A Good Life Lesson

Farmer's market was a regular weekend event that Winter Song liked to carry herself through. Lots of stalls full of different foods all being handled by ponies hoping to sell off their bumper crop for some spare funds. As of late, Kojack has also been partaking in the sights and smells along with his mother. Being nearly thirteen, ever eager, and full of energy saw the young unicorn amass quite a lean and strong build for his size. It made it easier on Winter to have him pull the cart along behind them. In exchange, Kojack got to have a voice of consideration for dinner. His was not nearly so definitive as Winter's or Tandem's, but he did love to offer up tasty ideas now and again. Especially when he was in the mood for the family favorite; hayloaf! Speaking of which... "What sounds good for dinner, Ma?" Jack asked with mild excitement. He already knew where his vote would be cast if she didn't have any plans. "Hmm... I'm not sure yet," Winter responded as she led him down market street. "I've been considering gnocchi with some squash and maybe a couple other vegetables. What do you think?" Though the idea was tossed out, she continued to be on the lookout for anything else that piqued her interest as they both window-shopped. Oh, that was a toughy. Kojack hummed in hard thought now, holding his chin with a hoof while his tongue pushed out of the side of his muzzle for some air. Hayloaf was awesome, but so was gnocchi. He wasn't sure if there were other kinds of noodle balls made from potato, but he was fairly certain the aforementioned delight would be the best of them all. "I think it, uhh..." Kojack trailed off for a moment when he caught sight of one of his classmates. Jasmine Stars. She was coming from the opposite direction, on the other side of the street with a small group of her marefriends. All of whom seemed to be here for a similar reason to his own. Groceries were sticking out of each of their saddlebags. Jack wasn't sure why, but he'd begun to notice that she was catching his attention more. She held a healthy and glowing yellow coat, like the sun. The gentlest of breezes could always catch her light wavy blue mane. Maybe it was her laugh and her smile? She did have the voice of a soothing song, and the right curve of her radiant lips could always give him a sense of joy - even from afar. He didn't even really know her yet. Kojack had always been nervous about the idea of talking to her. Unlike Jasmine, Jack was one of the last few in school without a cutiemark. What with school, the farm, and self-imposed levitation studies taking up a majority of his time, there was hardly any attention left to focus on any kind of talent. He thought it was fine, if unfortunate. It's been something of a family trait that the first born is always a late bloomer. Winter likes to tell him that it's because he's so full of potential, but he wasn't sure about that. It was still kind of embarrassing... "Ow!" Kojack was suddenly brought back to reality by a motherly slap to the back of his head. He didn't realize that he'd been watching Jasmine pass the whole time while just standing there with a dopey expression. "What gives?" "I was talking to you, you know? Were you staring at that girl?" Winter inquired, seemingly a bit cross. Jack rubbed the back of his head some. It didn't actually hurt that much, though. It was more jarring than anything. "N-no...!" Winter shot back a glare which said she knew better. Jack's mind always liked to wander and focus on odd things, but it was starting to get fairly specific lately. "Being interested in other girls is fine for your age, Kojack, but that is not the kind of filly I want to ever catch you with." This conversation took both an awkward and interesting turn, strangely. It left a curious expression draped across his muzzle. "What's wrong with Jasmine? She goes to the same class as me..." "Dressed like that?" Winter cast an unforgiving hoof back towards the other fillies for Kojack to follow. Inspecting her attire closer, Kojack found her to be wearing an autumn sundress. It was a bit revealing and cut short, leaving only just enough to the imagination. Still, Kojack looked back to his mother with a head cocked to one side slightly. "It's... a pretty dress?" Winter let out a small sigh of disgust before lowering her voice to him. "She's dressed like a floozy, Kojack. It's provocative and disgraceful to mares. Would you wear something like that in front of Celestia?" That was a loaded question, but it effectively brought something of an embarrassed blush to his cheeks while he looked down. His hooftip kicked the dust below in a lazy shuffle. "Well... no..." "Good answer," she replied quick and stern. "If you're going to wear something in public, it shouldn't be designed to draw everypony's attention to your flanks. That kind of stuff is for the bedroom only." That's kind of odd, Jack thought. What was the purpose of clothes that were only made to be worn in the bedroom? Nopony else would ever see it. Perhaps mares really were that confusing... "Not only that but fillies willing to wear those kinds of clothes have issues. They grow up to be tackers and drug addicts... Celestia knows what else. It's amoral behavior, Jack. This is the only time I want to have this conversation with you, okay?" Kojack couldn't help this odd feeling. It was kind of like being punished for something one of his brothers did. Still, he knew better than to argue with his mother. So he resolved to just nod with a solemn expression. "Okay, Momma..." Winter regained her composure now, looking at her son with a small smile of pride. She'd just taught him a good life lesson, another step on her way to helping Kojack become a fine and respectable stallion. It certainly didn't merit a Mother of the Year award, but a nice dinner would suffice. "Alright. Now, come along. I can't make gnocchi if it gets sold out before we reach the stand." Kojack managed to find some of his smile again, trotting along after his mother. At least he could expect good food tonight. Though, he couldn't help looking back with his mind and thinking about Jasmine now. Could she really be so bad?