloo.
I sighed. "Mom, of course, 'cause Dad's not alive."
"Figures you'd be a Momma's Boy," teased Truffle Shuffle.
"Truffle, that is not appropriate," said Cheerilee. "Marrying your mother first is the most common situation."
"Marrying?" gasped Pip.
"Not that kind of marriage, Pip," said Scootaloo. "That would be gross."
"Wait, isn't your brother old enough to do it instead?" asked Snails.
"Oh yeah, I guess he is," I said, and paused for a moment to think. "I'd definitely rather be with Bro, but he doesn't like the idea of me being frozen."
"Owning a frozen foal is a very big responsibility," said Cheerilee. "Much larger than simply raising a child."
"He doesn't like you being frozen? How come?" asked Apple Bloom.
"I bet he's jealous," said Chipcutter.
"No, he isn't!" I snapped. "He just wants me to grow up like him, so we could do more stuff together."
"Seems kinda selfish," said Sweetie Belle.
"Anyway, when's the wedding, Rumble?" asked Apple Bloom. "You should do a big one so all your friends can come!"
I took in a deep breath before responding. "There might not be one."
"What do you mean?" asked Kettle Corn.
"The law doesn't require the wedding to be public," said Cheerilee. "Some families prefer to keep festivities private."
"No, what I mean is I haven't decided yet," I said. "I might not want to be frozen at all."
For a pregnant pause, the only sound was birds tweeting on the wind.
"Are you crazy?" Diamond Tiara finally shouted. "Do you want to die?"
"Why wouldn't somepony want to be frozen?" said Snips. "I don't get it."
"Being a frozen foal involves a significant trade-off," said Cheerilee. "There are many reasons somepony might reject the offer of eternal youth."
"But only one pony in history ever did that, right?" said Pipsqueak. "Some filly, like a hundred years ago or something."
Scootaloo looked in Pip's direction with a grin, but pointed at Cheerilee. "You're talking to her, Pip!"
Cheerilee nodded and chuckled. "It was only thirty years ago. I'm not a hundred and eight years old, I'm afraid."
"And now she never will be," said Chipcutter. His eyes were downcast as he said it, and I felt like I'd done something bad.
"That's just insane," said Diamond Tiara. "I'm sorry, Miss Cheerilee, I'm not trying to be rude, I just don't get it."
"As I've explained before, I love teaching and I enjoy being an adult. Even when I was very young, I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up," she explained. "If I'd been frozen, I wouldn't have grown into adulthood, and I wouldn't be teaching you right now."
"Sounds like sour grapes to me," said Silver Spoon.
"Did you not love your Mommy or Daddy or whoever was gonna own you?" asked Pip.
Cheerilee smiled. "It was my father, and I love him very much. I'm sure Princess Celestia checks up on family dynamics before giving approval. I would have been fine with him owning me, but I wanted to grow up instead," she said. "Now, I think we should discuss infinity bands in more depth next week, but today we have a lesson plan to finish. We have a lot of Equestrian history to cover, so let's get started." Our teacher pulled out her textbook to the sound of multiple groans, and the lesson began.
When the bell rang at the end of the day, Cheerilee asked me to stay behind to speak to her. I waited until the other students left before walking up to her desk.
"Hay, Miss Cheerilee," I said.
"Do you know why I want to talk to you?" she asked.
I shrugged. "Probably to tell me to not be a frozen foal, I guess."
She shook her head and stood up from the desk. "That isn't my decision to make for you," she said. "The choice needs to be yours, Rumble. That said, I won't hide the fact that I find infinity bands questionable. It's unfortunate you have to make the most important decision of your life when you're too young to fully comprehend the consequences."
I wasn't the smartest foal in my grade, but the irony wasn't lost on me. "Then why'd you want to talk?"
"I thought you might have questions for me you weren't comfortable asking in front of class," she said. "Things your mother might not know the answer to."
I paused in thought. "Can you tell me why Princess Celestia does it? Why she gives out the bands, I mean. I remember you taught us she won't tell anypony."
Cheerilee pursed her lips. "I wish I could tell you, but your guess is as good as mine," she admitted, and her voice dropped. "My best guess—and please don't tell anypony I said this—is public envy of immortality."
"Envy? But that's what the immortality bands cause, isn't it?" I asked.
"Not envy of frozen foals. Nopony can be too envious of a little foal, especially considering what you have to give up in order to gain eternal life," she said. "I mean envy of Princess Celestia's immortality. Throughout history, ponies have petitioned her for eternal life, and always been denied."
"Maybe she can't give it to anypony," I said. "Like, it's just her being an alicorn that does it."
"That's probably true. Still, most domestic coup attempts have come from ponies who believed they could achieve eternal life by defeating her," she said. "It's happened several times throughout Equestrian history, just as we discussed in class today. Giving a lesser kind of eternal youth to a small number of ponies makes life seem a little more fair, even if it's only a few of us who get chosen."
"I guess that makes sense," I said. "Why'd they pick me, though? I mean, I'm not special. My Mom's a wonderful mare, but she's not really remarkable. Maybe because Thunderlane's a Wonderbolt, but I doubt that's why."
"Why do they pick anypony? I have no idea, Rumble. I'm sorry," she said, and shrugged. "I don't even know why they chose me."
"It's okay," I said. "Oh, um... I do have one more question."
My teacher smiled warmly at me. "Go right ahead."
"Do you ever regret it?"
The smile faded. "Well... yes. Of course I do, from time to time," she said. "Nopony wants to die, and when I evaluate my life, I worry I haven't done enough with the limited time I've been given. I don't worry about death much, but I suppose I might feel afraid to die when my time is finally up. That's a normal fear to have. Nonetheless, I still think I made the right choice. My job allows me to influence future generations in a much larger way than I could have if I'd accepted the band."
I nodded. "Oh. I guess you have to be selfish to be frozen, then."
Cheerilee shook her head. "No, not at all. You can still contribute to society as a frozen. It's just a choice that you get to make. Besides, even if you think it's a little selfish, it's your life." The expression on her face hardened. "Rumble, all ponies should have the ability to decide how their life unfolds. Freedom is a basic pony right. You shouldn't let anypony else tell you what to do with the rest of your life. Do you understand what I mean by that?"
"Yeah, I think so. Thanks, Miss Cheerilee," I said, with a half-smile. I turned to walk out of the building, but as I walked away, I had a nagging feeling deep down.
There was something weird about how she said that last part.