//------------------------------//
// Rinse 
// Story: Cut 
// by MetaSkipper 
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Flash Sentry loved his mother. His mother often went on business trips, and she rarely got to spend time with the family. Although she had tried her hardest to be around for the big things in his life, he had spent much of his adolescent life without his mother, and while he did not begrudge her for it, he always made it a point to cherish the time he spent with her.
It did not make listening to her on the phone any less trying.
“And makes sure you clean up nicely! Jelly Squid is an old friend, and I don’t want you embarrassing me.”
“Yeah, mom.”
Flash Sentry tuned his mother out as she droned on. He got the gist – their family was going to visit Jelly Squid, a confectioner that specialized in salt and sweet contrast. His mom had gone to high school with him, and they remained close friends through the years, even after he moved to Horseshy.
It just so happened she would be in Horseshy on Jelly Squid’s birthday. Since Horseshy wasn’t too far from Canterlot, the family would meet up there and celebrate with Jelly Squid.
Which would be fine, if Flash’s mom wasn’t such a stickler for appearances. Yes, Flash knew the importance of looking good, but wasn’t this supposed to be just a friendly birthday party?
He sighed as his mom hung up. Well, there went his plans to hang out with the guys this weekend at the Rainboom’s next concert. Now he was going to have to go through the whole rigmarole – making sure his suit was fresh, picking out a good color combination for his shirt and tie, getting a haircut…
Getting a haircut.
His thoughts drifted back to that haircut, just three weeks ago. He’d looked good after that cut.
He shook his head. It was still early afternoon, he could totally get a haircut at Joe’s, and it would probably be fine. Cheaper and easier, too.
But then he looked again in his dresser mirror. In his reflection was that same, clean cut she’d given him.
Her phone number was still on his dresser. He stared at it. It stared back at him.



“So, what’s the special occasion this time? Got another date?”
“Actually, I’m going out of town to celebrate a family friend’s birthday.”
Aria was unimpressed. “And this requires another haircut… why?”
He blushed. “My mom is a stickler for looking good.”
She shrugged. “So, what’s your cut?”
Flash scratched the back of his head. “I, uh, was hoping to ask for your advice on that.”
A scowl and rolled eyes. Still, she obliged him. “Short is a classic, and it never really goes wrong. Knowing your preference for dorky cuts, however, you could go with a messier, raised-up look. Would still look clean, but not stiff.”
“I’ll go with that then.” He ignored the dig at his usual style… externally, at least.
She nodded. “Get in the chair.”
“Do you have to say it like that?” he asked, even as he complied.
She gave him a smirk that sent shivers down his spine. “Life isn’t about what you have to do. It’s about what you choose to do.”
He blinked a couple times at her words. He hadn’t expected that. He was still turning over her words in his head as she got behind him and opened her bag.
“Your hair doesn’t smell like apples anymore.”
“Was it really that bad?”
“No wonder you’re still single.”
Flash winced.
“Don’t move your head when someone about to cut your hair, idiot.” She ran her hand through his hair. “Do you have any gel or things like that in your hair right now?”
“Yeah, I put some gel, to stick it up.”
“We’ll have to wash your hair out before I cut it, then.”
Flash nodded and got out of the seat.
“And where are you in such a hurry to get to?”
He stopped and looked at her in confusion. “I thought we were going to…” He paused as she gave him another predatory grin.
“Oh, is that what you want to do? You Neanderthal.”
Flash turned red. “I… what… but you said…”
He backed up as she advanced on him, still grinning at him. “You know, if that’s what you wanted, you should have just said so when you called.”
“I… but… no! I just…” Flash tripped over his words and his own feet, stumbling back before falling over, hitting the tiled kitchen floor with a thud.
He groaned as he sat up, rubbing his now-sore butt. She made no sound, only keeping that same cruel smile. “Get up. By the hour, remember?”



“Can’t we do this in a sink or something?”
“I hate washing hair in sinks. There’s no room to maneuver.”
“I don’t have that much hair, do I?”
“You have enough.”
So there Flash was, denuded once again in his shower while Aria – who he was starting to see more and more as some perverse captor – lathered his hair.
“Also, your butt isn’t nearly nice enough that I want to look at you bent over for that long.”
“But you’re willing to look at me naked and get naked yourself?”
“Sure.”
Flash would have shaken his head in confusion if Aria wasn’t so aggressively massaging it.
But he endured, closing his eyes and just waiting for the crucible to pass. Hopefully he could get through this hair washing without any further embarrassment.
“I see you have actual shampoo now.”
Well, so much for that. Flash tried hard to not dignify her comments. He tried to close his eyes and relax under the water and the admittedly nice feeling of Aria’s hands working his hair.
“Not the brand I would have picked, but anything has to be an improvement over a kids’ shampoo.”
He tried to deflect the conversation away. “You’re chattier today.”
“It’s not 9:30 at night, and I don’t have to put up with that God-awful apple smell.”
Flash was starting to miss the awkward silence.



Flash Sentry didn’t remember the last haircut being so painful. He was torn between hanging silence and nasty barbs. If being tired had kept Aria from being so cruel last time, he made a mental note to get his haircuts at night from now on.
But he’d have to survive this haircut first. He relaxed and closed his eyes as she raked his hair with comb and trimmed it with scissor. It was still a bit mystical, having his hair cut by an ancient magical seductress since de-magicked and in a teenage-ish body. Especially when he put it like that.
Which lead him to a question. “Where’d you learn to cut hair?”
“You pick things up when you live this long. Who do you think does all our hair?”
He barely noticed she hadn’t answered his question at all. “You do that?”
She snorted. “Adagio’s curls don’t happen just like that, I can tell you that much.”
“She has straight hair naturally?”
“Oh, no, it’s naturally curly all right. A naturally curly, tangled-ass mess of hair.” Another snort. “Keeping that shit looking good is impossible.”
“But you do it, don’t you?”
He caught a glimpse of a small smile in a reflection in the toaster.
Moments passed, and the two settled into a comfortable silence. Flash could live with that.



“You’re lucky, you know,” she said as she prepped some gel in her hands. “I don’t normally have Wednesdays off.”
“You work?”
She scoffed. “Two jobs. Other than this.”
Flash’s eyes went wide. But as he thought it over, he realized he hadn’t seen Aria at Canterlot High, even though Sonata resumed attending not long after the Battle of the Bands, and Adagio some time after that. He’d figured that he’d just never run into her, but working two jobs….
“That’s… a lot.”
“Like I said. Someone has to pay the bills.”
“Don’t Sonata or Adagio work too?”
Had Flash not been in the middle of a haircut, he would have jumped out of his chair at Aria’s laughter. It filled the room, and Flash turned around to see Aria doubled over, cackling while steadying herself on the kitchen table. “Please. As if those two knew how to do any work.”
It was a bitter, yet mirthful laughter. “I work the morning shift at Taco Belle, the night shift at Port of Call, and I’m on-call for… this basically the rest of the time until I go to bed.”
That sounded horrific. “Don’t you ever take time off?”
“I get a whole day to myself about once a month. Which I usually spend making sure our personal lives don’t fall apart.”
He shuddered thinking about it. Thinking about it lead him somewhere unpleasant. “Wait, does that mean—”
“Don’t remind me.”
He cringed. He’d just been looking for a good haircut, and he’d ended up taking away her one free day. Little wonder she’d been so tart with him. He should have just gone to Joe’s.
He sat back down, and she resumed cutting his hair. The silence that followed was not pleasant.
He knew she didn’t want to talk anymore. He knew he’d already caused her enough trouble.
“If you got to choose what you did for a living, what would it be?”
The only answer he got was the sound of her fingers raking through and molding his hair.
He sighed and settled in for the finishing moments.
“Cut hair.”



It was an uneventful Tuesday lunch hour, sitting with the Rainbooms. Or well, it had been, before he’d shared some candy he’d gotten on his trip.
“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you for the candied octopus, Flash! I love it!” Pinkie squeezed him hard, and Flash responded with a sheepish smile.
He elected to not mention the bits stuck in her teeth.
“It was nothing. I saw it and thought of you.” Granted, most sweet things reminded him of Pinkie in some way or another, so it wasn’t a huge feat. But he’d had a hunch it would make her happy.
Rarity was less enthusiastic about the snack, sticking to the cafeteria food. “It certainly is unique. I can’t say I’ve ever had anything quite like it before.”
Pinkie giggled as she sat back down. “That’s okay. I know it probably isn’t for everyone. But it is for me!” She demonstrated this by taking another piece and eating it.
Rarity smiled and returned to her meal. “I’m glad you were able to find something nice from your trip. I know how much you wanted to attend our concert.”
“Nah, it was nothing. It was nice to see mom again, too.”
Rarity nodded and hummed a nothing, but paused as she saw… something in her soup. What, Flash couldn’t tell.
Neither could Applejack. “Something wrong, sugarcube?”
“Oh, sorry. I just… I’m just planning out my next ensemble, but for this particular piece the hair needs to be dressed up a certain way, but the only place I know that can do it is in Manehattan, and I don’t have time to go all the way there for a proof-of-concept.”
Applejack’s grin deepened. “And you got all that from looking in your soup? A worm in horseradish, you sure are, Rarity.”
Rarity scoffed good-naturedly. “Oh, please. I know I caught you planning out your new pear orchard section in Calculus.”
Applejack rolled her eyes, but blushed.
“Actually, Rarity,” Flash interjected, surprising even himself. “I think I know someone who can do it for you.”