Shining Armor

Shining Armor is a unicorn pony and Twilight Sparkle's older brother. He is Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard. His cutie mark is a blue shield with a pink-purple six pointed star in the middle, and it also has three light blue stars above the shield. He first appears in A Canterlot Wedding, the two-part finale of the second season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, alongside his wife Princess Cadance.

Personality
Shining Armor is very close to his younger sister Twilight Sparkle, whom he calls "Twiley". However, the two lost touch when Twilight moved to Ponyville. He happily greets Twilight again upon her return to Canterlot, asking her to be his Best Mare at the wedding.



Similar to Twilight, Shining Armor is very dedicated to the responsibilities he is given, especially protecting Canterlot. This is shown through his casting, and constant maintenance of a magical barrier around the city at the behest of Princess Celestia. He is so involved with the security of Canterlot that he sacrifices much of the time he would otherwise spend planning his wedding, and continues to do so even though it gives him awful migraines. That being said, he is just as devoted to the people he loves as he is to his duties, shown in his loyalty and friendliness to Twilight in her childhood.

However, the Changeling Queen masquerades as Princess Cadance and uses a spell to control Shining Armor. While he is brainwashed, he explains it away as a spell she is using to heal his migraines. As a result, his excitement and happiness quickly turns to frustration and anger when his sister - unbeknownst to everyone - correctly decries “Cadance” as evil and unworthy of her brother. He reprimands his sister, tells her that she's not his Best Mare anymore, and even that she shouldn't bother to come to the wedding. Twilight and the real Cadance rescue him from his brainwashing during the first wedding ceremony, then he returns to his old self. He then lets Twilight be his Best Mare again in the second wedding ceremony and explains to her that Cadance accepted his proposal when he told her that she would gain Twilight as a sister-in-law. Later, Twilight serenades her brother and his bride at the wedding reception and as Shining Armor and Cadance were departing for their honeymoon, Shining Armor thanks his sister for everything she had done and they hug each other one final time.

Shining Armor is deeply in love with Princess Cadance. This is also noted by Queen Chrysalis. She says that his love for Cadance is more powerful than she credits it for (which is why she is feeding of of his love). These same feelings of love give Shining Armor the strength to cast the spell that repelled Chrysalis and her Changeling minions from Canterlot.

Depiction in the series
Shining Armor first appears in a flashback as Twilight describes her relationship with her brother to her friends. She calls him her "B.B.B.F.F." (Big Brother Best Friend Forever), and depicts him as very caring toward her. They were close throughout her childhood and he was present to see her off on the day she left Canterlot for Ponyville, but they lost touch with each other after that.

Later on, Shining Armor became captain of the royal guard, and became engaged to Princess Cadance shortly before the events of the episode. He was unable to announce his engagement to his sister in person due to a threat on the safety of Canterlot. At the request of Princess Celestia, Shining Armor used his magic to create a protective barrier around Canterlot and keep it there constantly. But unkown to everyone, Queen Chrysalis was already in Canterlot and had taken the place of Princess Cadance.

Before the wedding, Twilight tries to broach the subject to Shining Armor, but Cadance interrupts before they have a chance to talk and takes him into another room. Twilight, peeking through the door, sees Cadance casting a spell on Shining Armor, concludes that she's "downright evil", and then runs off. Twilight at last confronts Cadance during a wedding rehearsal, causing Cadance run off in tears. Shining Armor is so upset with Twilight for this that, after justifying Cadance's behavior, he tells Twilight he no longer wants her at his wedding.

By the time the wedding begins, Shining Armor is completely under the power of Queen Chrysalis. He remains in a trance-like state until Twilight finally reunites him with the real Cadance. Her magic breaks the spell, but by now an army of changelings has broken through his shield and is invading Canterlot. Shining Armor tries to perform a spell to repel the changelings, but he doesn't have the strength. Cadance tells Shining Armor that her love will give him strength, and the two's magic spreads outward and repels all the changelings and their queen off into the horizon.

The wedding is redone with the real Cadance involved in the planning, and Shining Armor lets Twilight be his Best Mare again. He jokes with her that Cadance only agreed to marry him after he told her she'd be gaining Twilight as her sister. At the wedding, Celestia proclaims that the power of Cadance and Shining Armor's love is undeniable, and pronounces them "mare and colt." The couple looks onto the castle courtyard and wave to the cheering crowds, then kiss. After a wedding reception montage, Cadance and Shining Armor prepare to leave in their chariot. Before they do, Shining Armor thanks Twilight for all her help. The happy couple then ride off into the night, presumably going on their honeymoon.

Magic & Skills
Like his sister, Shining Armor has the capacity to perform exceptional feats of magic. A key plot point of A Canterlot Wedding revolves around his unique ability to project and sustain a defensive magical barrier around the entirety of Canterlot. Although this feat gives him severe headaches, his ability to perform the spell at all evidences a good deal of talent, training, or both. Besides this, though, the extent of Shining Armor's magical capabilities and his physical combat skills are not elaborated on.

Merchandise
Shining Armor was put in several 2012 playsets, always paired with Cadance and themed around their wedding:


 * A "Pony Princess Wedding Castle" playset, featuring a plastic castle and Playful Pony characters Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, is set to be released August 2012;


 * A Target exclusive boxset of Fashion Style Shining Armor and Princess Cadance


 * The Fall 2012 Minature Collection will contain a Pony Wedding set, with Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, and Twilight Sparkle.

Shining Armor is the first male Playful Pony to be released since the 80's.

Gallery

 * Shining Armor image gallery