“Hi, Rarity,” I greeted as I entered the boutique. I was a bit surprised to see Twilight waiting within, patiently.

“Shh... Can't you see Rarity is trying to concentrate?” the librarian shushed.

“Seems a bit smaller than her usual work,” I noted. The dress she was working on seemed about right for her little sister or one of her filly friends in size, but far fancier than anything you would typically catch them in.

“Is there something I can help you with?” Rarity cut in.

“Oh, so very sorry to trouble you, Rarity, but I need a quick favor,” Twilight began. “Could you please fix the button for me? It's my dress for the Grand Galloping Gala.”

“Oh, no, no, no! You can't wear this…” Rarity said, pausing to think of a tactful way to describe the garment Twilight had brought in. “...old thing. You need a glamorous new outfit for the Gala and I'll make it for you. No problem at all. It will be my pleasure!”

“Oh, that's really sweet of you to offer, Rarity, but I can't let you do that. It would be so much work. This dress is fine.”

“Twilight Sparkle. I insist on making you a new dress.”

“But…”

“Not another word! I won't take no for an answer.”

“Well, in that case... Thank you for your generosity, Rarity,” Twilight graciously accepted at last. “Knowing your handiwork, I'm sure it will be absolutely beautiful.”

That settled, the seamstress turned to me. “And what can I do for you, Cloud? I imagine you need a whole new wardrobe for the spring.”

I waved dismissively. “The winter clothes are too warm, true, but the clothes you made for me for fall are just right. What I nee-”

Rarity cut me off, aghast at the very idea. “You simply can’t wear autumn clothing in spring! The colors are all wrong, darling! You need something brighter, more festive. Springy!”

“Actually, Rarity, what I need from you is a combat uniform. Not just for me, but the rest of the Elements as well. Obviously, mine will be shaped quite differently, as well as the variations for our pegasi and yourself. But I trust you can handle those details easily. But they should look similar enough to highlight that we’re a team. Twilight?”

“Huh? Oh!” Twilight said before pulling a pile of notes out from her saddlebags. “Right! Cloud has had me working on doing some research on defensive enchantments as well as integrating materia slots. I believe I can do the work to empower the suits, as long as you stay within these parameters. We’ll also need some high quality gemstones embedded in the clothing, as described on page 21 through 24. I’ve learned of an enchantment developed for the royal guard that can redirect the impact of blows to an embedded gemstone, taking advantage of the hardness of the stone regardless of where the impact lands, but the difficulty of making the enchantment made it impractical for their numbers”

Rarity had long since tuned her out, I noticed, as she skimmed through the pile of notes. “Oh, well, you’ve certainly given me a lot to think about…” I caught her looking at the small dress she had been working on.

“I know you have other work to do, I don’t want to leave your other clients high and dry,” I pointed out.

“Nonsense, darling, this is an important job for the team, and I’m eager to do my part. Though, some of these materials will be quite expensive…” she countered.

“We have an equipment budget for a reason,” I reminded. “Give Twilight an accounting of your costs, and don’t forget to include the time you spend working on it. This is seamstress work, not Element work, and you should be paid for it.”

“Thank you, darling, I do appreciate it… although…” she began, looking at me thoughtfully. “Bits are nice, but what would really compensate me for the time is a little favor in return. Do you think you and the girls could put on a little show for me?”

I blushed a bit, my mind thinking back to the fateful game of truth or dare and the little show she had gotten Rainbow Dash and I to put on. “What kind of show?”

“Why a fashion show, of course, darling,” she said. “Why, what kind of show did you think I meant?”

I didn’t answer, but judging by their faces I would say Rarity knew exactly where my mind had gone, while Twilight was simply confused despite having been present during the incident. “A fashion show?”

“I’ll be honest, here, my boutique needs the advertisement,” she said. “If you all could show off the uniforms I design for you, maybe I’ll be able to get some contracts with other organizations, or at least some good exposure in fashion magazines. I’ll still be charging for the materials, of course, but if you’d do that we’ll call it even for the time.”

“Agreed.”

A few weeks later, Rarity and Twilight gathered us all to head back to her boutique and see her handiwork. It wasn’t quite what I expected. For one thing, the others had their cutie marks depicted over their flanks, with the Element itself giving a third copy of the image over the chest; in my case she had gone with the Buster Sword image from the tiara, and depicted it on each butt cheek and again over my breasts. The bands of metal that held both the materia slots and the enchanted crystals that would absorb the impact of both blows and magic against us were set to be affixed to the rear legs of the ponies, and thus equivalently on my own legs rather than the arms where I would expect them. There was also a lot more lace involved than I was honestly comfortable with.

Rarity’s eager smile faltered a moment, then fell apart entirely before our unenthusiastic looks.

“That’s umm…” I began.

“They sure are… something,” Applejack concurred.

“Something?” Twilight questioned.

“I like something! Something is my favorite!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

“It’s… nice,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“What’s wrong? You don’t like them? You don’t like them,” Rarity concluded.

“They look like they should work…” I hedged.

“We’re all quite grateful for all the hard work you two put in,” Applejack thanked.

“Mine's just not as cool as I was imagining,” Rainbow said. ”She asked,” she defended when we glanced her way.

“I guess we just have a few details we’d like changed,” I admitted, the other Elements agreeing with me.

I turned in front of the mirrors as I looked over the second take on my uniform. The sword icons had moved to the sides of my hips, making me much less self conscious about them, the one on my chest entirely gone. The spiked pauldron on my left shoulder was perhaps unnecessary, but it just felt right to me. Having the crystals held on armlets rather than on my legs felt a lot more comfortable too. Maybe it was a bit too much like my old SOLDIER uniform. But even just wearing it made me feel more confident, more ready to take on any danger or challenge. “This is great, Rarity. How are the others coming along?”

“You really think so? No more revisions to request?”

“No, it’s great. Why? Is there something you don’t like about it? I could maybe allow-”

“No! No. It looks good on you. It’s just the others... “

“I trust your expertise, Rarity. Work with Twilight and the others, and I look forward to seeing the results,” I said. “We’ll give them a test run this weekend as we meet for our next training session. Do you think they’ll be ready by then?”

She hesitated a moment before snapping me a salute. “I’ll have them ready!”

I was doing some stretches at the practice field when I heard metal clanking approaching me from behind. I turned, a quick jolt of adrenaline preparing me to fight some Shinra attack bot or whatever the local equivalent would prove to be. It proved to be Applejack, covered in full plate metal barding from snout to tail, clanking loudly with every step.

Most of the other Elements were nearby. Rainbow Dash zipped around above in a uniform covered in lightning bolt motifs, Haste materia in hoof. Twilight walked to one side of AJ with a note scroll already opened and ready, while Rarity walked on her other hoof in a uniform actually resembling mine, aside from being pony shaped and lacking a pauldron. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were nowhere to be seen, but a six foot tall stuffed moogle followed after the other ponies, with a black stuffed cat riding atop it, holding a megaphone.

I had no words for them. I realized after a few seconds that my jaw had dropped and was hanging open. Rarity looked embarrassed. Twilight looked like she hadn’t noticed the problem yet.

“You told me to work with them,” Rarity quietly excused.

“Alright… let’s give these… ‘uniforms’ a quick test run. Rarity, you’re with me. Twilight, take notes. The rest of you will be our opposition for a sparring match. Let’s see what works and what… doesn’t,” I said. Equestria could be a strange place, and I had a slight concern that somehow all of this would prove actually effective.

“Well alright then,” Applejack said before her armor clanked together as she tried to bend to reach her lasso with her mouth. The metal didn’t allow enough give and she was stuck straining to reach for it. While she was tied down I ignored her and rushed for the pair of stuffed animals. Was one of them Pinkie and the other Fluttershy? The top one seemed too small to be either. It was all so strange and random.

“Hey now! Whoops! Watch where you’re going!” the cat said through the megaphone in Pinkie’s voice as the pair managed to hop and dance out of reach of my kicks and punches. For such a massive ungainly thing it was freakishly spry.

“Whoops!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed from above. I glanced up just long enough to see a blue blur dropping toward me, as Dash dodged a pair of massive needles that drove her away from the stormcloud she was working on. Thinking quickly, I snatched the blue orb out of the sky and slapped it into place in one of my empty materia slots.

My first attempt to cast the spell was met with a punch to the face from the stuffed moogle. Rolling with the punch, I got some distance and tried again. Before Pinkie could close with me I was moving much faster and went on the offensive again. A punch sent the stuffed cat flying, as it proved far too light to contain a pony, while a mediocre trip attempt was enough to unbalance the larger stuffed animal and drop it onto its back, leaving it flailing uselessly to get up.

“Hold still, darn you!” Applejack demanded, noisily lining up for another double-legged buck, only to find Rarity had wisely moved out of the way once again. Without her lasso, the farmmare had to deal with moving targets, and her own maneuvers were both slower and more blatantly telegraphed. Freed up from my own fight, I rushed her quickly, diving into a shoulder check that knocked her off her hooves and left my own armored shoulder aching from the contact.

She did better at getting back to her hooves than Pinkie, but it still left Rarity unchecked and able to harass Rainbow Dash. The speedy pegasus was able to evade everything the unicorn threw at her, from her needles to raw magic blasts, but it prevented her from launching a counter attack.

Then, with a surge of my own magic, Rarity picked up the pace. Dash couldn’t dodge everything, and soon she was struck in the wings hard enough to lose flight and crash nearby.

There was a pause, quiet as Applejack had just gotten to her hooves and was watching us for an opening, Rainbow was groaning quietly where she had crashed, and Pinkie had settled into a rhythmic rocking, slowly approaching the point where she would get back on her feet, when we finally heard it.

“Help.” It was Fluttershy. A bit distant. Quiet, but a bit on the loud side for her. We nodded to each other and set our sparring match aside, converging to rescue the pegasus from whatever fate had befallen her.

It took us a while to find her. She had gotten quieter when we got close, figuring we had come to her rescue, and it took her a moment to realize we were still unaware of her location. But eventually we made her out. She was stuck in a bush. Her ‘uniform’ looked an awful lot like part of the bush: mottled browns and greens, and covered with a mesh that held sticks and leaves in random angles. A pair of brown goggles kept her eyes from being too obvious, and the suit covered everything else but her wings. They had apparently been dyed to match. The mesh had caught on the bush in a few dozen places, and the material, backed by the enchantment that redirected any harm to a diamond on her legband, was effectively too tough to tear her free.

We tried for a while to extract her a few different ways, but she got stuck in new spots as quickly as we could unstuck her, and finally we managed to hit on the idea of giving her Diamond Dust’s summon materia. The pegasus vanished into the ether as the Windigo appeared, and managed to extract herself more easily in the less strictly defined non-space before returning to the real world unstuck.
“Alright, so… anypony want to tell me what’s wrong with your uniforms?” I prompted.

“There might be just a smidge too much metal in this here armor.”

“I maybe could use one of those materia slots…”

“Nopony got the references.”

“It’s a little too easy to get stuck?”

“All good points,” I confirmed. “There’s also the fact that ‘uniforms’ are supposed to look like they go together. Make it obvious you’re on the same team.”

“Like the wonderbolts!”

“Yes, Loyalty, like the wonderbolts.” I hadn’t actually seen these ‘Wonderbolts’ myself, but dating Rainbow Dash, or even just being in her vicinity for any length of time, it was hard not to at least get an idea who they were. “I note your own uniform looks a bit more like you’re a member of their team than ours.”

Rainbow Dash flinched but nodded. “I guess it would be okay if it looked more like Rarity’s.”

“Honesty, the whole point of the defensive enchantment we have on these uniforms is to avoid the need for heavy metal plating. You need the freedom of movement to use that lasso of yours, as well as avoiding hits. Your armor should absorb the blows you can’t avoid, not the ones you should have. And Laughter… while you did well to avoid many of my attacks, your outfit makes it hard for you to get back up. But more importantly… we’re work for the Princesses of Equestria; we need to represent them, especially when we’re on an official assignment or dealing with a crisis. Hiding the fact that you’re a pony and making yourself just look bizarre doesn’t look good for us or for them.”

“Okay, but can I keep the kitty?”

I rolled my eyes, but decided not to answer, letting her use her own judgement on that one. I doubted it would prove a huge problem.

Fluttershy cringed in advance when she realized by process of elimination it was her turn to be addressed. “Kindness… I can see you were going for stealth, and you accomplished that fairly well. But that won’t work in an urban environment, or a variety of places other than the woods. There you’ll just look out of place and silly. Maybe Twilight can research a stealth enchantment later to help you go unnoticed, but for now it’s better that you just stick with the group. I am wondering, though, if we could get you a suitable weapon for a sniper role.”

“Sniper? That doesn’t sound very nice at all. On the other hoof, it would keep me out of the front lines…”

“Maybe something with tranquilizers or the like?” I offered. “You got that in your notes, Twilight?”

“Stealth enchantment, and long range tranquilizers, check.”

“In the meantime, it looks like Rarity has four uniforms to redo before we put on that fashion show.”

I glanced out between the curtains, getting a bit nervous. It was funny that I would get stage fright when I didn’t mind going up against a dragon or negotiating with royalty. But going out and showing off my uniformed body before said royalty along with curious townsfolk, fashion aficionados down from Canterlot, and others was a bit daunting. Still, it wasn’t the first time I had swallowed my fear and pushed on, and it would probably not be the last. I slipped away from the curtain, took my place behind my little ponies, and nodded to Spike, who in turn signalled his fellow Elements of Greatness.

Applebloom began pulling the curtains open, as Sweetie Belle began playing lightly on piano. Rarity stepped out on the stage and began introducing us. Far from sharing my stage fright, she looked like she was meant to do this.

“Introducing, your new and improved Elements of Harmony! I’m Rarity, the Element of Generosity, and I welcome you all to our show. I’m the proprietor of the Carousel Boutique, and while I usually work in high fashion, today’s show is a little something different. Myself and the other Elements have been training hard to protect Equestria and her ponies from any danger, but now we can do so in style! You can see here the basic model; sleek and stylish, Cutie Marked for the personal touch. These uniforms sport both form and function.”

Rarity paused to brace herself, as Scootiloo let loose a rock on the end of a rope which swung down to strike her on the side, shattering and leaving her a bit dirty but otherwise unharmed… or close enough she could fake it.

“Powerful enchantments make these suits as protective as a suit of armor, yet nearly as light as flexible as bare fur. While materia slots allow us to plug in our signature crystals to grant versatile magical abilities.” She highlighted that one with a simple fire spell cast in open air.

“Next, we have Fluttershy, Element of Kindness. Show yourself, darling, don’t be shy now.” A blur of vague motion resolved itself into the timid pegasus pulling her new cloak off of herself, and waving nervously at the crowd from the end of the stage where she had been hiding in plain sight, before darting back toward where the rest of us waited. “When activated, Fluttershy’s enchanted cloak takes on the coloration of the surroundings, rendering her invisible as long as she stays still.”

“For the more straightforward approach, we have Applejack, Element of Honesty. Applejack’s new uniform sports fortified hard points on the hoofs and shoulders for delivering solid strikes, while maintaining the freedom of motions and solid defenses the uniforms are known for.” The farm mare waved to the audience before pulling out her lasso, getting a good spin on it, hopping through her own loop, and then finally flinging the loop up into the air. As it paused at the height of the throw, Rainbow Dash zoomed through it, arcing over the audience with a rainbow contrail before settling to hover next to Rarity while Applejack headed back toward Fluttershy.

“Rainbow Dash, everypony, the Element of Loyalty. Her flight suit version is sleeker and more aerodynamic, borrowing lessons from our illustrious Wonderbolts, while maintaining the other benefits, such as materia slots.” Rainbow cast Haste on herself and quickly drew out her cutie mark in the air with her rainbow contrail before darting back to join the others.

As the rainbows faded, a burst of smoke appeared on the stage, clearing away to reveal Pinkie reared up. She made some fake martial arts gestures for a bit before tossing a few small capsules into the air that exploded into confetti and rained down on the audience.

“Pinkie Pie, Element of Laughter, has an assortment of extra pockets on her suit, the better to bring props and gags for any occasion, as well as a few more… serious surprises. And finally… Cloud Strife, Element of Magic.”

On my cue I came forward, looking out at the audience. “Thank you, Rarity. It’s a pleasure to be here, a pleasure to serve Equestria, and a pleasure to see the great turnout here tonight. You’ve really outdone yourself, and I think this will make a big difference whenever danger comes to Ponyville. And thank you all for coming tonight.”

The other five all gathered behind me in a semicircle while the music crescendoed and confetti rained freely over the audience. “Ladies and gentlecolts, your Elements of Harmony!” Rarity announced finally, inviting applause.

After the show, there was a reception with a buffet and opportunities for the ponies to meet with us in person. We spread around the room to distribute the crowds. Being so much taller than the ponies, I could easily see over anyone but the Princesses, and noticed easily that Fluttershy had disappeared, either literally or figuratively, unwilling to face the crowds. Rarity and Rainbow Dash, by contrast, were obviously having the time of their lives, while Twilight Sparkle had a few fans of her own willing to hear out her detailed explanations of what she had done.

For my own part, aside from a few autographs and photo ops, things were pretty quiet in my corner, until Princess Celestia approached with a unicorn I didn’t recognize. He was pure white of coat and horn, with a dirty blonde mane a few shades darker than my own hair, and eyes a lighter shade of blue. His cutie mark looked to be some kind of compass rose, making me wonder if his talent was something to do with navigation. He kept his chin decidedly elevated as he walked, as if trying to keep it up above the common riffraff.

“Princess,” I greeted calmly.

“Cloud,” she returned levelly. “I’m rather impressed with what your group has managed to come up with, here. In fact the Captain of my royal guard is interesting in commissioning some similar uniforms for some of our best.”

“Is this him?” I inquired, turning to the unicorn who was sizing me up. He didn’t feel military to me, though he was serious enough in his demeanor. “We haven’t been introduced.”

“Oh no, but where are my manners? This is actually my nephew, Prince Blueblood. Blueblood, I would like you to meet Cloud Strife, leader of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony,” the Princess introduced.

“You hadn’t mentioned that she wasn’t a pony,” Blueblood whispered, apparently expecting me not to notice. I pretended not to, curious what they would try to slip past me.

“Is that going to be a problem?” she whispered back, though her eyes told me she was at least aware I was listening.

“No, not at all Auntie,” he assured before closing toward me a bit. He offered me a hoof, which I met with a fist bump. But before I could pull back my arm, he had me in a firm grip and leaned in to kiss my hand. I couldn’t help but blush, wondering whether this was just some regal gesture or meant as a prelude to something more. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Strife. I will be residing here in Ponyville for some time, I do hope you can find some time to spend with me away from these crowds.”

A sudden chill ran up my spine. Diamond Dust noticed the shiver and assured me it wasn’t her before pointing a hoof across the room. I ventured a quick glance to see Rarity glaring at me with a jealousy I thought only Rainbow Dash could manage before a new thought apparently entered her mind and a grin slowly began to spread across her muzzle.

“We’ll see, Prince Blueblood,” I said with a forced smile. The smile he returned felt forced as well, before he turned to trot away. We’ll see.