Shining Armor is much older than the mane six, so he probably got to see some stuff back from before the others were old enough to see.

Are there any stories staring this pony as a Foal? Any adventures that inspired him to be a Royal Guard, or taught him how to be a good big brother in the first place? Was he bullied, did he know Cadence as a childhood friend? Did he have any other childhood friends? Has he traveled a lot before settling in Canterlot?

Here are some questions that may be good to answer with good ol headcanon! They might spice up whatever story you make with Shining as a Young Foal If you want to make it adventure based, or maybe even a crossover?

Post your Ideas below!

1749012 Shining Armor is pretty much what I'm all about... And Soulbound is headcanon central

Most of Shining's foalhood was pretty standard, however due to the nature of his magic, he could only use it after Twi was born. The two of them became very studious, trying to figure out exactly what their "condition" was. Their uncle, Starlight Ward (subject too change), always kept his eyes on Shining, and encouraged him to join the Guard. Shining was incredibly timid, but decided to follow suit.

Now, Royal Guard training is brutal stuff. You break a leg in sparing, or something, you get one day off, and that's it. You crawl back to barracks. Shining was getting his ass beat, and threatened to resign. Celestia (manipulating princess that she is), convinced him to do otherwise.

Eventually Shining persevered, and started showing some serious talent in combat. He grew arrogant, and his uncle, now instructor, did not like that in the slightest. Soon Shining was forced to fight him instead, and he was merciless. Instead of conceding Shining kept trying to win over and over, until one day, he managed to best his uncle, using four practice swords at the same time. Shining and his uncle have always had difficulties getting along after his training, even to this day.

Naturally Shining met Cadence while she was foalsitting, although had no idea she was an Alicorn. He didn't pay it much heed, as she tend to hide it in public. Throughout her friendship with him and his sister, she couldn't help but notice some uncanny occurrences between the too. Twilight always knew when Shining was home before Cadence could even see him coming to the door, and he could always tell when she wasn't actually asleep. Shining and her grew close, but nothing really beyond a simple teenage infatuation. It wasn't until she returned to Canterlot after the Nightmare Moon attack, that the two got serious...

that's about what I got so far. Every chapter I'm doing a sorta flashback to a certain event in Shining's past, that you can kind of piece together, but that's the thick of it.

1749458

Is that an alicorn Shining in your Avatar? That is so BOSS!

Anyway, I am liking that so much.

1749458 Oooh! I like this concept! I may need to take a look at it some time!

1749889 I was going to have the final arc of Soulbound (or at least the one before season 4) be about Shining being depressed now that both his sister and wife are immortal, and so he tries to interrogate Sombra on how he did it without becoming an alicorn. Although after Megan McCarthy confirmed that Twi is not immortal (and given Cadence became one in the same manner) I dropped it.

1751110 There's a whole lot more, like how Shining starts wondering why Celestia seems to being pampering Twilight and how she seems to help him climb through the ranks. It leads to a certain amount of paranoia in him.

One of the major themes in this however is Shining's thirst for combat. He loves to fight, and his darkest wish is to see Equestria go to war, just to test his mettle. Sombra will later capitalize on that.