Finding my way down from the cliff was, to put it mildly, a frustrating effort. I was still barely able to keep my balance long enough to walk and, were I a mature pegasus, I could probably figure out gliding relatively quickly, my wings would be unable to keep me airborne. I doubted even a pony could survive this fall.
I finally found a path that lead down in a long switchback to the forest floor. I took it slow, only tripping every few dozen steps instead of every couple. I still fell a lot, enough so that after fifty, I stopped counting. I was covered in dirt, bruises in places I didn't realize could be bruised, and exhausted, but I made it! Now, I just had to navigate an unfamiliar forest with unknown levels of danger in a single direction without getting lost. No problem.
A grumbling sensation emitted from my stomach and I sighed again, "Seriously? You pick now to tell me you're hungry?" I asked my midsection in frustration. It responded with a gurgle so I looked around for something edible. There were a plethora of mushrooms, various small ferns, and plenty of grass, but whether or I could digest any of that, or stomach it to begin with...
Sighing, again, I was doing that too much, I took a mouthful of grass and chewed on it thoughtfully. It was bland, slightly bitter, but wouldn't be bad with some Italian dressing. At the very least, it filled my belly. After a few minutes to make sure I wasn't immediately going to puke it right back up, I started into the woods toward Canterlot.
I didn't get very far before I heard the woods begin to creak and shift around me, the trees closing in and making my choice of path limited. Of course he wouldn't let me just wander through a normal forest. I sighed and began following the maze laid out before me. After a few twists and turns, I wondered what the point of this was. There were no branching paths unless I squeezed through roots, and it was just boring, "Seriously, Discord? This is the best you could do?" I mumbled under my breath as I continued in, trying to keep track of how and when I turned so I made sure I was still heading in the general direction of Canterlot. I turned a corner and find a wide open field in front of me. Sitting in the middle was a tall tree with a wide canopy, brimming with fruit. Sitting underneath the tree, eyes closed, was a copy of my old male self.
I approached, carefully, and looked myself over. I noticed a slight transparency, but beyond that, I was standing there in front of me. "Hello?"
"Hello? What are... Oh, it looks like I've finally gone completely insane. Not only can't I get any sleep, but now I'm seeing small cartoon ponies everywhere."
"Uh, no, you're not mad. I'm here, but, you shouldn't be."
"And why not? Am I not entitled to my own existence despite what that little fox and the other half of myself think?"
I sighed, this was going to be awkward and difficult. "Listen, were we ever happy when we were you? Trying to be like our Dad wanted us to be and doing things that hurt just to feel like we were still alive?"
"We had girlfriends! We had sex! We had going out drinking and karaoke! You ruined all of that by deciding that instead of just cross-dressing occasionally you wanted to be female full time."
"So what if I did!? Drinking only ever made us depressed. We smoked too much, made barely enough money to survive, flitted between jobs and yeah, maybe I did ruin things by admitting I was trans. It was a hard choice, and yeah, we lost friends over it. We were always a bit stupid as to how other people felt!" I squeaked every few words. If it weren't for the tears flowing from my eyes and the topic, it would've sounded funny.
"And look where this path got you. Lost in a forest of illusions thanks to some freak of nature we would probably have never gotten into if it weren't for you and Kes. I'm what we should have been! Strong, gainfully employed with benefits! I could be married by now, with kids if you hadn't shown up."
"Shown up!?" I shouted, moving closer to my other half, "Listen to yourself! I was always there. We always talked things over. We're two sides of the same bloody coin, you and I. We never wanted any of that. That was all Dad talking and that damnable Catholic guilt."
I glared at the figure before me before a realization hit, "You're not even really me! You're just another illusion conjured up by that damn Q wannabe!"
"Oh, he's not mine," came a familiar disembodied voice, "This forest likes to do things like that, one of the more interesting things the wilds in the world can do. You'll meet friends, foes, and other woes as you wander through. While you wander, you'll find out many things about who and what you really are. When you leave, will you still be you?" He chuckled, "I'd love see..."
"I'm starting to seriously dislike this place," the other me said.
"Well, at least that's one thing we have in common. Look, Jay, you and I both know the reason I took the helm. We hated our life and it was change it or end it. We've always been a coward, but even that was beyond us, so we chose to change. Stop lying to me."
I heard him sigh as I started walking away, further toward Canterlot, "You're right, you know. Good luck out there, sis."