//------------------------------//
// A Meeting of the Minds. 
// Story: When Legends Meet 
// by Coyote de La Mancha 
//------------------------------//

They had given the mountain her name.
She didn’t know when, so she didn’t know if it was because they knew who she was, or just because they all lived east of her domain. To her, the important thing was that the ponies dwelling in the valley below her left her alone.
She didn’t know why they left her alone, either. They might have respected her privacy, but that seemed unlikely. Ponies tended to be incredibly meddlesome. On the other hoof, they might have known who she was, and simply shunned her. That would have been more in character. Or, the solitude might have resulted from their thinking that a dragon still lived in her cave. 
Of course, a dragon might still have been living there, if said dragon hadn’t responded to her half-started apology by breathing fire on her. 
Idiot.
As it was, the cavern’s new occupant had only been there for a few weeks. It was comfortable enough, especially when one was as accustomed to a luxury-free life as she was. It was huge, obviously, since an adult dragon had once claimed it as its own. Which meant there was plenty of room once she’s reduced the corpse to cinders, and raised a wind to blow them away. The cave was also full of gems and precious metals, for what that was worth. 
A little furniture, a few book cases, it might have been nice.
But she wasn’t sure how long she would be staying, and she certainly was in no humor for being surrounded by ‘nice’ things. The cave was dark, and cold, and it echoed a little, and frankly that suited her mood perfectly.
The cavern’s new mistress had a great deal on her mind. And she would work through it all in her own damned time, at her own damned pace. And to Tartarus with the rest of the world until she was well and truly prepared to give a flying, feathering damn about it again.
But no matter how she looked at it, no matter the angle or perspective she tried to apply to her life, it always seemed to come back to…
Her.
I loved you, too.
Sure you did.
I still do.
Liar.
Sometimes, she was almost calm. Other times, she seethed in the darkness. Other times still, she could feel the pure, liquid hate rising up in her soul, threatening to drown her completely.
And then, it would pass, leaving her empty. And in those moments of clarity, she would look at her reflection in the cavern’s still little pool. She would wonder who the hell she was anymore. What she had turned herself into, within and without, and what she was supposed to do now that her great life’s plan had been cast aside.
The calm would last for a while. Then, the anger would rise again. Tidal in its inevitable onslaught against the shores of her mind, its determination to pull her hooves out from under her and drag her back down into its depths.
One night, as she lay on her stone floor, a shadow far deeper than any in the cave’s stygian depths drifted into her lair. Dark as a tyrant’s heart, silent and graceful as smoke. It observed her with eyes of fire: crimson, green and blue. Drinking in her hate.
Eventually, she realized that the intruder wasn’t going to leave on its own.
“Get out.” Her voice was flat, almost completely uninterested, yet containing a coldly controlled rage.
The shadow chuckled with an ebon mirth. “Such animosity. And yet, completely unnecessary. At least, where I am concerned. You see, I come here as a friend.”
“That’s once.” The quiet threat in her tone was unmistakable.
“You and your exploits are not entirely unknown to me. And so, I am aware that we have common enemies, you and I. In my case, the Princess of the Crystal Empire has my greatest attention. Though, of course, all the princesses are my enemies.”
She half-opened one of her eyes now, looking at the undulating shadow before her.
“That’s twice,” she said. Her spiral horn began to glow with a cyan flame.
“Alone, either one of us might be defeated by their combined abilities,” the shade went on. “But between us, it would be a simple thing to have our revenge upon all of them. Luna, Mi Amore, Twilight… and most especially of all, Celestia.”
Silence.
“My only personal interest is the Crystal Empire, of course,” the smoky thing said. “My personal revenge is focused primarily upon the royal family there. But any ally of mine would enjoy my full efforts alongside their own, in whatever endeavors they wished to employ. Outside my domain, of course,” he added.
Silence.
“I would only ask for her assistance in my own interests. Principally, the re-creation of my body. After that, the Lady of Day would fall easily enough. First or last, however your whims dictate. For after all,” it concluded, “once we bring one of them down, the others will happily seek us out, lining up for the kill.”
The fire surrounding her horn faded, and was gone.
Slowly, almost lazily, she rolled over to her hooves. She stretched out her dragon wings, her back, her legs. She turned and looked at him with blue-green eyes beneath a mane of crimson and gold.
“I’m listening,” Sunset Shimmer said.