Depths of rage

The young pegasus held the bronze medal in front of him. He grimaced as he remembered the tournament. What a joke, the rules were too restrictive. There was no way he lost... there was no way. The third place medal made him feel sick, like everyone was taking pity on him. He clutched the almost empty mug of ale, sloshing it around before finishing it off. That clown that beat him wasn't tough, if it were a real fight he would have... Phoenix was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of cheering. The last fight must have been over, the victors walking off somewhere to celebrate. A group of three, two he had seen ringside and that earth pony that beat him by one point. He saw red, a soft snarl escaping him as he watched them walk. Bastards, acting like they were better than him. Phoenix stood up, he was twenty three and over ten of his years had been spent training. If he couldn't win what was any of that time worth? A memory, in his drunken and angry state he saw it clear as day. As if it had been yesterday his teacher stood in front of him. Phoenix laying on the ground "Up, you aren't fighting seriously" The tall stallion remarked as Phoenix got to his hooves "What? I..I am?" He stated in confusion as he teacher shook his head "No, you laid down after I hit you. I've seen you in a fight, you're quick to get back up" Phoenix sighed "You knocked me down, you win. I can't beat you" As he finished answering Phoenix was knocked back by a strike to his chest "You need to think you can" He said as Phoenix raised his hooves in confusion to defend himself "If you think you are going to lose you will. You aren't going to lose Phoenix, get up and fight like you mean it. No matter how badly you get hurt if you keep fighting you'll win in the end. Do whatever it takes to get up, do whatever it takes to keep going and you'll never lose" Phoenix shoved the two ponies aside, seeing the golden medal around the neck of the third one "H..Hey! What the hell is wrong with you!" The pony yelled as his friends got to their feet "Fight isn't over yet" Phoenix said with a glare as the two quickly adopted fighting stances. Ponies walking on the street quickly stopped to keep their distance. Phoenix didn't notice them, didn't notice the world around him. He only felt angry, only knew he had to keep fighting. He was sore, he rubbed his head as he sat in the prison cell. He was a bit hurt but not too bad, he was lucky honestly. He had hurt those three guys too bad, he would have been in serious shit if had broken their bones or given them a concussion or something. He groaned as he stood up, the soreness of his body certainly wasn't helping the hang over. He'd been in for a few months that certainly wasn't going to be fun but Phoenix couldn't help but smirk to himself. He had been right, he had beaten the hell out of that guy, he got up and had won. //Had the itch to write a short little thing, might do a few more of phoenix when he was younger. How he got from being a total shit head to where he is now. Thanks for reading.