//------------------------------// // Belching Contest - 2015 // Story: Ultra's Hot Shots // by ultra1437 //------------------------------// “Hey, Twilight! I bet you can’t burp like I can. See?” A belch ripped through the air for a few seconds, “Aaaaay.” A few of the other patrons clapped a hoof appreciatively. Across the table, Princesses Twilight and Luna sat next to each other. “Dash…” Twilight’s hoof met her forehead in irritation, though she was smiling behind it. “I shall rise to your challenge, Loyalty.” Princess Luna sucked in a deep breath, before another, deeper set of belches sounded in the pub. “Aaahy saaht whiiihth the Duhtchess aht teah.” More clapping followed, followed by a vocal cheer or two. Dash’s wings propelled her a few feet off the ground. “Dang, Luna! You got some skills! C’mon Twi, I bet you could beat her!” She pointed a hoof at Twilight, who sighed. “No.” She remained straight-faced, but did take a drink of her cider. The small crowd that had started to gather looked disappointed. Dash’s face fell. “Fine, don’t join us and have fun!” She sucked in a lungful of air and dropped to the ground. ‘Bheeee,’ lasted a full ten seconds, easily beating her first. Another round of cheers, not quite as many as Luna had garnered, but definitely more than her first time. “A fair improvement! Let us see if you can keep up!” Luna cheered. She reared back and unleashed another chain of burps. “Sheee sahhd ‘Dhooo yhooou fahrt when yhooou pee?’” Laughter condensed into a dull roar as the crowd’s collective sides split. A few even started chanting “Prin-cess Lu-na!” loudly between breaths. Dash flew up again and held out her hooves. The crowd went silent almost instantly in anticipation. Practicing with a few deep breaths, she held in her largest lungful yet. “Scheeee!” was her next belch, trailing off to a squeak at the final few seconds. The crowd laughed, stomping their hooves in response to Dash’s best belch yet. Before Luna could give her third try, Twilight suddenly let loose a monstrous belch, “Ooooh fhour oooh. Bhyyyyohhhgrahhphiiiheeees.” Unsure that she’d done that herself, she blushed faintly. Luna was stunned, as was everypony else in the pub. Three seconds later, a cheer rose, spurring the rest of the ponies into a fervor chant, “Prin-cess Twi-light!” “See? I knew you had it in you, Princess Egghead.” Dash elbowed Twilight smugly. Luna cleared her throat, causing the crowd to wind down again. “Aaahy saaahd with some whit,” was followed by Luna coughing once and taking a large swig of her own mug. The crowd’s roar wasn’t as loud as for Twilight, but that was okay in her book. There was still time. After it settled down a bit, Dash spoke up, “Hah! It looks like Twilight is winning, Princess Luna. Gotta step up your game, like this!” Dash hooked a hoof around her mug and downed it in seconds. She looked the pair in the eyes for a couple seconds before taking a breath just as large as last time and holding it. Five seconds passed before a surprise burp roared from her lips, “Deeeee!” It lasted a full twenty-five seconds. Both Twilight and Luna’s eyes were wide open in surprise as Dash took to the air, panting a little. She held up her forehooves, looking over the now-massive-enough-to-overfill-the-pub crowd, “Yeah!” The crowd lost it. Even the ponies stuck in awkward positions managed to help shake the entire building’s foundations. Dash basked in their attention, flipping and spinning in the air, spurring them on further. It took a minute before the crowd settled down enough for the next contestant to take her turn. Fully entranced in the competitive atmosphere now, Twilight took a few gulps from her cider. She got up and stood on the table, taking a lungful of air along the way. After a few seconds, she was ready. “Three Fhour Twoo - Cohnstituhtiohnahl ahnd ahdmihnihstrahtihve lhaw.” Luna was the first to recover from the thirty-second long announcement. She looked about and everypony’s faces were that of astonishment, with more than a few dropped jaws. Nobody cheered, entirely too surprised that Equestria’s youngest princess managed such a feat. ‘I seem to have underestimated her. There is some competition yet!’ Luna thought as she shot a smile Twilight’s way. Luna opened her mouth only for a belch to start its way up her throat. Acting quickly, she remembered her the next line of her limerick, “’Dhoo you bhelch whenn you shiht?’” She coughed once as she held a hoof to her mouth. “Excuse me.” The stunned crowd was shocked to laughter at Luna’s outburst, bringing the awkward silence to an end. As the laughter died off, Dash took her turn. Her wings flared and with a single flap, she soared up to the ceiling. Her eyes closed and she wavered in place as she bellowed, “Eeeeeeh-heeeeeee–” Dash’s eyebrows furrowed as she concentrated on staying in the air and continuing. “–heeeee-heeeee oh crap.” As her lightheadedness grew, her wings stopped flapping in sync, slowly spinning her in circles. She opened her eyes to see the room literally spinning. A second passed before she thought, ‘Think I overdid that one…’ before everything went black. Dash instantly started to drop, going limp. One mare screamed as Dash fell, but she was quickly caught by Luna, who gently laid the unconscious mare down on the table. Almost as one, Twilight and Luna checked her over, finding nothing wrong that a good night’s rest wouldn’t take care of. Luna sent a message to her sister to send a few ponies to escort Dash back to her guest suite at the castle. The crowd settled quickly, even some ponies dispersing, thinking the event over. Continuing the contest, Twilight finished her drink and took a massive breath. “Sihhhx Four Sihhhx - Sohhhwhing, Clohhhthing,” She took another short breath, “Mahnagehmehnt ohf pehrsohnahl hand familhy lhife!” Luna smiled and nodded her head and smiled brightly, while the smaller crowd cheered. “Very impressive, Twilight!” Twilight blushed hard, not expecting the praise. Luna’s wing worked around the smaller mare’s back, drawing Twilight in for a hug. Luna whispered into Twilight’s ear, “Maybe, in a decade or two, you will be good enough to recite a poem or limerick like I can! I daresay Tia is no longer up to the challenge.” Twilight’s eyes shot open and she looked at Luna like she was crazy. She frantically whispered, “You mean Princess Celestia partook in games like this?” “Verily! Celestia was much better than me.” Then Luna’s ears folded back and the smile faded. “She has gotten lax in my absence.” A voice shoots through the tavern, “Royal guard, coming through! Make way!” Twilight had just started to turn a confused look to Luna when she raised a hoof, waving it to signal her position. “Ah, that would be Tia. I asked her to send some ponies to pick Loyalty up.” One pony stepped through the door, “Luna? What happened?” Surprised to see her sister, Luna exclaimed, “Sister! I did not expect you to come!” “I didn’t expect a message asking for somepony to escort Rainbow Dash back to her room. Is she alright?” Celestia sat in Dash’s seat. “She will be fine. She may have had a touch too much cider.” A pair of unicorn guards levitate Dash off the table and onto a stretcher, all three leaving afterward. Celestia watched them leave before noticing Twilight in Luna’s wing. “Hello Twilight. I must admit I’m surprised to see you here.” ‘Luna almost always drinks alone, or with me. I wonder what’s going on…’ “Um, hi, Princess. Luna and Dash asked me along, so I came.” Celestia nodded. “I see.”