The ponies are holding a sporting competition, and Shady has for once managed to achieve a clear victory by beating Gingerbread at the earth pony long jump. Just as the event ends, however, Spike runs in while screaming for help and chased by a camel-riding kid dead-set on taking off his head. Megan and the ponies quickly put a stop to this business, and make the kid explain himself. He introduces himself as Squire Alonzo and his steed as Panza, and says that he's trying to become a knight but can't seem to manage to perform the good deed necessary in order to do so. He'd thought to try his hand at dragonslaying, since everyone knows that dragons are evil creatures, but his chosen quarry, Spike, isn't exactly a wicked foe. His previous attempts at heroics, defeating a witch, ridding a town of rats and saving a damsel in distress, also went belly-up, and now he's giving up hope.
The heroes, as quick as ever to forgive and forget, decide to help him out. After a great deal of walking, they come across a castle surrounded by a hedge of thorns and with a beautiful singing voice coming from it. Our heroes, all familiar with fairytale tropes, conclude that a princess must have been trapped inside and rush off to the rescue.
They're... not quite right. A princess is indeed inside, Princess Aylin, but she's there by choice and about to marry Sir Huguenot, a famous knight. They get an earful from Aylin's literal fairy godmother, who put up the thorns as a safety precaution against Huguenot's tendency to attract trouble. Huguenot explains that he's going into retirement and tasked his wizard with looking for a suitable replacement; Alonzo makes the obvious conclusion, but Megan decides that given the massive breach of etiquette they just performed it's probably best to duck out now.
On the way back, a dejected Alonzo is about ready to give up on his quest and throws away his sword, nearly impaling someone in the bushes. This person turns out to be a turtle rolled on its back, and Alonzo sets about trying to right him. He has very little success, as he's not strong enough to turn the turtle over, and after a while is ready to give up. The turtle's grouching about how the only person around to help him turned out to be a quitter spurs him back into action.
This all takes a while, and eventually the others, who had kept on going without hearing the exchange, realize that Alonzo is missing. They double back in time to find him using a rock and branch as an improvised fulcrum and lever, successfully putting the turtle back on its feet. It then reveals itself to be Huguenot's wizard in disguise, and to have been looking for the knight's replacement. He was looking for a hero who wouldn't give up when things got bad, and disguised himself to test Alonzo. Now convinced that he's hero material, he magically whisks him and Panza off for training. Megan and the ponies wave goodbye to their friend, and happily return home.
This episode contains examples of:
- Angel Unaware: The turtle that Alonzo finds helpless on its back turns out to be a powerful wizard, who took on a different shape to observe Alonzo's moral fiber.
- Everyone Laughs Ending: The episode ends with Megan and the ponies having a laugh over Spike's comment that Alonzo was a pretty nice guy... for a dragonslayer.
- Fairy Godmother: Emilda, Lady Aylin's fairy godmother, is a fairy resembling a short, squat and insect-winged woman in high medieval finery, complete with a horned headdress. She seems to be responsible for Aylin's well-being, and erected a forest of brambles around the castle to keep danger away for her wedding.
- The Hedge of Thorns: When the heroes find a castle surrounded by an impassable wall of thorny vines, they immediately think of the usual reasons this trope shows up in fairytales and heroically charge through to rescue the princess trapped behind it. As it turns out, the princess is getting married to a knight and her fairy godmother raised the hedge to keep trouble away.
- "I Want" Song: "All I Want Is to Be a Knight", where Alonzo sings about his dreams of knighthood and the many miserable failures he's encountered in his quest.
- Merchandise-Driven: Galaxy's cheerleader outfit she wears during the jumping finals and later throughout the episode was included to advertise Pom Pom Pony
from the year three pony wear series. - The Squire: Alonzo is a roving squire and yearns to be a knight, but must first perform a heroic deed.
- Retired Badass: Sir Huguenot is described by Alonzo as the bravest knight of all time. He's also retiring, as he's getting too old for heroics, and is on the lookout for a replacement.
- Secret Test of Character: The wizard turns himself into a turtle and flips onto his back as a secret test of Alonzo's determination, to see whether he's willing to stick it out and not give up even when faced with difficult odds.
- Title Drop: At the end, Spike says Alonzo wasn't so bad for a would-be dragonslayer.
- Van Helsing Hate Crimes: Alonzo believes all dragons are evil and consequently enters the story while trying to slay Spike, which makes the Ponies angry with him.
