This is a comment, as opposed to an ask: Ruby Blade has one of the best armor schemes I've seen in the ponyverse.
This is a huge compliment, thank you so much!
I've always adored armour and have drawn...probably too much of it over the years. So when I went to make a pony oc, I kinda had to give them armour.
I love the show-style armour, but it's not super effective looking. It actually looks like it'd restrict movement much of the time, but then it's probably ornamental and not designed for heavy battle use. If it is, then it's designed for short bursts that are ended by overwhelming numbers, not for long-term bouts, as it looks inflexible and is rather heavy on the back.
Or more likely it was designed that way because hey it looks good in short bursts on a background character, and it obscures the individual's cutie mark, allowing for ease of repetition.
But yeah, when making Ruby, I considered what she'd be doing when designing the armour. I wanted to give her the look of a knight, but also of a ranger, so she commands respect but can also move quickly in it.
So she got a breastplate for front protection, and layered plating on her back for defense and maneuverability. there's also plates in the leather armour holder, but this is much lighter and thinner to not weight her down too much.
But then to keep to the show style I gave her somewhat impractical leg and hoof armour, with elongated front hoove plates providing a little more direct protection, but not much.
Basically, practicality and design go hand in hand for armour, unless it's ceremonial. Ruby does have ceremonial armour but it's layered on top of the existing, meaning it can be removed quickly if an emergency arises.
Whoops rambled a bit but yeah, I'm really glad you like the design man, it took a lil while to put together :D
