• Member Since 17th May, 2013
  • offline last seen 3 hours ago

Daedalus Aegle


Black Lives Matter. Good things are good, actually. I write about wizards and wizards' apprentices. 90% of prophecy is just pattern recognition.

Sequels1

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This story is a sequel to The Crown of Night


Now available in print from Lulu.com! Hardcover - Paperback.

(New readers, unsure where to start? The Education of Clover the Clever is best.)

Clover Cordelia is a freshmare student at the Cambridle Academy of Magic who is determined to become a great sorceress.

Star Swirl the Bearded is a legendary wizard in need of an apprentice.

It's a tough job, working for the world's greatest wizard. On top of the usual challenges of student life there are apocalypses to deal with, and assassins who show up at inconvenient times, and plant life scheming for world conquest.

It's probably nothing Star Swirl can't take care of, provided he and Clover manage to resist killing each other first.

Previously updated alongside its prequel, The Crown of Night. It is not necessary to read The Crown of Night first.

Featured on Equestria Daily!
Featured on the Royal Guard!

Cover art by iisaw.

"Characterization is the name of the game here, and this story's take on Star Swirl is one of the most enigmatic and intriguing I've seen. His eccentricity is offset perfectly by his straight mare, Clover the Clever, and the interactions between them are a joy to behold."
-Prak, PR for the Royal Guard.

Rated "Why Haven't You Read These Yet?" by PaulAsaran.

Weird praise for The Education of Clover the Clever from the comments:

"........The sadist in me is grinning while the student is screaming it's little lungs out :pinkiecrazy::raritydespair:"
-Smirkythread.

"I can't tell if he's insane or not. And it's glorious."
-FancyFan.

"I am unsure if this is merely silly and deranged or subtly brilliant."
-SIGAWESOME.

"Ok, so I like this story. I actually like it quite a bit. I have no clue why though. Not a single clue.
I haven't a clue what you're doing right, but keep doing it. You're awesome."
-Vibrato con Amore.

Chapters (26)
Comments ( 796 )

Replace the <<words>> with "words" and the thoughts with 'thoughts', though you can use either way.

As for the story itself, it was good. It was funny pretty much all the way through and the writing was solid. Not sure I've seen an idea like this before either.

I especially liked because you made Star Swirl a sadistic asshole. He has to know what he's doing to these students, and yet he keeps on doing it. I understand that he's looking for an apprentice but really? Not to mention I'm pretty sure he asked the princesses and such to send those demands so that he could do that. Really.....the dudes just an ass here.

Nice, especially for a first story.

2873266
Yay, my first comment :)

"Replace the <<words>> with "words" and the thoughts with 'thoughts', though you can use either way."
For reasons I don't understand, «» is the default quotation mark in my word processor, Libre Office. I guess I've just gotten used to it. But perhaps I should figure out how to change it. Edit: There it is.

"As for the story itself, it was good. It was funny pretty much all the way through and the writing was solid."
Thank you :)

"I especially liked because you made Star Swirl a sadistic asshole. He has to know what he's doing to these students, and yet he keeps on doing it."
He does rather give that impression here, doesn't he? I suspect that at this fairly late point in his career he has long since stopped giving a damn what anyone thinks of him. Star Swirl is the main character in a longer story I'm working on, to which this story was a random offshoot idea that popped into my head and demanded to be written. Perhaps in the main story we will get a deeper look.

2874596
Your welcome and I hope you will be able to solve that quotation mark business.

Also, I'll look forward to that story. I don't usually like stories featuring Star Swirl, simply because I see him so often. He's the go to for ancient wizards in the fandom. Need an apprentice to princess Celestia, there's a Star Swirl for that!

Noticed something upon rereading though;

The problem wasn't that Star Swirl was not good enough at magic for Cambridle. He was, as every student in the auditorium knew perfectly well,the greatest magical mind of the past several centuries.

Does this mean he's been alive for centuries? Because the wording could infer that.

Regardless, I'll give your next story a whirl.

2874752
"Also, I'll look forward to that story. I don't usually like stories featuring Star Swirl, simply because I see him so often. He's the go to for ancient wizards in the fandom. Need an apprentice to princess Celestia, there's a Star Swirl for that!"
That's unfortunate. I haven't seen him that much myself, but I haven't been hanging out here for very long yet. I just hope my version is different enough that I don't get a lot of "I've seen this many times before" comments.

"Does this mean he's been alive for centuries? Because the wording could infer that."
It's supposed to mean that the last time there was a unicorn that powerful was centuries before Star Swirl was born. I'll think about it.

"Regardless, I'll give your next story a whirl."
Thanks, hope you enjoy it :)

2874875
You shouldn't get comments like that, as far as I know I'm the only one who finds it annoying that apparently almost no one can think up another name besides Star Swirl to mention in their stories.

Are you sure that you can't continue? I'd like to see more interaction between Starswirl and Clover

2885718
I might. Even though I posted this first, this was the start to the sequel of my currently-being-written main story, and I thought I'd finish that first and then go back to this. But now I'm thinking I might do them alongside one another.
Hope you enjoyed the story :)

This was ludicrously fun, and I look forward to reading more of it.

Bravo. Take all of my yes! ALL OF IT! :heart::heart: When I said before that you had talent, I seriously under-praised you. You have more than talent. You have the makings of a great author. Keep up the great work Daedelean. I'm so glad I happened upon you by word of mouth, so to speak.

2998041
Thank you very much! I will try to keep the chapters up to standard and at a tolerable schedule, this is really my first time putting my writing out where people can see it.

when i get to reading this later, i will hope to see starswirls beard is a fake :eeyup:

This is brilliant!! How come there aren't more thumbs ups!!:twilightsheepish::heart:

That was undoubtedly the best possible introduction she could have made. Too bad he wasn't listening.

And hmm, so that's how Sombra became a king, huh?

.......well they always said there's a fine line between genius and insanity.

Can't wait for lesson 1: what to do when your teacher can't stand existing in the same space as anypony less talented than a savant.

3084936
Thank you!
As for likes, I suspect my intense introversion and inability to consciously draw attention to myself may have something to do with it. :yay:

3086056
Introductions are like childbirth: agonizing, hideous, and filled with screaming, and one can only hope that it eventually grows into something that was worth the effort.
...
*cough* Yeah, I don't know where that came from. Hey look, a moose!

3086360
It is my favorite line.

3086721
"In this lesson, I will teach you how to enter a pocket universe in a glass orb I keep on my desk. If you study very hard, you may be the first of my students to learn how to get out again."

3088124 Is that how Derpy got in that snow globe?

........The sadist in me is grinning while the student is screaming it's little lungs out.:pinkiecrazy::raritydespair:

at least she didn't have to play those silly games to learn all the other student's names.

3181581
Star Swirl has read Klaus's monograph.

3183523
Remembering people's names is highly overrated. "Hey, you!" works just fine 99% of the time, provided you don't care whether or not anyone actually likes you.

My thanks to everyone who comes back to read each new chapter. I haven't exactly been overwhelmed by the response to the story so far, getting just one new 'like' for each chapter I publish. This is the first time I've ever put my work out for people to see, so I'm trying to be patient and not let it bring me down, but seeing as I have no clear idea how to get more people to notice it, it is easy to be discouraged.

3184132
I would suggest finding more groups to put this in, more people will see it that way.

3184296
Added a few, can hope it helps. I also submitted it to EQD this morning, hope hope.

3184132 Hah! Also, Klaus Wolfenbach is a role-model for the ages.

I'm somewhat confused with the timeline... I think in 'Hearth's Warming Eve' was mentioned that the story of the play took place before the rule of Celestia and Luna, and Clover the Clever is definitely a part of that. Another time was mentioned that Starswirl was Celestia's student, so he would've lived long after Clover. Or is that just me remembering things wrong?:derpyderp1:

Great story though, and I'll definitely continue reading it, it's really fun. I'm just a little bit confused about the whole timeline thing.

Keep up the good work

Nerala

3189657
Glad you like it!
Clover does say that Star Swirl the Bearded was her mentor and taught her about Windigos. I hesitate to say much more that might possibly somehow turn into a spoiler though.

On the plus side, a week or two with Star Swirl will probably cover just about everything she needs to know for her regular classes all year. Now her first order of business is to quickly develop a time-dilation spell, so she can keep up.

That toad bit made me laugh, for some reason, and I don't really even care about Kermit. At least I'm guessing that's the reference, anyway.

3198660
Apparently the toads hold some significance to Star Swirl. I don't know why; he doesn't tell me these things. But I included it because I thought it was funny. :rainbowderp:

Hmm... so Star Swirl is an asshole who doesn't really want to teach, just lord his superiority over others. Sounds about right for a college professor.

Well, this is certainly fun so far!

This is great. Consistently hilarious + the only portrayal I've seen of Starswirl which doesn't make his personality essentially a clone of Twilight's. :pinkiehappy:

"All right then," he said. "You're in a desert, walking along in the sand, when all of a sudden you look down and see a tortoise..."

Did he just give her some Voigt-Kampff questions? I wonder how well they'd work for finding changelings...

Using a cipher that inverts letters to represent a spell that inverts sounds in the first chapter was pretty clever too, I really thought it added something to the demonstration of how smart Clover is supposed to be that the first thing we see her doing is solving an actual puzzle the reader can also have solved.

The very method of the delivery of the lecture is a secret test to determine who is smart enough to understand the lecture? Starswirl is best pony.

I cant tell if he's insane or not. And its glorious.

Clover's first assignment: learn how to make booze.

Seems legit.

IN MEMORY OF THE GREAT INK SHORTAGE OF THE YEAR 1731 APC
"THERE CAME STAR SWIRL FROM THE NORTH
AND THE BOOKS PLEASED HIM NOT
EVERY PAGE DRIPPED RED FROM HIS CORRECTIONS
AND IN HIS WAKE ALL WORK DIED
FOR THERE WAS NO INK TO WRITE WITH."
—Homare, The Swirliad.

:rainbowderp:

As a programmer, the design of that awareness spell is just delightful. Satisfys the requirements, completely inappropriate for the intended task.

3324352
Thanks :) I tried to come up with a wizard Twilight could admire for his scholarly achievements without being a typical bookworm character.

3324560

Did he just give her some Voigt-Kampff questions? I wonder how well they'd work for finding changelings...

Yes, yes he did. I wouldn't have thought they'd have replicants in the Pre-Classical Era, but apparently Star Swirl knows some.

Using a cipher that inverts letters to represent a spell that inverts sounds in the first chapter was pretty clever too, I really thought it added something to the demonstration of how smart Clover is supposed to be that the first thing we see her doing is solving an actual puzzle the reader can also have solved.

Congratulations, you get one Swirl Point for being the first commenter to point that out :twilightsmile:
Actually I was originally going to have Star Swirl's lecture written in Wingdings, but the website wouldn't let me.

3325691
Eeyup :eeyup:

3325833
Any chemistry class that doesn't teach you how to make booze and explosives doesn't deserve to be called a chemistry class.

3325957
Oh, I didn't see you there; I was too busy being aware of my surroundings.

3324553
Thanks :scootangel:

3325627
Star Swirl is deeply concerned about grade inflation and the devaluation of higher education.
Star Swirl's proposed solution: be a dick to his students.

The mug, the toads, the questions about soil, the "off-limits" shelf, this chapter was just perfect.

Yessssss, we need more absent-minded genius professers.

Man this is the best Star Swirl story I have ever read. Keep up the good work, and I cant wait for more :pinkiehappy:

'crucio-sassarpurgic component'? That doesn't sound very nice. :twilightoops:

Comment posted by finderofstuff deleted Oct 10th, 2013

3324560

To add to the level of evil, I had originally suggested having it in Wingdings, as Daedelean mentioned, but to have the text underlying that in Norwegian.

3325957

The true terror of the ink shortage is foreshadowed nicely in chapter three of The Crown of Night, which I highly recommend reading in its entirety. That chapter was possibly the most fun I've had editing to date.

Yes, that was a shameless plug of Daedelean's other writings, but it really is worth checking out.

Star Swirl you magnificent bastard. Driving thousands insane just to find someone with enough brainpower to get through your tricks. Glorious.:coolphoto:

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