@Background Pony Number 17  
Sub-race?

@Background Pony #1269  
Apparently Crystal ponies are considered a separate race, regardless of whether they have wings or horns?

Interesting, he loses the Unicorn trait, and the Crystal trait has its own icon.

@Lurks-no-More  
To me it seemed like the shield was coming from the city itself and Cadance was just fueling it. The episode did imply that Armor could have kept Sombra out, but he was snooping around the tundra instead of doing that.
 
Though it would have made more sense for Shining Armor to put up his own shield as soon as they arrived instead of using the empire’s faulty one, there is one good reason why he wouldn’t want to do that. The whole point of the mission was to find some way for the empire to protect itself long-term using it’s own power. They had to investigate what powered the shield and were therefore forced to rely on it.

@dynamicv  
And it’s uncertain if a “normal” barrier shield would have kept shadow-Sombra out. Cadance’s bubble of love did keep him out, until she ran out of energy.

@Miss Shy  
Sombra disabled his horn.

@Miss Shy  
>Empire is protect by crystal heart  
>Crystal heart = love (unless dark magic has it a al Sombra then it spreads dark magic)  
>Cadance used her magic, love magic, and the shields went up.  
Cadance was a temporary generator of sorts.

So if he’s the impenetrable shield, who is the all-piercing spear pony?

Shining Armor, The Executive Producer.

@Miss Shy  
Cadance hates the snow?

So if his specialty is defensive magic, how come he didn’t do the barrier spell in The Crystal Empire?

No two see the same Shining Armor.