To put it simply... Discord was beyond bored.
Sure he could hear what was going on around him, but he couldn't see the ponies that came to gawk, he only had a nice view of a few pegasi positioning clouds for a small sun-shower somewhere off in the distance. It was so far away and the glare from the sun was so bad they appeared to be but dots. Why couldn't the Princess have given him maybe a book, and some very basic telekinesis at least.
When one could only hear, and most ponies stayed away from him in the garden, that made for even less entertainment. "One could go positively mad from this," he thought drolly, "oh wait, I am mad!" he realized, doing his best to smirk, though his efforts were in vain.
Even the ponies that came by didn't have anything to say. They just stared, or cowered, or scoffed. One morning a little colt lost in the maze even peed on him. Not that he minded of course, this was the closest to discord he would get for eons he figured.
He snapped to attention as he heard heard hoof steps coming near. A visitor? At this time in the morning? What a... pleasant surprise. Well better make the best of it.
As the clopping noise came closer he realized it sounded highly uneven in pattern. As though The pony nearing were limping, or stumbling, or maybe even both.
Finally when they got close enough for Discord to see pony in the very, very far bottom of his peripheral, he saw it was a guard. He was grey, like the enchantment on the guards armor made them appear as. His eyes were still a vibrant blue under his helmet though, the markings on his armor identified his as a sergeant, and he was stone dead drunk! His language slurring and awkwardly pausing as he mumbled to himself, "I'll show that... biiiiuuuuug, poowerful, Dick-cord," chuckling at his own terrible pun he slowly came over to the statue. Turned around, and kicked it as hard as he could.
Discord barely rocked at all, he didn't even feel the blow through his hard exterior. "Now this won't be as fun as I had hoped" he thought, "why cant I get somepony with a bit of kick in their hindquarters to cause chaos, even directed at me."
The belligerent drunkard began removing his armor, piece by piece. The sun reflecting in Discords eyes repeatedly as the artificial golden exoskeleton came off. Finally after what seemed like years the pony was nude. He tried kicking the statue again. His efforts were more noticeable but still in vain. "I'llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll, shuu you, old Iron Leg ain't scareded of nooooouuu garden deecor."
The stallion tried again, and again, and again. But it seemed either he was too small, or Discord too large. Finally he began to wrestle with the top half of the statue. Climbing up the limbs to the wings and rocking forward and back, trying to build up enough momentum to make the statue eye to eye with the grass. He climbed up higher yet again, now on the head and doubled his efforts. He placed one hoof on Discords left horn, the goat one, and began pulling.
As soon as the hoof came in contact with the magical appendage Discord could actually feel and hear the ponies thought processes and Neurol jumbles. It was a trick he had only tried once before, and he wasn't aware that it would even work when encased in stone by the elements. But it was still a golden opportunity. He lunged for the ponies mind, grappling with it only momentarily, pulling it into his prison, while simultaneously pushing into the ponies mind.
And then... It all went black.
Discord groaned. His head was full of red hot needles. Why did it have to be a drunk that belligerently attacked him? Oh right, because anypony else had sense enough not to.
His chaos magic, very ironically, had a sort of instant nullification effect on alcohol in his system. It kept him from getting drunk but it didn’t skip the hangover, it just brought it about instantaneously and doubled its pain. And the moment he had inhabited the pony it negated all booze in his system. Making him sober but giving him worse headaches than any mortal pony could conceive.
He lay there and shook for a few minutes until it abated slightly. He tried opening his eyes, the sun glared in his face and the migraine came back in full force. He slammed his eyes shut again and wished for it to go away. This was not what he had hoped for when he wanted to escape the confines of his stony prison.
After a bit of time had passed, he tried again, same results, but this time he managed to power through it. He raised himself up onto his forehooves and haunch, and took note of his temporary form. His fur was a bright yellow that stung to look at almost as much as the sun, his mane was dark green with a vibrant pink streak running through it. “I suppose it could be worse, at least I’m not pink,” he mused. His cutey mark appeared to be a shield with a swirl of color in the center with all the colors of his palette. His build was on the heavy side, with two pegasus wings. “Those wings are so…Symmetrical. They’ll take some getting used to.” He reflected. “And my legs too, I’m usually a biped, and my less serpentine shape, and my tail being made of fur instead of flesh. This will be challenging.” Who ever thought getting a break from eternal boredom would involve so much effort?
Testing his new legs, Discord stood up on all fours and attempted forward movement. It was not as difficult as he expected. He moved forward toward the statue of him very slowly. “One step at a time,” he mumbled under his breath. His voice had changed! That was something that he forgot would happen. Thus he jumped at the sound of his own voice, thinking there was somepony nearby. He sounded younger, almost like those “perfect stallions” that you could see in cheesy romance movies.
After getting over the shock of his changed vocalization, he continued towards the stone effigy of his usual likeness. He tapped the statue with his hoof as though the pony trapped inside wouldn’t be paying very close attention to him anyway. “I must thank you very much for this chance for a little fun,” he remarked, “It gets ever so trite being in there. Oh no need to say you’re welcome, I know for a fact it would be excessively futile to do so.” He paused and looked at the terrified expression on the statue. It was his expression from being turned to stone, but it still resembled the emotions he guessed the pony was experiencing at the moment. “Don’t you worry young colt, the switch will reverse in twenty four hours and you’ll be back to harassing defenseless god beings, and drowning your sorrows or aggression in liquor in no time. For now just enjoy the view!”
And with that he was off. Quickening his pace whenever he felt he could handle it. It would be an excellent day.
---
After wandering aimlessly in the mazes for a time he decided that it was time to test his wings. He had nothing to worry about when it came to death. If he died he would simply be stuck in the body for the remaining time of the twenty four hours and then switch back to his usual body. Iron Hoof would go back to his body and die, and Discord would be just fine. No risk at all.
He stretched open his wings, and started flapping them as hard as he could. He came up a bit lopsided but quickly corrected himself. After hovering for a spell, he started slowly flying out of the gardens towards the city. Time for some discord.