Fluttershy Needs A Haircut
Background music because i want a reason to post this somewhere.
"Oh, ponyfeathers..."
The whispered words that barely escaped Fluttershy's mouth filled the calm, quaint atmosphere of her cottage. Having returned from her morning jaunt through the forest and a steaming cup of hot tea, she continued through the rest of her morning routine in the washroom. Long, pink hair littered the floor, stuck to the walls and clogged the sink. There was good reason why nopony seemed to visit this particular room when she had guests over. Of course, it certainly didn't help that from the outside it looked like a simple utility closet.
Regardless of the questionable home design, Fluttershy had herself a serious problem. She tried once more to run the brush through her mane, with rather unfortunate results.
"Why...won't you...brush!"
Forcing the bristles through her long and tangled mane, she could feel the knots in her hair growing tighter and tighter, as if they were fighting back with a vengeance for being disturbed from their natural, unkempt state. The brush was now completely entangled and solidly set in place in the middle of her mane, completely stuck. Fluttershy sighed and wrestled with her own hair for several moments before being able to free it from the beast.
As she brought the brush up once more, she looked at it and did a double take. Tangled in the brush was the largest, most disgusting looking wad of hair she'd ever seen. So much so in fact, that she recoiled in shock, the hairy brush tumbling to the floor. After freaking out for a few moments, then regaining her composure, Fluttershy sighed again as the realization in her mind came to unfortunate fruition.
I need a haircut.
The dreaded word. The horrible unknown experience. The thing-that-must-not-be-named. She'd been avoiding such an activity her entire life, because for whatever reason, the idea of taking a pair of sharp scissors, bringing them near her head and proceeding to hack off a part of herself just didn't seem desirable. But there was only so much she could do with the monstrosity that was her mane. Everypony admired and complimented her, of course, but they didn't know she spent an entire hour every morning keeping it in check. Having a lawn would have been easier to maintain than her mane.
She sighed once more, and knew exactly who to go to. It had to be somepony she trusted, and she even excluded herself from that responsibility. Somehow, she didn't think taking a pair of scissors in her blunt hooves was a good idea. She needed somepony with magic and intricate maneuvering abilities, and somepony who knew what they were doing when it came to style and fashion...
Rarity squee-ed in absolute delight when Fluttershy came to her door asking for a haircut. It was true that Rarity was well-known for her fashion sense and occasional work with hair styling, but it wasn't something she got to practice often. She sat Fluttershy down on a chair in front of the mirror she used for makeup in the mornings and rummaged through some drawers to take out the proper tools for the job.
"So, just to recap," Fluttershy spoke softly, "all I want is a little trim. Just...a few inches. No, an inch."
Rarity continued rifling through drawers to find the good pair of scissors. "Darling, surely you'll want me to take off more than that. You'll be back in less than a month!"
"Well...okay...how much do you think?"
"Aha! There they are." Rarity magically levitated out a pair of stylish scissors. "Well, I'd say at least a hoof-length or two should do."
"That much?"
Fluttershy turned her head to look at her long pink mane and imagined what it would look like. "Oh, I don't know. That's an awful lot. What if I look awful?"
Rarity raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Fluttershy, you and I both know: that's impossible, and in more ways than one."
Rarity's nuanced response put her at ease. She of course meant that Fluttershy could not possibly ever look awful, and that Rarity's own skills would make such a result impossible.
Rarity held the pair of scissors up behind Fluttershy as she faced blankly into the mirror. "So, shall we begin?"
"...okay..."
Rarity raised the scissors up and began to work, snipping off locks of hair left and right. All the while, Fluttershy sat in complete stoic silence, not even daring to move a muscle and risk any sort of mishap. She simply stared into the mirror in front of her, eyes wide. Minutes later, a messy pile of pink hair was beginning to accumulate on the floor beneath them.
Rarity continued her styling, until something caught her off guard. "Oh!"
"What? What happened?" Fluttershy replied urgently.
"Nothing, dear, I just...um...found something." Using her magic, Rarity pulled an object out from the jungle of hair and levitated it in front of them.
It was a small, wooden comb. That she had lost several weeks ago.
"Oh..." said Fluttershy. "Thanks...I forgot to take it out this morning..."
Rarity returned to work, and after several more spine-tingling minutes, her work with the scissors was done. Except Fluttershy hadn't noticed, because she had been looking down with her eyes closed the entire time.
"I'm finished with cutting your hair," said Rarity. "How's it look?"
Fluttershy looked up and into the mirror, but what her eyes drifted towards wasn't herself. Instead, she saw the giant mounds of pink hair that surrounded the chair she sat in. "It looks...good."
"Fluttershy, I can tell you haven't even looked at yourself," Rarity replied flatly.
"Oh, I'm sure its fine. Thank you, Rarity, I'll be going now." Fluttershy quickly got up from the chair and trudged through the mounds of hair towards the door, thanking her one more time once she could no longer see herself in the reflection from the mirror. Rarity smiled and rolled her eyes to herself as Fluttershy left out the door.
Fluttershy took the long route home to avoid seeing anypony. The wind felt cold against her head and where her mane would have normally provided her warmth as she quickly returned to her cottage and shut the door behind her. She sighed in relief and took a moment to sit down in a comfy chair. She sat for a few moments, contemplating the the reality that she would have to, at some point, look at herself in a mirror.
Putting on a confident face, she got to her hooves and marched to the washroom. She promised herself that whatever she saw, she wouldn't be frightened or emotional. She really did trust Rarity, after all. She also knew how silly it was to be so concerned about getting a haircut. It would, of course, grow back in time regardless of the outcome. Still though, in this moment she wanted to do anything but look at herself in the mirror.
But in a moment of clarity, she did exactly that. Looking up directly at herself, she was taken aback by what she saw: an elegant and stunning beauty. All the fears and worries she'd had today and for years prior washed away. Her mane was indeed considerably shorter, but still just as flowing and vibrant as before. She grabbed the brush she had attempted to use earlier that morning and put it against her head, feeling the bristles flow smoothly and softly through her entire mane like a breeze amidst the clouds.
In that moment, she broke the promise to herself made moments prior that she wouldn't get emotional.
