"Good morning ladies and gentlecolts!" The announcer shouted. "This is the moment you've been waiting for! It's time for the final round of the tournament!"

The crowd bellowed in excitement as the announcer bowed to his audience.

"Yes, yes," he smirked, "now I know you didn't just come here to see me ramble, but I think I should give you a proper introduction to Round Two!"

Half of the crowd booed in response but calmed down as soon as the announcer raised his hands to silence their impatience.

"Now, in our final round, you- the audience, choose which teams will face each other in the arena." The announcer said as he gestured to the center of the arena. "Now, you may ask, 'Mr. Announcer, how do thousands of ponies choose? Counting them would take days!', well, allow me to introduce you to a new addition to this little tournament of ours... the voting sphere!"

A massive trap door opened at the center of the arena, and out from it sprang a massive crystal ball that hovered in the air; making a whirring noise as it levitated.

"The next step is simple. At each chair is a slip of paper tucked right beneath a slot in the left-armrest." The announcer explained. "This paper is enchanted, and after signing the team-name on the bottom, and checking off the box to verify your decision, the voting sphere will tally up the numbers and give us a result. Choose wisely, because in Round Two, the rules of elimination stay the same as they were in Round One; any team that loses... is knocked out for good."

"That contraption is new..." Coba said as he marveled at the massive globe suspended in the sky from the competitor's box.

"What, the globe?" Spike said; staring up at the sphere with Coba. "We use them a lot in Equestria to tally up votes. Granted, not with this many bodies of course. There must be tens of thousands in here!"

"Now fans! Choose your teams!" The announcer yelled.

The voting sphere began to whir louder as thousands of beams of light shot out from the voting slips into it. After a few minutes time, the ball retreated back into the trap door and sent a beam into a slip in the announcer's hand.

"Alright then," he said as he cleared his throat, "I will choose the two most-wanted teams for this first fight. Our first team and most-wanted is... the Ausrüstung team; Angreifer and Verteidiger!"

Angreifer stepped out onto the arena in a lightly-armored mechanized suit. Her partner wasn't actually a pony at all, but a hulking automation made of gold-colored steel. Although it was shaped like a stallion, its proportions were way off; it towered at over ten feet tall, and its huge left-forearm seemed to be some sort of cannon. Steam billowed out from its mouth and its eyes shone an empty white glow; looking blankly at the ground. He didn't actually exit the pit like normal competitors, however. He was so large, that he was instead lifted inside by a platform through the sphere's trap door.

"What is that monstrosity?!" Twilight gawked at the steaming pile of steel; looking to Draven to see his reaction. "What is that strange creature?"

"That's no creature at all... it's an Ausrüstrian Dampfriesen. The mechanized heavy-hitters of their army." Draven said; looking intensely at the clanking contraption. "They don't feel pain, fear, or compassion. They do pretty much whatever their Ausrüstrian commanders tell them to."

"An army of golems..." Twilight muttered to herself.

"They're a lot more than just regular magically-created golems, I'll tell you that much. This one may seem impressive, but it's nothing compared to some I've heard about." Draven said with a scowl on his face. "Monsters towering to fifty-feet."

Twilight tried to imagine such a beast but quickly snapped back to reality as she briefly visualized it.

"Our next team is... the Miriad Empire; Galaeron and Syrune!" The announcer shouted with excitement.

Galaeron stepped out into the arena with his female partner. Like him, she was clad in silver armour and wielded a bow rather than a crossbow. Her armor wasn't as extensive as his and a cape was not present in her attire, suggesting she was of lower rank or was more a roguish type than he was. They stepped out to face the steel-titan head on, and their expressions were a sort of silent-ferocity, a contained determination. Angreifer walked up to Syrune and spat on the ground; smirking as she turned around and prepared Vernteidiger for battle.

"What was that about?" Spike wondered; seeing the hatred in the eyes of Syrune.

"Ausrüstrians and Miriads don't get along, never have," Coba explained. "There's no particular reason, besides their differences in philosophy, but other than that, they just don't like each other."

"Alright then..." The announcer said in an uneasy tone of voice; trying to ignore the 'spat' between the two teams. "It's, uh, time we begin the fight!"

Verteidiger clanked and steamed as it prepared its weaponry; Angreifer doing the same as she loaded her rifle with bullets.

"Verteidiger, non-lethal, but make it hurt..." Angreifer sneered.

"Affirmative." Verteidiger moaned in a low and robotic voice.

"Prepare yourself Syrune, this Ausrüstrian doesn't mess around," Galaeron warned Syrune. "Aim for the giant's chest. That's where its power is stored."

"Right."

"Three! Two! One! Fight!" The crowd shouted along with the announcer.

Vernteidiger shot off a blast of energy from its arm-cannon that hurled towards Syrune at lightning speeds. Luckily, she was quick enough to dodge the blast and charged forward with her bow drawn; firing off two magic-arrows that burned like a frozen flame. Vernteidiger raised its arms to defend, and successfully blocked the arrows. It charged at Syrune soon after and gave her a hard backhand; knocking her back with great force, and nearly shattering her armor.

"Syrune!" Galaeron cried as he charged at the mechanized-monster with his crossbow at the ready.

Before he could aid Syrune, he was struck by a firm steel-toed kick from Angreifer. He fell backwards into a roll and recovered, but he took a moment to realize what had happened; grabbing his jaw as he felt the pain of the blow. He looked over to Syrune, and to his relief, she was up and fighting again.

"I'm fine, just take care of her!" Syrune ordered Galaeron.

Galaeron jumped up and smashed Angreifer on the head with the wooden end of his crossbow; staggering her. He then followed up with a kick, but it was caught by Angreifer's literal "iron grip". She threw him to the ground and tried stomping on his chest, but he rolled to the side and shot his crossbow; landing a bolt right between a gap in her chest-plate. She clutched the bolt and pulled it out; letting out a few grunts and groans of pain as she felt the blood pour out from the hole in her rib-cage.

"Alright... now it's my turn." Angreifer panted as she pressed a button on her gauntlet. "Vernteidiger status report."

"Energy levels at ninety-one percent capacity. Armour at ninety-five percent integrity." A robotic voice from her gauntlet buzzed.

Syrune jumped on Verteidiger's back and began firing her bow into the robot's spine; inflicting massive damage to its body.

"Shake her off!" Angreifer ordered the metal beast.

Vernteidiger's torso spun around and around until Syrune flew off; receiving another crushing backhand from its arm as she was tossed to the ground. She fell on her back hard and felt the steel plates on her back smash into her shoulder blades as she hit the earth; sending a wave of pain across her body.

"Vernteidiger status report!" Angreifer talked into her gauntlet.

"Energy levels at eighty-six percent capacity. Armour at seventy-two percent integrity." The robotic voice answered.

"Launch electrical barrage!" Angreifer commanded.

"Preparing to fire electrical barrage on the count of three... two... one... firing." The robotic voice uttered in a calculating way.

Vernteidiger began firing a hail of electrical bursts from a shoulder mounted gun. They shot upwards, then fell to the ground like a mortar; striking the ground near Galaeron and electrifying him.

"Galaeron!" Syrune shouted as she got back on her hooves.

Syrune fired an arrow into the barrel of Vernteidiger's shoulder mounted cannon and caused it to jam; rendering it useless. She then fired another arrow into the metal giant's chest, causing it to short-circuit for a moment.

"Dammit!" Angreifer shouted in frustration. "Status report!"

"Energy levels at fifty-two percent capacity. Armour at sixty percent integrity." The voice in her gauntlet replied.

Galaeron grabbed the dirt off the ground and threw it into Angreifer's eyes. She stumbled back and tried rubbing her eyes, but the sand would not come out easy. Galaeron took his opportunity and gave her a swift kick to the head; knocking her to the ground. He then focused his efforts on Vernteidiger and whistled to get the metallic monster's attention.

As Vernteidiger turned, Galaeron fired two bolts that struck it right in the eyes; blinding the robot. It tried to knock him away, but he was too quick, and he managed to drive his hidden-dagger straight into its chest. Vernteidiger exploded with great force; launching Galaeron back. Angreifer soon recovered as she heard the "boom" and witnessed the destruction of her mechanized partner.

Syrune and Galaeron closed in on Angreifer, who stood still; waiting for the right moment to launch a surprise attack. As they prepared their weapons, she smiled.

"Engage Pegasus Mode." She smiled.

"Engaging Pegasus Mode." Her armor affirmed.

A pair of wings sprouted from her back. However, these were not the wings of a regular pegasi, these wings were made of a leathery-brown substance, and appeared bat-like in design. They stretched out to their full length before flapping down, and with one mighty thrust she was lifted into the air.

"Wings?!" Twilight uttered in shock. "Where did those come from?"

"One of Ausrüstung's crowning achievements." Draven said; slightly worried. "The ability to give earth ponies the power of flight."

Angreifer dove at Syrune; smashing her into the wall at high-speeds. She then beat her down; giving her a jab, a right cross, and a knee to the chest. Syrune fell to the ground soon after; utterly destroyed by the incapacitating blows.

"Damn you!" Galaeron cursed Angreifer as he fired his crossbow.

"These wings are made to block bullets! " Angreifer laughed as her wings blocked the bolts. "They can sure as hell block your flimsy arrows!"

"How about a sword?" Galaeron said as he drew his saber; challenging Angreifer to a duel.

"Very well." Angreifer responded to his challenge as she reached into her pocket and grabbed a metal stick.

The metal stick expanded into a large quarter-staff with two prongs at each end that sparked as she waved the staff about.

"Let's go!" Angreifer bellowed as she charged at the on-guard Miriad.

Angreifer swung at him with her staff; striking him in the chest. As it impacted, he felt a strong jolt of electricity course through his body and down through his spine. The force blew him back, and he quickly got to his hooves before she could strike again. This time, he blocked her staff.

"An electrified staff? How uncivilized..." Galaeron mocked the armoured mare as their weapons became locked in a clash; sending sparks flying.

Angreifer pushed against Galaeron and staggered him; giving him another prod with her staff. Galaeron recuperated again and slashed her wing off. He then gave her a firm kick to the chest and slashed off another wing.

Angreifer became furious, as she swung with great ferocity and speed. However, Galaeron blocked every strike; making her even angrier. She tried thrashing him again, but this time, Galaeron slashed her across the gap in her chest-piece, then her arms, and then her legs. She fell to the ground; blood leaking from her armor. Galaeron held his saber close to her neck.

"Yield Ausrüstrian," Galaeron demanded.

It was then that Angreifer noticed the head of Vernteidiger was right behind Galaeron; giving her an idea.

"You know, you can take a lot of electricity Miriad. I wonder, how much can you take? Let's find out, shall we?" Angreifer smirked.

"What are you talking- Arraahhh!" Galaeron cried as he felt two sharp objects embed themselves inside his back.

Galaeron looked back to see two wires attached to his back that led to the disembodied head of Vernteidiger, and before he could cut them off... electricity traveled up the wires into his body. He screamed until Vernteidiger ran out of power, and he fell to the ground in a heap, unconscious.

The crowd remained silent for a moment, watching Angreifer struggle to get to her hooves. Sure enough however, she got up using the last of her energy and raised her arms in triumph; the crowd cheering as she did so.

"Angreifer wins! Ausrüstung wins!" The announcer shouted.

"Well, I'll be damned..." Coba muttered to himself in relief. "That was a close fight."

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading! As always, I hope you enjoyed! I'll update more often, (As it is summer holidays and I have nothing to do any more! Yay!) and I hope you'll stick around for the next chapter, because I'm far from finished!