"Nephew, when I was first learning how to duel, my master imparted onto me the four points of dueling: honor, loyalty, compassion, and magic. Those four points are to make up your compass when you duel."

"Honor, loyalty, compassion, and magic," he repeated, trying to keep the four words in his mind.

"Very good," she nodded. "In addition to the four points, an expert duelist is also expected to be generous and gay before and after their battle has taken place."

"Generous and gay?" the prince asked in surprise. "Why? I guess I can see compassion being a part of the compass because ponies shouldn't be beating other ponies to bloody pulps, but what does being generous and gay have to do with being a duelist?"

"Excellent questions," his aunt commended him. "Before and after a battle, a duelist is expected to be gay because s/he must be able to laugh about their victory or defeat. By laughing either at the situation or themselves, the duelist learns to let go of any grudges that may fester between them. In laughing at their victory, the duelist also learns to humble whatever conceit s/he may have developed. Resting on one's laurels is a quick to bring about their demise. The same principle can be applied to generosity: be generous to your adversary, your inferior, and your superior; they are ponies just like you who you should not begrudge or hate. When being generous, offer your opponent the best you can spare: medical attention, a fine meal, or your time. Generosity, like laughter, is supposed to humble the both of you."

"I think I understand: the compass during battle is made up of honor, loyalty, magic, and, um... compassion! The other two things ponies should strive to be before and after battle are generous and gay."

"Excellent," his aunt nodded. "Now completely forget about honor, compassion, generosity, and joy; they have no place in your world."

"What?!" he demanded. "Why even bring them up in the first place."

"So you can lie and pretend to other ponies that you live the Warrior's Code of Conduct and Ethics. In reality, nephew, you're going to battle a god who has no problem killing you and everyone else on this planet. Do not be kind, or selfless, or honorable, or gay with her; she doesn't deserve it.

"Can I at least be all of those things to my non-evil opponents?"

"That is acceptable. Most instructions in dueling begin with the four points and the reinforcement of the other two until the master is certain that their student exemplifies the six. You've already shown me your loyalty to Equus, as well as your dedication to magic, hence you are ready to move on to the next level."

"Which is?"

"Mastering the basics of unicorn magic. Congratulations. You've passed. In fact, you're just so talented that you've moved on to the most advanced lesson. This lesson took me decades to master, and there are some dueling masters who cannot complete it."

Blueblood the Younger gulped.

"But first, answer me this, colt: what is your purpose for dueling?" she asked.

He inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to calm his nerves. "I want to duel because I want to be strong enough to protect my little ponies. I want to duel because I want to protect the whole world. I'm doing this for my queen and for the future of Equus."

The princess quirked a brow. "Are you sure, nephew?"

He swallowed again but glared at her in defiance. "Yes," he nodded. "When I am king, I'm going to bear the weight of heaven and earth, sea and sky, and every single life residing here. I want to protect them and I will give anything for them. Now what is the final lesson?" Prince Blueblood asked.

"Congratulations, you mastered the final lesson," she responded with a flippant tone. "Now let's—"

"Seriously?!"

"Just what is the matter?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"You're, you're psyching me out with all this talk about how impossible the final lesson is, and then you just tell me I passed in, like, ten sentences?!

The princess chuckled. "'Psyching you out?' Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" She clicked her tongue and shook her head, marvelling at the new, youthful slang. "My king, here is another advanced lesson for you: psychological warfare only has the power that you're willing to ascribe to it. Nevertheless, the reason why some dueling masters cannot complete the final lesson is because they do not know their purpose. But you, your majesty, you do. You know that you must battle Nightmare Moon, and you know that you're willing to go to any lengths to protect Equus. You already have a purpose, Blueblood, hence you already mastered the final, most difficult lesson: the lesson of purpose.

But enough of that; let us begin with the tactile portion of dueling. Everything begins with your stance.

Remember:
You do it for them
And you would do it again
You do it for her— that is to say
You'll do it for them

Keep your stance wide
Keep your body lowered
As you're moving forward
Balance is the key
Front right; back left
Now go even faster
And as you're moving backwards
Keep your eyes on me.

Keep my stance wide (Good)
Keep my body lowered (Right)
As I'm moving forward (Concentrate!)
Don't you want them to live!?
Front right; back left
Yes, but put your whole body into it!

Everything you have, everything you are
You've got to give
On the battlefield
When everything is chaos
And you have nothing but the way you feel, your strategy, and your horn
You just think about the life you'll have together after the war
And when you do it for her
That's how you know you can win
You do it for her— that is to say
You'll do it for them

Deep down you know
You weren't built for fighting
But that doesn't mean
You're not prepared to try
What she won't know
Is your real advantage
When you live for someone
You're prepared to die

Deep down I know
That I'm just a mortal (true)
But I know that I can light my horn and fight
(But you know that you can light your horn and fight)
With my short existence (Good)
I can make a difference (Yes, excellent!)
I can be there for them
I can be their light
I can do it for them
You'd do it for her
Okay, now do that again (Yes, ma'am.)
You do it for her, and now you say:
I'll do it for them.

Author's Note

Please point out any typos.

Unexpected Stevenbomb, heyo!

My Little Pony is a musical, so I'll make my story a musical too! However, if there's anything that my five years in art school has taught me, it's that I have no musical talent whatsoever, so I'll use already established songs and just swap out a few words here and there to make it fit.

Color formatting is a bitch.