Thousand-Year Sirens · 2:13pm Jun 1st, 2015
I've been reading a bunch of Dazzlings fics as of late, and there's a common theme across all but a few that I personally take issue with - the notion of the Sirens as immortals. Sure, it's been used rather well in certain fics, but it also feels to me that people are forgetting a rather important aspect of how the EQG world works that was established pretty early on - time difference.
It's made clear that Twilight becoming Princess Celestia's personal student in The Cutie Mark Chronicles was around the same time, maybe a bit after, Sunset fled through the portal. Twilight at the time was rather young, about the same age as the CMC; about 12 or 13 at the oldest. In the present, she's about college-age, somewhere in the vicinity of 21 or so, give or take a bit. Simple math says that somewhere around nine years would have passed in Equestria.
Meanwhile, in the EQG-verse, Sunset is shown to have been there about three years; give or take a few months. Not only do the line of Fall Formal princess photos support this, but so does dialogue from various characters implying that that's when she appeared. So this gives us a 3:9 year ratio between the human world and Equestria, and we can simplify that down to 1:3. Taking that at face value, paired with the knowledge that Starswirl apparently lived roughly around the same time as Luna went Nightmare Moon, we have about a thousand years in Equestria since the Siren's banishment.
Applying that ratio and some simple division, we're left with something in the vicinity of 333 years the sirens spent in the human world. Applying real-world history to that, the Dazzlings appeared sometime around 1680, well after Columbus discovered America and in the same year as Krakatoa's eruption. I have some headcanons of my own that further shorten that time they've spent in the human world, but even just taking things at canon face value, it bugs me that people seem to forget the difference in time flow.
This has been your irrelevant rambling for the day.
what if they caused the Krakatoa eruption?
i'm intrigued
According to the Fiendship is Magic comic, when Star Swirl banished them, they arrived in the human world roughly a few months or years before the events of Rainbow Rocks.
So, what you're saying is, the time dialation between Equestria Prime and Equestria Beta is borked beyond all belief. Though presumably Twilight made it real time by hacking her book. Man, Twilight, always fixing Starswirl's mistakes.
So rather than having lived for 1,000 years in the human world, they've lived there for 333 years? How is that any less indicative of immortality/extreme longevity? It's still about four times as long as an average human. And they certainly aren't starting to wrinkle yet.
Not to mention that they were already adults when Starswirl banished them, and had been active in Equestria for a long time, long enough to master their power and establish themselves as a major threat. So add another chunk of age on that side too.
Whether they're truly immortal or not is up to the show writers. But it's safe to assume that they're not looking for grey hairs. Besides, why shouldn't powerful magical beings be able to afford long lifespans?
3114640 Ooh, now there's a thought - Magical energies from the portal's formation, perhaps?
3114646 What about?
3114832 I really should get around to reading those comics...
3114891 Pretty much, yeah. And that she is. XD
3115020 Plenty true. Idunno, that's why this devolved into rambling near the end, but the idea of the Sirens as immortals still bugs me for some reason.
3115073 Oh, I know that feeling very well. Some ideas and headcanons people throw around just don't mesh with my view.
At the end of the day, though, everyone has their opinion and they're entitled to it. And everyone is welcome to write their own stories with support from their own opinions - if it makes the stories better, it's all good.
Still, it's fun to discuss the reasoning behind it, yes?
It could be time dilatation, or it could just be that Equestrian ponies are considered "adults" at a younger age than humans. That is to say we only know the ManeSix's societal level of responsibility, not what age Equestrian culture deems that appropriate. It's entirely plausible for Twilight to only be around 16-18 years old, even if she otherwise acts like what we would expect of someone 21+.
Likewise we don't really know by how much if at all Sunset was ever older than Twilight. We only know that she was Celestia's former apprentice, but nothing about how for how long. It's entirely possible that she ran away at a fairly young age, especially as we also don't know how quickly ponies physically mature. Of course conversely it's also possible that she's 2-3 years older than Twilight and is only faking being a highschool student. Or for that matter that Sunset is a highschool senior, while Twilight and friends are all only sophomores.
3115432
Indeed.
Indeed!
Inde- Very much so, yes.
3116270
There's an interesting thought...
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/7/21/380755__safe_twilight+sparkle_princess+celestia_comic_lyra_filly_princess+cadance_shining+armor_lyra+heartstrings_idw.jpg
Look closely.
Also very strong points. There's a lot of uncertainty to the whole thing...
3115073
Someone finally put my feelings into words
If you're interested in another unfounded hypothesis, there's the possibility that they sustain their life (and youth) with the magic they steal. Until the catch sight of Canterlot High, it's clear that the sirens routinely incite fights and scavenge what magic they can get. It would make sense thematically that they'd feed on others. (After all, they are a bit like changelings in that regard.)
Admittedly, that puts a very nasty spin on the fact that they've lost their powers, since they'll either have to find new powers, a new way to feed, or... starve to death.
3117030 Yeah, I've seen that particular theory a lot, and you also just answered why (outside of particular stories) I'm not a fan of the idea.
3117030
Or just age normally from now on.
3117162
As for the Dazzlings taking over the world, I got the impression their power was working better than usual near the portal to Equestria and when feeding off of people touched by its magic. Combined with the fact that they're really neither that bright nor that cohesive a group, I could easily see them failing to take over the world for 333 years. That they didn't get themselves killed might be more surprising.
3119738 Quite true.
3120202
Actually, if you want a good Immortal Siren story (even if it doesn't take the time-dilation into account), try this one:
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/223943/the-years-of-ar-and-s
3121103 Oh, I've read that one! It is indeed very good.
3122546
Yes, making them really immortal, not just unaging, took care of the 'getting themselves killed' part of the equation.