"28 Pranks Later"

...Remember when The Walking Dead was cool? Yes I know the title of this episode's really referring to a different zombie apocalypse thing, but I just remember that zombies had a bit of a moment in mid-2010s pop culture around when this episode came out. This episode shows a fake fillyscout cookie-based zombie apocalypse which Ponyvillians are all in on to get back at Rainbow Dash for pranking the townsponies too much.

"The Times They Are A Changeling"

...This episode has some important set-up for the season finale next week, and the status quo change that comes with that finale. In this episode, Spike befriends a changeling named Thorax, who lives near the Crystal Empire, and by the end of the episode, the ponies agree that Thorax is "one of the good ones". And Thorax is as I remember it a favorite character of Pony Night regular BeamBrain.

This episode has tonight's first musical number.

"Dungeons & Discords"

...This is an episode centered on the unique pairing of Big Mac, Spike, and Discord, who end up playing a TTRPG together. The fact that Spike and Big Mac are friends who regularly hang out was actually first alluded to back in S5E1, but this is our first (and maybe even last) time really seeing Spike and Big Mac's friendship for ourselves.

This episode is by no means the first episode to pass the reverse Bechdel test, but you can understand that episodes centered on male characters are a rarity (no pun intended) in this show, so this episode still stands out for that. Dudes Rock!

"Buckball Season"

...I'm pretty sure this is our third episode whose title is a reference to a previous episode, in this case season 1's "Applebuck Season". This episode introduces us to the sport of buckball, which is featured in four more episodes after this. You'd think they would've introduced Equestria's national sport a lot sooner than season 6 out of 9, and that everypony would already have a base familiarity with the sport, but hay. I remember thinking this was a fun episode in any case, and as far as fantasy sports go, buckball certainly beats quidditch. Because anything beats quidditch.

Something else that stands out about this episode is that it prominently features Snails. We haven't seen him have a role this prominent in a while, that's for sure!

"The Fault in Our Cutie Marks"

...Remember when John Green was cool? Anyways this episode has a fan-favorite griffon character who wants nothing more than to have a cutie mark just like the ponies have. Not much else to say about it.

This episode has tonight's other musical number.

"Viva Las Pegasus"

...Sees the Flim Flam Brothers pull a Satsuki Kiryuin as Applejack and Fluttershy are summoned to Las Pegasus, which is the TV-Y version of, well, you can guess where. Not much else to say about this one, either.

• Misleading a friend (28 Pranks Later)
• Fantasy racism (The Times They Are A Changeling, The Fault in Our Cutie Marks)
• Child in peril (The Times They Are A Changeling, Dungeons & Discords)
• An "unintelligent" character is depicted and I don't really trust the show not to mess it up somehow (Buckball Season)
• Fossilized bones are briefly depicted (The Fault in Our Cutie Marks)
• A physically disabled character says something that's a bit of a bummer...? (The Fault in Our Cutie Marks)
• Characters get hugged really tight without their consent...? (The Fault in Our Cutie Marks)
• Casino-adjacent aesthetics...? (Viva Las Pegasus)