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MisterAibo — Guard Duty
#my_little_pony #cinemagraph #memory_lane_pictures #mint_rose
Published: 2016-08-26 22:30:55 +0000 UTC; Views: 3736; Favourites: 164; Downloads: 46
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Description
"It's weird how every colt and filly imagines the job of a guard as something it's so obviously not."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, you know - they think it's all about fighting dragons and doing cool stuff. Like what you read in books."
"Why is that weird?"
"Because you see guards around all the time! And it's not like we're running around fighting monsters, either - most of the time anyway - we just... stand there. You know. Actually guarding stuff."
"Huh. I guess I've never thought about it that way."
"See? It's almost like the guarding guard is just something invisible, and the mythological swashbuckling guard is the real deal."
"Despite never being seen."
"Exactly! I mean, sure, there's the occasional peacekeeping, and we've had few monster attacks here and there, but far from being a daily thing."
"But it happens on occasions, right?"
"Once or twice a year, yeah. And it's always exciting - usually too exciting, if anything."
"Too exciting?"
"Yes. It's one thing to imagine a gruff mare or stallion bounding through the streets, fighting enemies left and right, and quite another to actually be there. It's... a lot of pressure. Ponies depend on you with their lives, you know?"
"I guess that makes all the standing around pale in comparison."
"Sure. But you know what? When you get to just stand around for a whole day until you're falling asleep, it makes you really appreciate it in a way. In the end, the hope of any guard is to have a really boring shift."
Commissioned by Sea-Gnash , featuring Mint Rose .
Also on tumblr !
TechnicalStill image created with inkscape .
The animations were made and exported with aniGen .
Version 0.7.3 of aniGen is out. It probably has plenty bugs, but it works well enough on Chrome. Even the exporting.
You too can make animations with AniGen !
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As always, I appreciate any comments, criticism and discussion.
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Comments: 35
I love it---it gets even better when you read the description!
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I always enjoy seeing the little animated shorts you pop out. They brighten my day.
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Pretty sure she didn't train well. Because lots of soldiers can sleeping while standing still!
Also, she's so adorable~~~!!! RRRRRRRR
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Plus, you know. She's a horse, so she should be able to sleep while standing anyway... yet you (almost) never see that in the show. Strange.
And yes, she is adorable.
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I can see why. There are worse jobs than standing in some nice place thinking about stuff.
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yeah at least her job is some what important!
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This really good well done 
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Huh. I don't see it, sorry. Could you be more specific?
I know the preview image doesn't loop perfectly - that's definitely a thing. But the main picture seems fine to me.
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It's near the first yawn when the guard blinks it looks like the eye shifts I believe sorry I can't pin point it because no time line to be exact ;-; best I give is that
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Well, her eye moves right after the first blink. That's not an error.
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Aw maybe it's just way it moves that's throwing me off 
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Could be. I'll pay more attention to the eyes next time, in any case.
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"In the end, the hope of any guard is to have a really boring shift."
Absolutely. Having nothing happen when you're in a security or policing career is best.
When most working people have a bad day, it's because of a pesky boss or a difficult project. A bad day for a cop is something like a dead kid and a traumatized family.
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Yeah. That's like it's not a job that just anyone can do.
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MLP has a story of turning mere background props into characters, and we have no guardpony characters. A men can dream
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I think the point of guards in the show is that they are interchangeable. Having guards with personality would be interesting, though. I enjoyed the crystal guards being all buddy-buddy with Spike, for instance.
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Well, there is Pony Flash Sentry but . . . . . . . . . . . I'm scared of going any further
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Yeah, he stands out like a sore thumb.
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Nice!
It's funny how I can't remember seeing a mare in the show wearing armor and doing guard duty, even though you'd think mares would have a role as a guard, like how they might be a little faster, having a lighter frame...maybe they are guards, just not the sort of guards that that wear armor?
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There haven't been female guards in the show yet, at least to my knowledge. Unless you count that one episode where RD works for Nightmare Moon. I suppose one reason would be a lot of the character cast is female, and having guards be female as well would just tip the balance even further. Just remember how disproportionate the show felt in earlier seasons, where the only named male ponies in Ponyville were Big Mac and Mr. Cake.
Also, as far as fantasy (and history) is concerned, most people in heavy suits of armor are male. It makes sense from population standpoint, too - you wouldn't want to endanger female part of the populace, since they make kids. That's why most wars were - and still are - fought by dominantly male armies.
Oh yeah, and of course, making all the guards "generic white male" or "generic chestnut male" helps making them interchangeable, and seemingly part of a vast whole. Too much diversity would probably make the Royal Guard seem way too individualistic, like, say, the Wonderbolts. Just remember how out of place Flash Sentry looks, and why Shining Armor is - again - a bulky, white stallion.
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Standing around for days, once in a while delivering something to some princess, or get sneak attacked. Not exactly my career of choice, but it could be very meditative.
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THAT. The meditative part.
It's like... you'd know you're doing what you have to all the time.
You're free. Free to think whatever, to focus on anything you want until your shift ends.
The rare cases where you'll have to concentrate is when fighting and that's not bound to happen a lot in Equestria.
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Sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
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