For all the harping on and for all the criticisms that I have given him over the years, I still feel that of all the characters in MLP FIM, Shining was the one who had the most wasted potential. Throughout the series he has been seen as either incompetent, immature or unnecessary to the story only to prop up the Mane 6 (especially Twilight).

Whilst I do like Twilight and the series is about her and her friends who are the bearers of Elements of Harmony, many seem to forget that since Celestia no longer could wield the elements for over 1000 years, the kingdom had to have been held together somehow before Twilight would regain them eventually, so the guards in general had to have been doing something more than stand there looking tough, and Shining had to have been able to show his worth as a captain of the guard and a prince of the Crystal Empire. And yes, he is often portrayed as the butt of a lot of jokes since he is always being overshadowed in some way or another. I get it in the meta sense: If the guard were competent or without any struggles then there would be no tension in the action-packed premiers or finales. But to me this needs to work both ways. I have always believed that just because you make your secondary characters either incompetent and/or useless, you don't automatically make the main characters any better. If anything, you make both sides look worse since you show how overpowered the main characters are and how unnecessary the secondary characters are.

I really wanted to see him being able to show that he could have demonstrated some ability to help show that despite his flaws, he could still hold his own, but no. The status quo is god and only the main characters are allowed to do anything to save the day, or if not the main characters then the alternative characters (Starlight, Thorax, Trixie and Discord were good in the season 6 finale, but again, the rest were all captured somehow by the changlings and it wasn't until season 9 that they decide to upgrade their defences at long last?) It really feels like when it came to these parts of each season he was just an afterthought and there was no room for him to get any chance to be properly developed upon which is a real shame.

Sorry for the long ramblings. ^^'

As you may have noticed, I’m developing my own original pony series. In this series, a driving force is friendship between the sexes. Two of my main characters are inspired by Twilight and Shining Armor. Their names are Nightlight and White Night.

In my work, the Royal Guard is a strong, competent force. In many situations, Nightlight and her girlfriends are in a supporting role under White Night’s leadership — or mainly along for the ride.

In addition, Nightlight’s girlfriends have a big-brother figure who is just one year older. His name is David Starlyre. He is the one directly mentoring Nightlight while she lives in Friendsville.

You got a Shining Armor T-Shirt? How cool! Is there a particular pose and/or words on it?

I'm glad you got a Shining Armor plush. Build-A-Bear is the best way to have gotten a lot of ponies that did not go quite into mass-production by Hasbro. Notably you have Shining along with Minty and a few others I was surprised to uncover while at a BaB during BronyCon.

This is a great description of not just Shining but also the male characters in general. You are very right in Season 6 opening the door for a lot of male character advancement.

I often wonder, given the show was to originally end after Season 3, what may have happened if they knew all the plot points that came by Season 9 during Season 1? Would it have changed some of the behaviors of the characters? Maybe changed some of the plots?

It’s Shining Armor and Cadance holding hooves, facing each other with eyes shut. Their heads are bowing down for their horns to touch each other’s heads. Cadance stands to the left, and Shining Armor stands to the right.

The Crystal Heart shines above and behind the two royals. The two look partway to being silhouettes, but their colors and features remain clear. Along the edges of these shadows, a bright light highlights the edges of their images.

There are more details I’d love to describe, but I covered the most important ones.

By the way, I also have Minty. Since I got my Shining Armor as new old stock in 2019, I’m most likely the last to ever stuff a Shining Armor.

Do you think we could ever help arrange a convention where we commission limited Build-A-Bear runs of the Student Six — along with Spike with wings, Ember, Thorax, and Sunburst?

I never thought I would encounter any MLP episode focusing on the topic of brotherhood. I like the episodes featuring Spike, Big Mac, and Discord. I love the brotherhoods between Spike and Thorax and between Thorax and Pharynx. Thorax and Pharynx are like the Celestia and Luna of the reformed changelings.

Thorax is the first great example of a male ruler. I’m not entirely sure if Shining Armor co-rules the Crystal Empire — or if he’s technically second in power.

As it is, it feels almost as though the series had a master plan all along. Every successive season kept building on the world of friendship. Overall, the show got better as it went along. That’s the opposite of what I would expect out of a cartoon.

Of course, I believe the staff just got increasingly filled with people who took the message of friendship seriously. Lauren Faust was probably holding the show back, after initially designing the characters.

If it weren’t for the Student Six, I might never have given the show another chance. For seven years, I had written FIM off from what I knew about the first two seasons. In fact, my original disgust led me to developing what would become Starponys.

If the original plan had taken friendship as seriously as later seasons do, then Seasons 1 and 2 would probably have been wonderful. Dragons might not have been unfairly singled out for greed.

Greed-induced growth might not have been conceived. Or it might have been presented as something dragons must manage like the kirins’ need to manage their fiery tempers. Maybe dragons could have grown themselves by storing up friends as treasures. As it is, the kirins’ fiery tempers could be properly directed to protect what they love (similar to Fluttershy as a Power Pony).

There might have been changelings, from the outset, peacefully living off others’ love, and feeling some love in return. Overall, maybe there would have been notably more accountability for comic mischief. Spike might never have been more of a butt monkey than anyone else. And he might have always seemed like an honorary part of the Mane 6, like Starlight Glimmer.