It was a pleasant, balmy afternoon at Golden Oaks Library. A young colt sat near a window, studiously pouring over a hoofful of books. He had one in particular in front of him that was taking his attention for the time being. It was a beginner guide to spellcasting, one that didn’t see a lot of action here in Ponyville. It had collected its fair share of dust in the interim, and Incognito was finding himself having to blow the dust off of the pages periodically, much to his annoyance.

Nevertheless, the minor inconvenience did little to phase the colt, nor did it much hamper his pursuit of knowledge.

What did, however, hamper his pursuit of knowledge, was his limited understanding of the language. Sure, the spoken language was similar enough but….the written language was another story. But fuck it, he had learned to read once and he could damn well do it again!

A familiar face peeked from around the corner, blue eyes beaming at him from behind a pair of half-moon spectacles, and accompanied by a kind smile from behind a well-groomed, pointed goatee.

“How’s that book treating ya, kiddo?” Buckram asked warmly as he came around the shelf and pulled up a seat, sitting across from the other.

The colt smiled at his father, matching his warmth as he peered at them from behind his own thick glasses, his golden eyes moving from the page before him to make contact with the others from across the table. “It’s…it’s going dad,” he says with a slightly tired tone, yawning a bit as he ran his hoof through his long, dark green mane.

He gave a small sigh and looked back down at the tome, rubbing his forehead slowly.
“School starts in a few days and I haven’t even got the basics to level ten yet.”

He took a moment to look over his stats and skills, opening a window to gloss over them.

Incognito

Race: Unicorn

Stats
—-------
Intelligence: Lv 8/70 (Progress to next level: 98.60%)
Wisdom: Lv 6/70 (Progress to next level: 20.20%)
Strength: Lv 4/70 (Progress to next level: 06.90%)
Constitution: Lv 4/70 (Progress to next level: 04.13%)
Dexterity: Lv 5/70 (Progress to next level: 61.20%)
Charisma: Lv 6/70 (Progress to next level: 42.00%)

Skills
—-------
Intuition: Lv 9/70 (Progress to next level: 17.76%)
Literacy: Lv 8/70 (Progress to next level: 80.50%)
Spellcasting: Lv 5/10 (Progress to next level: 92.01%)

Attributes
—-------
Marked*
Jack of All Trades(Blessing): All stat/Skill caps will always max at the average level for a member of this species (70/100)
Master of None(Curse): All Exp Gain on Stats and Skills is reduced by 50% unless otherwise nullified up to Lv 70

Buckram nodded slowly as he glanced at the boy’s status window and gave the little one a reassuring look. “Hey, I know you’re having a hard time. Your…issue might make things a little harder than they are for other ponies, but the important thing is that you’re putting the work in. I’m proud of you, champ.”

Incognito smiled softly at the praise and seemed to sit up a bit straighter. Thanks, dad. I really needed to hear that.” He said softly.

The stallion nodded, reaching across the table to tussle his sons hair. Tell ya what, son. Things are kind of slow today anyway. How about you put that book away and Let your old man show you how it’s done, huh?” he said playfully, gently tapping a hoof to his own horn and giving the colt a wink. “You’ll get experience a lot faster learning from another pony than you will from self-study at your level anyway.”

They were right of course. Incognito would be hard-pressed to name an occasion when they weren’t. As the town librarian, Buckram knew a little bit about most anything you’d care to ask about as far as his son had been able to tell.

Incognito smiled a little wider at the suggestion, closing his book as he beamed up at the older stallion “Really dad?” he asked, a coltish excitement creeping into his voice, ears perked and forward-facing. “You mean it?”

“Of course,” he said, pushing his chair out and standing up, stretching a bit. His back gave a small pop and he shook himself off a bit after. “No use in me manning the front desk on a Tuesday afternoon if no one is going to come in, so let’s lock up and head out back and see about getting in some actual practice.”

The colt didn’t need to be told twice. While the other was still warming up. He had already slipped out of his seat and was quickly trotting towards the back door, giving an excited little squeak. “Yes, Dad!” He said quite eagerly as he made his way out into the back of the building, his father following behind.

—-----------------

About half an hour later, the two of them were still at it. Incognito was panting softly, his soft green coat damp with sweat as he began to gather himself for another attempt to lift the orange-sized stone in front of him, eyes fixed and utterly focused behind his large-framed glasses.

“You can do it son. One more rep! Just focus on the rock and will it to move.” Buckram encouraged as he stood to one side, leaning in slightly with anticipation for his colt’s next attempt.

“I-I’m trying, dad,” Incognito said somewhat nervously. He was starting to feel sort of disheartened. After all, they had been at it for a bit and he was getting a bit fatigued.

He took a deep breath and once more brought his will to bear on the stone, eyes narrowing slightly as he channeled energy towards his horn. His aura, a soft, pleasant grey, manifested around the appendage and slowly enshrouded the rock.

“Atta colt, there you go!” His dad said excitedly, ears flicking as he bobbled up and down a bit. “Keep that aura tight, son, the less energy that leaks out of your horn, the more goes into the spell.”

He did his best to heed the advice, focusing on drawing his aura a bit tighter around his horn. And while it took more effort, the stone did feel a smidge lighter than before, giving him a bit of hope. Emboldened, he pressed harder. He grunted softly with the exertion as he felt his muscles tense in response to the strain, gritting his teeth.

“Alright, now shape it! Weave the energy into the pattern for the spell and wrap it around your horn.”

Now came the difficult part. While maintaining his focus, he began to more deliberately shape the energy, pulling on threads of it and turning those threads into an interwoven strand. It was a very simple pattern, one he had played over and over in his head dozens of times while studying. That being said, actually using it while maintaining the rest of the prerequisite preparation was another matter, especially multiple times over.

It almost felt like smoke was coming out of his ears as he wrapped each thread around the other, slowly allowing the resulting strand to wrap around the base of his horn.

“C’mon, ‘Nito! Dig in, you got it, you got it! Almost there!” His father cheered from beside him almost frantic with excitement.

And he was! Incognito could feel the almost-complete ring of the spell around the base of his horn. The effort was starting to cause a burning sensation in his horn and the surrounding area, and his eyes began to well with tears, blurring his vision a bit. He did his best to blink them away and was contemplating perhaps allowing himself to lapse, to dissipate the energy and end the strain.

But as he cleared the water from his eyes he saw his dad, now standing in front of him. They were smiling wide, looking down at the little colt with tremendous excitement in his eyes as he saw them so precariously close.

Above all, he could see the pride in the stallion’s eyes. Pride in him.

And he knew he couldn’t let them down.

With a final push, he almost snarled as he brought the loop closed around his horn, connecting it back on itself, and suddenly the tension lessened considerably as he only needed to exert enough energy to keep the bond between himself and the target of the spell tethered. He felt connected to the stone, as if it were an extension of himself, and so he did the natural thing and thought about lifting it the same way he would lift his leg.

With a bit more effort, the stone slowly lifted into the air, hovering at face level.

Unfortunately, that was about the end of his rope. He lost his focus after a moment and the spell destabilized. The ring around his horn dissipated rapidly with a small explosive *pop* and a flash of light.

He gave a small yelp of pain as the heat and force of the dissipation struck the base of the sensitive spellcasting appendage, and the rock smacked back down onto the ground, once more inert as the colt rubbed at his forehead and winced. “Ow…”

In moments his father was already gently embracing him, pushing away his hoof to inspect the area “‘Nito! Are you okay, champ?” he asked as he leaned in close to get a better look. “It looks like the backlash wasn’t too bad this time. You’ll probably just have a bruise,” he said, sounding relieved as he hugged the little colt close to him.

“Yeah, I’m fine dad…” he said somewhat huffily from within his father’s embrace. He begrudgingly nuzzled against them before squirming a bit. “Y-you can let go now, dad…” As much as he appreciated it and admittedly…enjoyed the attention, it was still sort of embarrassing. He was still (sort of?) an adult on the inside after all, right?

His father withdrew, softly patting him on the head “Alright, alright. As long as you are okay. But hey, you did it!” he said, smiling down at Incognito with that same pride as before. “You managed to do ten whole reps. You should be really proud of yourself, sport. There are plenty of kids your age who can’t even do that much.”

Incognito gave a small huff and a smile at this. He didn’t have a lot of unicorns his age in town to compare to, what with Ponyville being mostly an earth pony community, but even then he had a knack for knowing when he was being fluffed up.

Still, his dad looked so happy for him, and to be honest, he was feeling pretty good himself, he didn’t want to ruin the moment. “If you say so.”

“I do! As a matter of fact, go ahead and check your stats, I’m sure you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

The colt gave a little snort but nodded, opening his window to give his stats another once over. They were mostly the same aside from-

Spellcasting: Lv 6/70 (Progress to next level: 20.00%)

The colt's eyes widened and he smiled up at his dad, a feeling of accomplishment swelling in his chest. “Dad, I leveled up! I did it, I passed level five!”

The stallion smiled down at his son and nodded again, smiling a bit wider. “You sure did son, good effort. Now, how about we go out to Sugarcube Corner and get you a little something. I bet you could use a little pick me up after all of that.”

Incognito perked up noticeably at the prospect of sweets. Buckram was right, he was in the mood for a treat. But then again, the colt was always in the mood for something sweet to munch on. “That…actually sounds really good. Maybe pick something up for mom too and drop it off for her at work.”

“Well, isn’t that thoughtful of you. I don’t see why not,” His father said, patting him on the back. “Go ahead and get showered up and grab your saddlebag, then we’ll head out.”

“Okay!” Incognito said excitedly as he hurried back inside and hustled towards the bathroom, eager to get going

—----------------------

The two of them arrived at Sugarcube corner a bit later in the day. The familiar pastry-themed building stood out even from the playful and colorful rural architecture Incognito had come to associate with the town of Ponyville. There were a hoofful of customers enjoying some afternoon treats at various tables and booths, and behind the counter was a rather kind looking blue-coated mare with a very recognizable two-toned swirling pink mane.

“Hello, Miss Cake!” the colt said chipperly as he trotted towards the counter, his father following close behind. Incognito reared up and placed his front hooves on the counter as he looked up at her. “I’d like my usual, please, and one to go also.”

He took one hoof and rummaged through his saddlebag, pulling out a small pile of gold coins and placing them onto the countertop as he beamed up at her.

She met his smile with her own and gave him a nod. “Well hello there, little ‘Nito. Back again already? Weren’t you here just yesterday.” She asked him as she took his money and laced it into a register. “At this rate, you’ll bleed your allowance dry.” She said, tsking in a joshing manner before looking to his father and giving him a nod of acknowledgment as well.

“I’m actually hoofing the bill today, Chiffon,” Buckram said as he watched the mare pull a couple of cinnamon bruins from the display case. “It’s a special occasion after all.”

“Oh come on, it’s Cup Cake now, Buckram. Please try to remember, after all, Carrot And I have been hitched for nearly a year now” She said, as she placed one of the rolls into a bag and the other onto a small plate, pushing both towards the colt. “So what’s going on then?”

Incognito piped up, a bit of pride creeping into his voice as he spoke. “I finally used magic to move something!” He said as he placed the paper sack into his saddlebag and grabbed the plate in between his teeth, moving to set it onto his back before it was caught in a blue aura and hovered away from him. His father walked to a nearby table, placing the dish on it before speaking to her again. “This little scamp here finally passed level five in Spellcasting.” He said, gesturing to Incognito, who nodded quite happily in confirmation “Yeah, I’m level six now!”

She put on a surprised face, bringing a hoof to her cheek “well lordie! Congratulations, little guy. I’m sure you worked awfully hard at it!”

He nodded, puffing out his chest just a little bit. “Mhm! Of course, I also had a pretty good teacher.”

Buckram did a bit of puffing of his own at this, seeming quite pleased with the remark. “Nothing to it, sport. You know you can count on your old man whenever you need a bit of help.”

“Of course dad,” Incognito said warmly, getting settled in at the table and tucking into his cinnamon roll as Miss Cake spoke again.

“Pretty soon you’ll be hitting level ten and you’ll start getting Accolades, that’s when you start getting the fun stuff from leveling.”

The colt bobbed his head in acknowledgment “Yeah, I’ve been reading about that! Level ten is like, the baseline, right? Where you are able to do normal things like reading and stuff without it being a struggle. That’s what the books I’ve been reading about it say, at least.”

“You got it,” Buckram said, taking a seat at the table as well, watching him enjoy his meal with a content look on his face. “Five is a beginner, ten is baseline competence, 50 is a hobbyist, 70 is a journeyman, 90 is a proper professional, and 100 is mastery,” he says as if by rote, gesturing with a hoof while he does so.

Incognito smiled and nodded. “Yeah! Thanks, Dad, that was it.”

He looked down at his half-eaten cinnamon bun, going into contemplation for a moment and frowning a bit. “So does that mean..I’ll never be a professional level at any skill? I mean, All of my caps are at 70. That’s still a long way off but still…”

His father picked up on the shift in mood, and Miss Cake scurried off to let them have a moment. he gently reached across the table and patted his son’s shoulder. “Hey now, none of that. Just because you aren’t the best at something, that doesn’t mean you aren’t good at it! As long as you do your best and you’re happy with what you’ve done, that’s all that really matters right? As long as you are out there giving it your best shot, I’m proud of you, and I always will be.”

He rubbed the colt’s shoulder a bit before leaning back and smiling again. “Besides, every pony gets at least one uncapped skill when they get their cutie mark. There’s going to be something you excel in, just wait and see!”

The matronly blue mare returned, piping up with a small grin. “With how often he has his nose buried in a book, I bet he’ll end up taking over the library when he gets old enough.”

“Hah! You say that like it’s a joke but I bet ‘Nito here wouldn’t mind that one bit, would you?” Buckram says, giving the colt a playful wink and a nudge. “He is a real chip off the old block in that respect. I bet one day We’ll be able to slip a pair of contacts on em to change the eye color and nopony will notice the difference if I take a day off. Oh! Speaking of time off…”

The stallion drew a watch from within his saddleback and smacked his head “Ah geez. ‘Nito, me and Miss Cake are probably going to shoot the breeze for a bit longer. Be a sport and bring that goodie bag to your mom down at Town Hall before her lunch break and tell her I said I love her, won’t you?”

Incognito fought the urge to roll his eyes. He loved his dad, but god did the man tend to really work his jaw when he got comfortable. He smiled and nodded, slipping out of his chair and quickly trotting toward the door. “Sure thing Dad! I’ll see you when I get back to the library.”

“Sounds like a plan son, be safe!” Buckram called after his son as they walked out of the door and started on their way towards the Town Hall.

Incognito happily trotted his way down the street, giving a little hum as he went. He hoped his mom enjoyed the treat they had gotten her. She always worked so hard, she deserved to enjoy a nice treat.

Author's Note

And there we go! Two days, Two Chapters. Sorry if things seem like they are starting up slow, but I really wanna commit to a certain pacing this time around. Consider it indicative of the stories themes if that helps >:3