Royal guards

The royal guards consist of white and dark gray Pegasus, unicorn and Pegasus unicorn ponies clad in solid golden armor who serve Princess Celestia, and dark gray Pegasus ponies with purple armor who serve Princess Luna. They act as bodyguards for the princesses, ceremonial guards in festivities, and chauffeurs in several occasions. The guards' helmet crests are reminiscent of Roman galea, and are also the same color as their tails. The guards are generally shown wearing extremely serious expressions and almost never speak, but when they do, their voice is provided by Jayson Thiessen. Their cutie marks are obscured by their uniforms.

Unicorn guards
The unicorn guards first appear in the show's title sequence, standing at the feet of Princess Celestia's throne. Their next appearance is in The Cutie Mark Chronicles. Set in Twilight Sparkle's flashback, eight gray unicorn guards play fanfare for Princess Celestia as she comes on stage and raises the sun for the Summer Sun Celebration. The guards remain expressionless throughout the ceremony. They stand at the aisles of the theater in Hearth's Warming Eve.

They have more active roles in two episodes: They guard the VIP balcony and allow Rarity to enter it at the Wonderbolts race in the episode Sweet and Elite, where they the color of their magical glow is green.

Unicorn Guards appear in It's About Time wearing different uniforms, featuring helmets with flowing crests and redesigned armor. They patrol the Canterlot Archives and one of them, who recognizes Twilight Sparkle, unlocks the restricted "Star Swirl the Bearded" wing for her, even though at first she tries to avoid them and dreads being discovered sneaking about but finds herself eventually cornered.

Many unicorn guards of multiple colors appear in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 and A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2.

Celestia's Pegasus guards
During the first episode, a pair of the more commonly seen white-coat Pegasus guards chauffeur Twilight Sparkle and Spike from Canterlot to Ponyville in a flying chariot. Their following appearance is in the second episode, when the Mayor commands three of them to stop Night Mare Moon, she strikes them with lightning bolts to swat them away. The guards later draw the royal chariot into town at the end of the episode. They briefly appear in Swarm of the Century, driving Celestia's flying chariot, and in Sonic Rainboom, accompanying Celestia in her spectator box at Cloudsdale's stadium.

They make their only speaking appearance in A Bird in the Hoof, where they guard the Princess and search for her pet bird, Philomeena. Two guards stand on duty at the entrance to Sugarcube Corner where Celestia is staying. They are pestered by Rainbow Dash who tries to elicit a response from them, but they remain stoic and silent. Soon afterwards, they hinder Fluttershy's entrance until Twilight confirms she's allowed inside. Later, a guard notifies Celestia that the mayor seeks an audience with her. Even later, two guards are sent to inform Twilight that the Princess's bird is missing, and they continue looking for the bird throughout the episode. The episode ends with the bird tickling the guards and making them laugh at Rainbow Dash's request.

Many Pegasus guards of multiple colors appear in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 and A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2.

Hearth's Warming Eve guards
The Pegasus guards featured in the Hearth's Warming Eve pageant share the same design as Celestia's Pegasus guards, but have a different color scheme and a lightning bolt emblem instead of a star-shaped emblem.

Luna's Pegasus guards
Princess Luna's Pegasus guards appear in Luna Eclipsed, chauffeuring her flying carriage to Ponyville. They have a dark gray coat, black tails, tufts of hair on the tips of their ears, bat-like wings, and cat-like slit pupils. Their armor is purple, and it has a webbed crest over the helm. One of her guards appears in the Castle Creator game.

Pegasus unicorn guards
Three Pegasus unicorn guards appear in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 during the song B.B.B.F.F, saluting along with three Pegasus guards and Shining Armor in a flashback to Twilight Sparkle's childhood. Two of them have a white coat and one of them has a dark gray coat; all three of them have royal blue tails and bright blue eyes. Sabrina Alberghetti, one of the show's storyboard artists who worked on the episode, stated that these three guards being Pegasus unicorns may have been an animation error.

Shining Armor
Captain of the Royal Guards who appears in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 and A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2. He is the older brother of Twilight Sparkle and husband of Princess Cadance.

Shining Armor's Retinue
Caramel, "Cherry Coke," Noteworthy, and Meadow Song serve closely as aides-de-camp to Shining Armor in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2.

Quotes
"Halt!"

- A Bird in the Hoof

"Who goes there?!"

- A Bird in the Hoof

"We were told we could find Twilight Sparkle here."

- A Bird in the Hoof

"We regret to inform you Miss but the royal pet has gone missing."

- A Bird in the Hoof

"Hey, Twilight, haven't seen you in a while. Let me open that for ya."

- It's About Time

Gallery

 * Royal guards image gallery