//------------------------------// // Proof That Shows I Am Right // Story: Left to a Pseudopsychologist // by arcanelexicon //------------------------------// After I had drank a couple of beers, I called Trixie back to my office. I looked out the window and figured that I at least had an hour or two left before Princess Luna's night began. I explained to her that the recording crystal was now turned off. Whatever discussion we were going to have from now till the end of the session would only be known to the two of us. She told me that she understood, and she even gave me an autographed painting of her. "I want you to put this on my folder" she said, "so that anyone who sees it will instantly know that it belongs to your most beautiful patient." Note to self: ask Twilight for a taller table so it would be easier to hit myself on the head with it. Also,make sure that it's heavy as well, so any patient wouldn't easily flip it. Here goes nothing. "Ok Trixie, before the session began, I noticed that you hesitated slightly when I offered a hoofshake. Though you did give me one, I saw the hesitation. Care to explain?" "The Great and Powerful Trixie does not stoop down to the level of her fans!" screamed Trixie. And yet she didn't hesitate when I asked for a kiss. Definitely not the answer I was looking for. "What about when you meet people on the road when you're hooked up to your wagon and traveling? I'm pretty sure you don't even wave or do a hoofshake or hoofbump, am I right?" "The Great and Powerful Trixie does not waste her time on peasants!" she said darkly. Still not the answer I was looking for. Guess it's time for a change of tactics. Next up was a series of images of the gestures that led to her grand pose when she introduced herself earlier. Good thing I was able to capture all of it along with her grand pose. "Any explanation why you need to go thru all of this gestures, and not just go with the grand one at the end." "The Great and Powerful Trixie does things her way! They need to know that the Great and Powerful Trixie is different from all of the other so called magicians!" she said. Now there was an answer I could work with. "And when you were in school, I'm pretty sure that you did things your own way as well? To the point where teachers would punish you for doing things differently, and not being one of the herd?" All I heard from Trixie was a whispered "Yes" but it spoke volumes. Next up, I asked her about her relationships. "It was all the same, it all didn't last long since I always traveled and it was mostly awkward kisses" said Trixie. Yup, like how awkwardly she tried to kiss me when I asked earlier. I excused myself and went outside for a bit. While there, I saw her half eaten sandwich and her tea cup. Upon seeing its arrangement, an epiphany came to me. This was all the evidence that I needed! I then headed back to my office with some pieces of parchment, a quill, and some ink. I entered the office, and saw Trixie practicing her illusions. There was a big difference between the way she crafted her lines compared to the other unicorns and alicorns I knew. "Sorry bout that, now Trixie can you please write your name on the parchment? From where I'm from, we have this thing where we look at a person's writing to gain some insight to their persona." I was ecstatic when I saw how she took the quill in her magic. With her so engrossed on writing, detailing and decorating her name, I quickly wrote something down as well. Once she was finished, I asked her to take her parchment and hold it in her magic while I moved the table. I also moved my chair closer to her, and sat down. "Well Trixie, I also wrote something down when you weren't looking. Actually, I lied about the writing thing. It was a way of confirming my suspicions, and it looks like we have one thing in common." I smiled as I showed her what I wrote. Her eyes widened in surprise. "You! You're...." she stammered. I simply said yes, and it was an honor to meet somepony for the first time who shared my predicament. I offered her a "correct" handshake and there was no hesitation, no twitch, she just shook it eagerly. I spread my arms wide open for hug, and we hugged each other eagerly. No clonking of heads, no awkwardness, no twitch, just eager laughter. From a guarded, egotistical megalomaniac to a charming, laughing unicorn. All with a simple note that said "I'm also left hoofed/handed." After our breakthrough. She explained everything to me, and we discussed the similarities we both faced in our worlds. The handshake was easy. We always offered the wrong hand at first. Normally it wasn't a problem but for some cultures, they treated the left hand or hoof as dirty and unclean. Good thing she had her magic I told her, since in my world I had to learn how to eat with my right hand as other cultures frowned upon you when you ate with your left hand. Taking things with your left hand was also considered an insult in some cultures. When eating with your left, it was like saying that the food left a bad taste in the mouth, and when accepting something with a left hand, you were basically telling them that their 'gift' was as good as crap. There were a lot of other faux pas and cultural views that involved the left, and I promised her that I would talk to Princess Celestia about it, knowing that she might not be the only pony who had that problem. Her being cold to the people she met on the road was a simple matter: Since most ponies were right hooved, they tended to stay on the left side of the road like the way people drove on England or Australia on Earth. Since ponies stayed on the left side of the road, it was easier for them to hoofbump or wave to other people on the right with their right hooves but for Trixie, it was hard. Since she was left hoofed, she not only had to stop (which tended to anger the pony behind her), but had also to turn a bit in order to wave or do a hoof-bump, which was hard to do when hitched to a wagon. As for her doing her own thing, and taking everything as a challenge, it was understandable as she had to adjust to the right hoofed world around her. We talked about school where her teachers would punish her for holding her quill 'the wrong way.' I told her that schools in my world were like that a long time ago where lefties were spanked with a ruler in order to force them to write with the 'proper' hand. I told her that since I was left handed, I was once severely punished in my third grade religion class because, as they put it, the sign of the cross I was doing was the equivalent of blasphemy. I told the sister that I was left handed, but she would not relent until I learned the 'proper' way to do it. She told me that she always sat on the back so that the teacher wouldn't notice the way she held her quill. I told her about our school's holy grail: the one and only left handed armchair in the entire building. She also told me that there a lot of instances where she mucked up her magic just because she had the illustrations wrong, and was looking at diagrams the wrong way. I told her about the building toys called Lego in our world and how in some instances, I had to take apart what I have already done because it was a different orientation from the diagram. She told me how she had to fasten her wagon straps with her weak hoof when she was too tired to use magic, I told her about can openers. We both had the same problems in dining when utensils and or glasses were arranged for righties. How she had to move the quill and ink jar every time she wrote in banks and places where you needed to fill up forms, and I countered by writing something and then showing her how messed up the bottom side of my hand would be since it would be sitting on ink and smudging the writing. She told me she was awkward on dances since she always started on her left hoof. I explained to her that in our world, we would call someone as having two left feet when they danced awkwardly. We talked about a lot of things and laughed our hearts out when I told her that the most annoying thing about being left handed in my world was that the first thing people asked you when they see you write with your left handed was "Are you left handed?" The talk went on through the night and it was absolutely wonderful, but it was time to end the session, and head to bed. Before turning in, I used a messaging crystal that Princess Celestia gave to me to update her on the status of our first session, and the need to address the left hooved population. Upon waking up the next day, I saw that the crystal was blinking and immediately read the message. My Dear Doctor Quack, I have instructed Princess Twilight, Princess Cadance and Princess Luna to come up with plans on how to not only banish the stigma of left hooveness in our society but to also allow them to live normal lives. Princess Sexy Librarian has already implemented changes in all schools. There will no longer be a "correct" way of holding a pen and now, left hoofed ponies will enjoy having a left drawer desk for them to easily store their belongings. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza has decided on "Left Hooved Day" which will be celebrated sometime after Winter Wrap Up, but before The Running of the leaves as we need more holidays on those months as we only celebrate the Summer Sun Celebration during that time. Princess Loony has reworked the night sky so that there will now be falling stars falling from right to left as well as left to right. There will be nights though where the stars will not be as magnificent, as Luna is still getting used to drawing with her left. She says that it always felt better when she drew with her left hoof, and she loves the new perspective it brings. I am happy that everything is now NOT all right. Also, I am flattered by the alias you have bestowed upon me Yours truly, Princess Sizzling Plot P.S.: I knew you were the right one for the job, and I do hope that you still have a lot left in you.