Having left the crown behind for now, I continue to explore the rest. It seems that the… 'Hive' goes deeper still, but the stairways are all blocked by rubble, and aren't easily or safely budged. I return to exploring the lowest level I can, but eventually end up back at the crown, unsure.
With a heavy sigh, I reach out to it to poke it, my hoof's glow increasing as I near it, until I touch it and it vanishes. I tense up, but nothing seems to happen. “H-huh…” I mutter quietly as I step closer, lifting the split crown with telekinesis. “Was this… yours?” I ask softly, thinking back to my memory of the changeling on the ground. “O-or…” I shiver a bit. “I… don't know.”
I look over to where the queen had been laying in my dreams… I wasn't too distant from her. When I approach, I leave the crown where I picked it up from, as I try to lift some rubble, to try finding any trace of them. And I do… A skeleton, bones, and their hooves and horn. I shiver, taking a step back. Their neck is crushed, and their head is facing towards where I woke up.
I'm… not sure who you were. I think to myself, breathing quietly. But… I will find out who you were, and… perhaps give you a burial at least. I decide to cover up the bones with rubble, to hide them from anyone else. Turning to look at the crown, a frown forms on my face… before deciding to move it to rest alongside the bones. I… wish I knew. I sigh, turning around to leave.
Heading up to the next floor, I start to explore again. I end up finding some more traces of battle, but no more bodies. It seems that the only one that remained was the queen's, the rest… destroyed. I need to find a history book. Or… something. If this place was raided by 'Celestia', and… other alicorns, maybe I'm mentioned? I-if I… was there. My thoughts are somewhat scattered, but I keep exploring still.
I find some small trinkets by a table, and of them, a particular necklace stands out. It's very simple, a band of twine, and it holds up a simple four-sided shape, somewhat like an arrowhead, attached at the tip to the twine. I put it on, smiling a bit and leaving the room. Having finished my exploration, I head up once again, out of the cave and back into the snow.
The weather hasn't changed, but I had spent longer than I thought in the cave. With a sigh, I start heading back towards the lodge, feeling hungry, but now a bit more determined. On the way there, my thoughts drift back to the queen. Wondering what kind of person they were, what kind of… monster would attack them.
Was I a bad alicorn? Is a thought that comes up a few times, but I repress it for now. It's not something I could know the answer to at this time, not without knowing who I am, or if I was the same alicorn as in my dreams.
It's all a big mystery, for now.