So this was a great episode. Probably gonna put it as one of the best this season, easily, maybe even one of the best in the series.
At 10 minutes in or so, I didn't know it was going to be a Spike episode, and I was kinda upset that he was yet again just going to be that colossal fuckup that gets the plot moving for everyone else. Then the rest of the episode happened, and it all made sense, and worked perfectly. Spike's singing was sorta cringeworthy, but everything else was fantastic. The drama worked well, the humor was great (Dash being totally inconspicuous and casual, Pinkie's "Nailed it!" after the anthem.

) and it was all paced fantastically. How Spike acted throughout the episode was incredibly believable and relatable, and really resonated.
I know what it's like to feel like a constant disappointment to everyone, despite no one else feeling like you are one. I know what it's like to have a mistake from your past to constantly be a weight pressing against you, crippling any chance of growth. I know what it's like to be self deprecating, playing down every accomplishment because it doesn't feel like an accomplishment to you.
Spike in this episode was the best he's ever been; sure he messes up, but it's not ever directly a joke here, it's serious, because how he feels about himself is serious.
Even at the end of the episode after the plot has resolved, Spike isn't all happy-go-lucky, but he's at least realized what's happening and is dealing with it. Honestly, this doesn't exactly make up for Spike being the butt of all the jokes and slapstick for the past 4 seasons with no respect given to him, but this episode wouldn't have been as believable had Spike not had any of these failures in the past. I kinda felt like this wasn't just an episode that could have worked in S1 or S2, it was one that had been a long time coming that just happened to occur at the Equestria Games, and the fact that it took the forefront really showed how much respect for the issue Dave Polsky has. If it had been a subplot and the moral of the episode was something like Dash saying "It's cool we only got silver because we're still super celebrities yo," I'd have been incredibly pissed off.