Royal guards

The royal guards, some also referred to as the E.U.P. (Earth, Unicorn, Pegasus) Guard of the Protective Pony Platoons, are various groups of armored stallion ponies, griffons, or gargoyles that serve various members of royalty. They act as bodyguards, ceremonial guards in festivities, soldiers, and chauffeurs on several occasions. The guards are generally shown wearing extremely serious expressions and usually don't speak, but when they do, their voice is provided by Jayson Thiessen, Andrew Francis, or Peter New. Their cutie marks are obscured by their uniforms.

Development and design
The royal guards' helmets are reminiscent of Greek Corinthian helmets, Roman Legionary helmets, and medieval Barbut Helmets, with the helmet crest being the same color as their tails and mane.

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: One guards the VIP balcony and allows Rarity to enter it at the Wonderbolts race in the episode Sweet and Elite; the color of his 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; 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.

Three unicorn guards, two gray and one brown, appear with speaking roles in Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1, and multiple gray unicorn guards appear in Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 2.

Princess Celestia's guards
In Friendship is Magic, part 1, 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 Friendship is Magic, part 2. When Mayor Mare commands three of them to stop Nightmare Moon, the latter 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 a speaking appearance in A Bird in the Hoof, where they guard the princess and search for her pet bird Philomena. 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 after, 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 the season two finale.

In Rarity Investigates!, Rarity and Rainbow Dash interrogate three Pegasus guards over a crime that takes place within Canterlot Castle. One of the guards complains that their job is incredibly boring and thankless work, to the point that they were easily distracted by an offering of cake from the culprit, which allowed the crime to take place.

In reference to their appearance in the title sequence, two unicorn guards appear standing between Celestia's throne in the end of Crusaders of the Lost Mark.

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 they have a different color scheme and a lightning bolt emblem instead of a star-shaped emblem.

Princess Luna's guards
Princess Luna's guards chauffeur Luna's flying carriage in Luna Eclipsed. Luna's guards have dark gray coats, bat wings, tufted ears, and cat-like vertical slits for pupils. They wear lavender-colored armor. One of Luna's guards is referred to as a "cool looking Pegasus" in a post by Gameloft's My Little Pony mini-site and My Little Pony game Facebook page, and one of Luna's guards is also referred to as a Pegasus in the file name of a Castle Creator and Card Creator game asset both on the websites of both Hasbro and The Hub.

M.A. Larson and Lauren Faust have stated on Twitter that they believe Luna's guards are a different race from Pegasi and come from "[d]eep caves inside the mountains."

In the novel, Princess Luna and the Winter Moon Festival, Luna's guards are given the names Echo and Nocturn.

Earth pony guards
Two of the royal guards seen overlooking the station in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 have no wings or a horn, marking them as Earth pony guards. Another Earth pony guard appears in The Crystal Empire - Part 1, informing Princess Celestia about the return of the Crystal Empire. This marks the first time in the series that a royal guard has removed his helmet, confirming at least for the guard in question that the crest on their helmet matches their mane color.

Alicorn guards
In A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1, some guards saluting can be seen having both a pair of wings and a horn due to an animation error.

Crystal Empire guards
First appearing in the movie My Little Pony Equestria Girls, these Crystal Ponies serve as the royal guard for the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Earth pony guards are similar to the Canterlot Earth pony guards except most of them have the exclusive crystal sheen effect and wear armor with more decorative details. In the episode Three's A Crowd, a Crystal Pegasus guard appears alongside Flash Sentry. Two Crystal Earth pony guards appear in Equestria Games, escorting Spike to meet Princess Cadance when he arrives in the Crystal Empire for the titular sporting event.

Shining Armor
Shining Armor is introduced as the captain of the royal guard in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1. He is the older brother of Twilight Sparkle and husband of Princess Cadance. Caramel, Cherry Fizzy, Noteworthy, and Meadow Song serve closely to Shining Armor in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2.

Flash Sentry
Flash Sentry is a character who appears in the movie My Little Pony Equestria Girls. He first appears as a Pegasus royal guard who greets Twilight Sparkle upon her arrival at the Crystal Empire castle. In the alternate world, Twilight encounters his human counterpart, and the two develop a crush on one another. When Twilight returns to Equestria, she blushes upon meeting her world's Flash Sentry again.

Flash's Pegasus counterpart makes a non-speaking appearance in Three's A Crowd. In Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1, he has a minor speaking role, introducing the duke and duchess of Maretonia to the Crystal Empire.

Other royal guards
In The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone, Twilight Sparkle, narrating the history of Griffonstone to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie from the book Bygone Griffons of Greatness, shows pictures of griffons guarding the former griffon king.

Other royal guard factions, including non-pony guards, appear throughout the IDW comics.

In, an alternate universe King Sombra's royal guards appear dressed in black armor. In the present, they mistake the Mane Six and Spike for their alternate universe counterparts, and in a flashback, they imprison Princess Celestia and Star Swirl the Bearded. In, one of alternate Princess Celestia's guards appears wearing white and gold Egyptian-themed armor.

In, King Sombra's guards appear in a flashback helping him set traps to capture a crystal bard.

In, King Vorak and Queen Haydon have a detail of Gargoyle royal guards.

In, King Orion of Timbucktu has a royal guard detail of sparkly-eyed Pegasi. Queen Chrysalis poses as one of these guards during her invasion of the city. Later in the same issue, Emperor Incitatus has a royal guard detail of unicorns.

Depiction in comics
In, two Pegasus royal guards transport Princess Celestia to the site of Twilight's battle with Queen Chrysalis and fight against the giant mutant cockatrices in the mini-comic "In the Interim..."

In the Nightmare Rarity story arc, numerous royal guards help against Nightmare Rarity and the Nightmare Forces.

In, one of Princess Luna's guards appears as her escort during the Summer Wrap-Up Festival.

In, a Pegasus guard whistles when Princess Cadance appears and hails the arrival of Buck Withers.

In Reflections, in Issue #17, two royal guards look confused as Princess Luna stands in for Princess Celestia during her absence.

In, two royal guards are named on page 4: an Earth pony royal guard named Sam and one of Princess Luna's guards named Ralph. In the mini-comic "Luna Gets a Pet", one of Luna's guards escorts her through the forest.

In, a royal guard hails the arrival of Spike.

In, Pinkie Pie and Princess Luna play some pranks on two royal guards.

In My Little Pony Annual 2013, two Pegasus guards escort Sunset Shimmer out of Canterlot Castle when Princess Celestia removes her from her position as Celestia's student, and Sunset overpowers them off-panel. Later, one of the guards moves the Crystal Mirror to Celestia's throne room.

Merchandise
In Enterplay's collectible card game, card α #14 C depicts a Pegasus royal guard and lists the quote "Stop right there, criminal!"

In the game's Canterlot Nights expansion set, card #33 R depicts an Earth pony royal guard and lists the quote "I'm going to need to see your cart license and registration. Please step out of the cart, ma'am." Card #54 R depicts a unicorn royal guard and gives the description "Luckily, the Canterlot Archive's closing time doesn't apply to the personal protégé of Princess Celestia."

In the game's Crystal Games expansion set, card #8 R depicts a Crystal Pegasus royal guard and lists the quote "Stop in the name of the law!" Card #26 U depicts a Pegasus royal guard and gives the description "Equestria's Royal Guards may be known for their stern behavior, but nopony can argue with their results."

Other depictions
One of Princess Luna's guards appears in the Castle Creator game.

My Little Pony mobile game description
Royal Guard:

The Royal Guard pegasus ponies serve as the protectors of Princess Celestia and all of Equestria.

Princess Luna's Royal Guard:

Princess Luna's protector ponies are identified by their dark coats and manes, as well as their purple armor.

Quotes
"Halt!"

- Pegasus guard in A Bird in the Hoof

"Who goes there?!"

- Pegasus guard in A Bird in the Hoof

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

- Pegasus guard in A Bird in the Hoof

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

- Pegasus guard in A Bird in the Hoof

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

- Unicorn guard in It's About Time

"News from Northern Equestria! Uh... Your Highness. [...] I am simply to tell you that it has returned."

- Earth pony guard in The Crystal Empire - Part 1

"We're officers of the Royal Guard. We take our orders from royalty. With Princess Luna and Princess Celestia gone, and Princess Cadance overseeing the Crystal Empire now, that means we take our orders from you."

- Unicorn guard in Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1

"A thousand pardons, O Great and Honorable Spike the Brave and Glorious."

- Crystal guard in Equestria Games

"Oh, you're right. We don't get a lot of recognition for what we do."

- Unicorn guard in Rarity Investigates!

"She took us by surprise and just... just... jumped in the mirror. I don't know..."

- Pegasus guard in The Fall of Sunset Shimmer

"Why hang it in an even more prominent place? Shouldn't you hide the mirror, Princess?"

- Pegasus guard in The Fall of Sunset Shimmer

"Princess Celestia. Buck Withers is here to escort Princess Cadance to the dance."

- Pegasus guard in page 12

"Hold it. It's these hooligans! Arrest them!"

- Sombra's guard in page 9

"And then, we are all going to polish our armor to a gleaming shine! After that, we have an appearance at the bake sale at the fill school in Ponyville! I personally plan on buying some lemon bars..."

- Pegasus guard in page 5

"Stop right there, criminal!"

- Enterplay collectible card game α #14 C card Pegasus Royal Guard, Elite Sentry

"I'm going to need to see your cart license and registration. Please step out of the cart, ma'am."

- Enterplay collectible card game Canterlot Nights #33 R card Earth Pony Royal Guard, Arresting Officer

"Stop in the name of the law!"

- Enterplay collectible card game The Crystal Games #8 R card Crystal Guard, On Duty