Shining Armor

Shining Armor is a Unicorn pony and the older brother of Twilight Sparkle. He is also Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guards, serving under Princess Celestia.

Depiction in the series
Shining Armor is very close to his sister (whom he calls Twiley) in their childhood,however the two lost touch when Twilight moved to Ponyville. In A Canterlot Wedding, Part One, he greets Twilight as soon as she arrives and asks her to be his Best Mare at the wedding. Like Twilight, he is very dedicated to the responsibilities he is given, such as maintaining a magical barrier around Canterlot to keep out intruders at the behest of Celestia. However, Queen Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen, disguised as Princess Cadence, uses a spell to control Shining Armor. While he is brainwashed, he explains the spell as a spell Cadence is using to heal his migraines. As a result, his excitement turns to frustration and anger when Twilight correctly guesses that "Cadence" is evil and unworthy of her brother, to which he reprimands his sister, tells her that he doesn't want her as the Best Mare anymore, and even that she shouldn't bother to come to the wedding at all. Twilight and her friends rescue him from his brainwashing in the first wedding ceremony, and he returns to his old self, using his and Cadence's love to repel the Changelingsout of Canterlot forever, thus asking Twilight to be his Best Mare again. Shining Armor is deeply in love with Princess Cadence, also noted by Queen Chrysalis who says this is why she is feeding off him. Shining Armor and Princess Cadence are later able to use their love to create a spell that repelled Queen Chrysalis and her changeling minions out of Canterlot.

Magic and skills
As Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor is tasked with producing and constantly maintaining a defensive magical barrier around the entire state of Canterlot.