//------------------------------//
// Ping Pong Rematch 
// Story: New Friends Between Realities 
// by Mystic Sunrise 
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“Think he’ll show?” Pearl grumbled into her drink, giggling as Twilight tried to stop her head from spinning as she looked around the In-Between Inn and the patrons.

Pinkie could only shrug with a knowing smile. “Who knows? Your game is ready whenever you two are though! I made sure to leave it as you left it.”

Pearl rolled her eyes with a groan and nodded. “I am not losing to an oversized fuzzball.”

That seemed to bring Twilight back to her senses as she lay a wing around her wife’s shoulders, as Pinkie got drinks for Summer and Winter. “Oh, I don’t know, Rosie. The way you were talking that day, it sounded like you two were having fun. And Cosmos did help you learn to return more often.”

Pearl held her annoyance for a few more seconds, before relaxing and smiling. “Yeah. Once I got over how weird all of this is, I was having fun. I even felt bad for bucking Kohaku as I did.”

Pinkie giggled. “Normal reaction for every first-time visitor! And why you weren’t in trouble for breaking the no-violence rule. Plus that was a really bad pickup line!”

Summer gasped in horror. “Someone tried to pick you up, momma?!”

Pearl nodded, earning an eye roll from Twilight. “Yeah. Kohaku was lucky I didn’t hit him harder for it either.”

“Not that it would have mattered. Kitsunes can take far worse,” a new voice chuckled, as Lumena materialized behind the group, wearing the same face Pearl remembered as well.

Twilight, Summer, and Winter though, not knowing what Pearl did, all gasped in horror and immediately bowed. “E. Empress…” Winter squeaked. “We didn’t know you were coming.”

Lumena rolled her eyes, while Pearl tried to relax, but was still tense as well. “Nay, little one. I am not who you think I am. Not entirely. I’m sure she’s told you?”

Twilight wracked her brain, trying to remember all she had read and been told, before moaning and rubbing her head. “Oooh. Now I remember why the multiverse gives me a headache.”

Lumena smiled. “You will get used to it, I feel. Spending time here will help.”

Twilight wasn’t so sure of that as she looked around the room. She recognized humans, ponies, and maybe alternate hippogryphs. She wasn’t sure. The five-headed dragon with the pony heads on each of the dragon heads was throwing her for a loop though. Only the Empress Dragon had that form.

Turning back to her wife, Twilight smiled only for all of her mane to stick out and almost did a full-on spit take. Walking down the stairs was an identical version of her wife with a small pink fox on her back. 

“Pinkie you outdid yourself. I love the room, thank you so much!” Pearl shouted and hugged the innkeeper which was returned.

“Hey no problem, you three are some of my best customers. Did little Autumn like it?” Pinkie smiled 

“She did. Although I think having the roller coaster was just a bit too much.” Pearl smirked before turning and noticing Twilight having a minor attack. “OH hey, Twilight. You didn’t tell me you were going to be here? I thought you were spending time at the Crystal Empire?”

Twilight’s brain seemed to have short-circuited, however, for all she could do was gasp like a fish out of water. 

Lumena rubbed her temples with a groan. “Oh, he didn’t.”

Pearl hummed as she walked up to Lumena and after leaning in close she smirked. “You must be this Lumena I’ve always heard about. Funny. You don’t seem to be as uptight as everyone here says you are.”

Lumena frowned. No vaporizing allowed,  she had to remind herself, Least of all to one of my own. No matter that she comes from Shenlong. She forced herself to smile. “I try to leave that behind when I come here, miss Rose. Or do you use your husband’s?”

At the word husband. Pearl’s own mane shot out and started to look much like her wife. Her mind reeled to comprehend what was going on. Husband?!

“Well, I usually use Rose. but my official married name is Pearl Alabaster Everfree-Rose.” Pearl smirked as she pulled her child around and held the little vixen in front of her. “Of course, I tried to get him to use MY name exclusively... But marriage does require compromise.”

“Mama,” little Autumn tugged on her mom’s kimono top. “That pony looks just like you,” her little paw pointing directly at Pearl. Who sat there with almost an identical look to Twilight.

“Autumn, you know it’s rude to point.” Pearl smiled, patting her daughter’s head, and looked up at her doppelganger. “I’m so sorry about that. She’s five. So her manners aren’t the best just yet.”

Twilight’s Pearl shook her head with a groan. “Now I know I’m drunk and dead. Even if I wasn’t, there’s no way in hell would I be caught dead doing that with a boy!”

Twilight nodded. “She literally put the last stallion who tried in the hospital. And he was lucky I feel to get away with what he did.”

Smiling the double of Pearl giggled. “Wow. You must have had a lot more restraint than I did. I put a lot of colts and stallions in the hospital that way. And many of them missing certain, body parts.” Setting her daughter down, the young fox stalked her way over to Summer and Winter, giving the pair a few sniffs. “They do make wonderful high pitch singers now.” 

Twilight’s Pearl snorted, smirking. “Darn it. Didn’t even think of that. Would have saved me a lot of trouble if I had.”

Twilight sighed. “Great. Now there’s two of them.”

“Certainly been a fantasy of mine,” a voice came from beside Twilight as the two pearls continued to chat. 

Turning to the side she saw a large eleven-hoof-high fox with nine tails swishing behind him. “I take it your Pearl’s Twilight? Neat. Glad you could make it.”

“Kohaku?” Twilight blinked. Arching her head back just to see his face. “That is you right?”

“Oh, sweetie. Your back.” Pearl leaped out and wrapped her front legs around his neck. Which was rewarded with his front legs around her barrel. The pair touching foreheads.

“Sorry, I’m late love. I wanted to make sure the forest was taken care of. Thankfully AJ has things under control.” Kohaku chuckled. 

“He better, let's hope the boy doesn’t end up flooding the river again. I’d rather NOT have to deal with a town of irate ponies complaining that their homes are flooded, for the second time in a year.”

“Well, you were the one who wanted to become reagent princess.” 

Pearled grumbled and just leaned into her husband. “Why didn’t you talk me out of it?”

“I tried, ten times,” Kohaku lightly chuckled. 

Leaning back Pearl slammed her hoof into his midsection. “Try harder next time,” she huffed and went to sit next to her counterpart. With a wave of her hoof, she turned Pinkie around and back to the bar. 

Twilight rubbed her forehead. “I see some things will never change, no matter the universe. I assume you live in Ponyville? Or close by? Though I wonder how there could be a forest nearby.”

Her Pearl nodded, wracking her brain to try and remember what she’d read in the oldest section of the Palace Archives. “There hasn’t been a forest anywhere near Ponyville for over six thousand years, and the Rose River flows through Ponyville Palace. Always has as far as I know. I’m friends with the resident eastern dragoness who lives in it.”

Lumena nodded, unsure of how Kohaku might react. “Remember, you do not exist in their timeline. Quite a few destroyed the Everfree entirely, for it was too dangerous.”

Both Pearls blinked together as they looked at Kohaku. Who just sat there, his head down and eyes closed. Sipping on his tea. The trio of children now playfully tugged on several of his chairs. But the kitsune did not react, outside of giving them playful shoves with his free tails. Setting his drink down he looked up and offered a smile. “Such a shame. The Everfree was always a view of nature at its finest. At least that’s how I’ve always viewed it. I’m sorry you Ponies won’t get to see just how marvelous a place it can be. But. it was not my forest. I can’t pretend that it was. Nor is it my place to judge your universe Lady Lumena.”

Lumena’s mane suddenly stuck out in several places and leaned in to whisper to his Pearl. “I don’t remember him being this… well this. What have you done?”

Smiling she gave the goddess a little wink. “Tamed the beast in all areas but one. And it’s the one area I refuse to do so.” Her eyes shifted over to her daughter and then back. “Wasn’t easy. Plus I think he’s a lot older since the last time he was here. He did say he was a lot younger when he visited you last.”

Lumena’s mane sprung out in several more places. “Shenlong did it on purpose. He always does. I met him before your universe was even born.”

Twilight’s Pearl shook her head. “Oh, brother. Can he at least still play Ping Pong? Not that I don’t mind wiping the floor with him.”

“Good luck, it’s the one game he loves to play.” Kohaku’s Pearl smiled as Kohaku took out a green paddle with amber pads. The face of the paddle was quite worn but still solid and smiled at the pair. “Hope you can beat him. Even Shenlong has problems keeping up with him.”

“Oh please tell me your joking?” Lumena’s eyes widened as Pearl shook her head. 

“His mother trained him.”

Lumena rolled her eyes and mouthed ‘of course she did’. Turning back to Twilight’s Pearl the goddess smirked. “Don’t hold back. Use all your magic and then some. You’ll need it.”

Pearl snorted as she took up her paddle. “Please. How tough could he be? I was winning last time. The damn timer ran out.”

Kohaku just smiled as he took his place. “Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better.”

Twilight sighed in resignation but was smiling all the same. “Now he’s said it. Pearl hates losing and has told off an Exarch more than once when she loses to them at something. I think Ivy actually likes it.”

Lumena sighed. “She’s never faced someone like him though. If he gives Shenlong this much trouble, then…”

Twilight could only wonder what she meant as the two started back up. “Then he doesn’t know Pearl very well.”

Pearl zoned out the two. Before she could even blink, she found the ball sailing past her. “Lucky shot.” She grabbed the ball. “Try to keep up,” and served herself.

Unfortunately, Kohaku was much faster than she had thought, and never gave the ball a chance to touch anything before returning service. Pearl could just barely get her paddle up in time to stop losing another point and send it back, again to be denied a scoring chance.

His smile never left his face. “Not so lucky I take it? Please do try and make this fun.”

Pearl’s eyes twitched. “Oh, that does it, you pest. You’re going down, even if it kills me!”

Twilight groaned and tried to make herself comfortable. “This could be a while.”







How long had this been going on? Twilight didn’t know, as she returned to the common room after setting Sumer and Winter down for a nap, to see that nothing had changed.

Pearl and Kohaku were now serving so fast that she could barely keep up with them. Occasionally, one of them would score a point, but at this point, no one knew when it would end, or if it ever would.

“How long have they been at this?” She asked as she sat down next to Lumena.

The goddess shook her head. “Five hundred years now. One of them has to win eventually.”

Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Five hundred what?! That’s impossible. It feels like it’s been only a few hours.”

Lumena nodded. “For you, it has. But time does not function as you know it here. When she was here last, Pearl was here for several days in fact, though for her it had only been several hours.”

Twilight tried to process all of that. It seemed impossible that much time had passed. Neither of the girls had aged at all since they had arrived, and she didn’t feel any older.

Looking over at Kohaku’s Pearl, she could see that she was as bored as she was with all of this. Again, Twilight wondered just how they had become a family. He certainly had an exotic charm to him and she could see how fillies and mares would swoon over him. But Pearl?

Shaking her head, Twilight looked around the bar. With nothing else to do, she had mingled with the crowd. Many came from rather exotic worlds. None of which the Celestial Orrery connected to as far as she knew, and she had enjoyed hearing their stories.

Tiamat, as the dragon had named herself, was the most interesting. Not an Empress Dragon herself, her dragon and pony heads had literally known no other life other than the one they shared. Ten different personalities all of them sharing one body. Even the dragon and their pony head often butted heads on what they wanted to do. No matter that they shared everything. It was even worse between different heads. But even then, Tiamat’s core personality was there in each of her heads. Dragon and pony united together since the day they had hatched, and gods help anyone foolish enough to try and set one sister against another.

What boggled Twilight’s mind was that she was one of them, her counterpart sharing all with Tiamat’s green head. The two were far more venomous than even she, at her absolute worst, could ever hope to be. They found her to be the strange one and asked more than once why she had chosen to be something so boring as a pony.

Looking back as her Pearl let out a cry of triumph as she scored another point, Twilight giggled. While her wife was all serious on the outside, Twilight had known Pearl since they were fillies and saw the truth.

Pearl was enjoying every second of this. More than that. She was having fun. Twilight could only enjoy watching Pearl having so much fun. Ping Pong was not her thing. “How much longer will they keep this up?”

Lumena could only shrug. “Neither one is giving up. But Kohaku is winning. That it has lasted this long is something of a miracle. His mother is too good of a teacher.”

The Trio of lookers smiled as Twilight’s Pearl trick shot the ball off of her paddle. Making her opponent turn one way as the ball zoomed behind his head. Pearl shouted a yell of victory, tossing her paddle in the air, only to see Kohaku’s paddle flip up behind his back. Catch the ball and bounce it back. All Pearl could do was fumble to catch her paddle only for the ball to bounce on her side and then off the table.

“Point, set, match.” Kohaku smiled. Setting down his paddle he stretched. “Good game though. You almost had me with that last shot. But you forgot the first rule of the game.” His eyes looked directly into hers as Pearl slumped down to the ground. 

“Never celebrate until you actually win…”  she groaned. “I deserved that.” She managed a smile after a moment. “But I can’t even be mad. I was having too much fun. Maybe I can get your mom to teach me.”

“Good luck with that,” Kohaku’s Pearl smiled as she walked up beside her husband. Kissing his cheek. Then turned to her counterpart. “She won’t even teach me. And I’ve been asking for centuries.”

Twilight’s Pearl snorted. “Is being stubborn a family trait, or is it just you two?”

Kohaku opened his mouth only for his Pearl to shove her hoof into it. “It’s one of the three things he inherited from his father. Eidetic memory and being beyond stubborn.” Pearl chuckled.

“And the third?” Twilight’s Pearl quirked an eyebrow. 

Walking forward, Kohaku’s Pearl placed a hoof on her counterpart’s shoulder. “For the sake of your sanity. I’m not going to say.” Her eyes locked onto Twilight who went wide-eyed and then blushed. “So put it from your mind.” 

Pearl wanted to argue that, but one look at her wife said it was better she never knew. “Fine. Next time, I’m not making that same mistake.”

Nodding Kohaku just chuckled and sat up at the table. “Said the girl who made the same mistake three times in a row now,” he chuckled ignoring the fact that his wife and Twilight’s Pearl both stuck their tongue out at him. “I’m going to go check in on the kids.” Getting up he walked out of the room and up the stairs. Twilight and her Pearl watched as his Pearl just watched him leave. 

Kohaku’s Pearl turned around and leaned back holding a drink in hooves. She looked up to see the pair staring at her. “You’re wondering how I could be with him?”

Twilight and her Pearl both blushed and looked a bit uncomfortable. 

“Yes I know that’s what you both wanted to ask since you saw me.” Kohaku’s Pearl sighed running her hoof around the edge of her glass. “Some days I wonder myself. I certainly never saw myself hooking up with any creature before. And definitely NOT him.”

“So? Why?” Twilight’s Pearl leaned in, biting down her lower lip. An old habit she noticed her counterpart shared. 

“I honestly don’t know. I never thought, from the day I first met him as that mute little unicorn colt who was constantly picked on by fillies and colts much larger than him.” Her hooves cracked the mug in her grip at the memory. Pearl hated anyone who picked on those smaller than them. She saw the look in her counterpart's eyes and knew it was the same with her. “But over the years he just grew on me. Like an old worn-out coat, you just can’t throw out because it’s so comfortable.”

“We had been friends for years. He watched me date one mare after another. And never once complained. I knew how he felt. I wasn’t that blind. But it wasn’t until one of my girlfriends set me up that I came to my senses. Even after so long I still don’t know what happened to her. But whatever it is. I know what Kohaku did, he did it because he loved me. And wanted nothing more than to keep me safe. After that. I thought to start dating him. Just to see where it went. Three thousand years and four kids later. We’re still together.”

Twilight’s Pearl blinked. “That sounds more complicated than what we had. Me and Twily have known each other since we were kids.” She poked her wife who blushed. “I saved this goofball from bullies more times than I care to count. The less said about what happened to some, the better. Cosmos still won’t say what happened to their families one night. I never dated anyone until I started dating Twilight.” She tapped her horn. “Only after I ascended did I propose. I didn’t want to leave her alone for eternity. Five thousand years and two kids later, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Twilight nodded, gesturing to Lumena. “I’m still not sure why Cosmos officiated our wedding. We’d barely even interacted with her court, let alone her before then. I don't regret it of course. Very few couples ever get the same honor.”

Lumena smiled. “I have my reasons. Though I will never say them.”

Twilight’s Pearl groaned. “And she says that a lot too. Even after helping me find my destiny as… I’m not even sure what to call her. I’m not the Empress Dragon.”

“The what?” Kohaku’s Pearl asked.

Lumena shook her head. “Something only myself, one of my avatars, and my Exarchs will ever understand.”

Twilight pinched her nose. “And believe me, I’ve tried to understand them. It’s hopeless I feel.”

Lumena chuckled. “Indeed. The four of you may stay as long as you wish. You both know how to return home. You do not need me to direct you there.”

Before anypony could ask what she meant by that, the goddess faded from sight, leaving only enough bits to pay for her drinks. “Is she always like that?” Kohaku’s Pearl asked with a snort.

“Yes,” both Twilight and her counterpart replied together with a groan.