Same here! It felt nice seeing some locations again (the swamp I'm pretty sure is the only new one, appearing as far as I can remember in "The End in Friend). The rest like Ghastly Gorge, that firey place from "Somepony To Watch Over Me", and Somnambula from last season. It really did feel like a different show, but still had that charm that reminded you that "Hey. This still FIM", and even a little bit of the charm felt by the earlier seasons (1-3) like the duo jokingly dismissing some things like Twilight and Cadance's dance (which I'm so glad to see in a casual manner again), the incredibly cheesy song that you can't find yourself hating because it's just so wholesome, funny, and sounds amazing, and after a long time now— some of the best breaking of the 4th wall the show has had in a while. They leaned on it at the end of the episode where the old Somnambulan stallion at the end I'm pretty asked if the show was over yet, and one of the best ones came during the song which I'll get into later.
As for the characters, it feels great to see their bond grow stronger ever since they met. It feels genuine and real, they both help each other out and learn a lot from it. Starlight was phenomenal in this episode by showing that she's willing to go through so much to help her best friend, and some of the gags involving her like the street food gag and over packing were just simple and funny. As for Trixie, I can't be anymore prous of her. She feels like a character that made a complete 180 in her character and attitude, but personality wise feels just as she did when we first met her back in season 1. She was incredibly endearing to watch and honestly has made some progress. One issue I've seen fans recently have with her recently is that they felt like she wasn't being treated seriously as a character after she returned. They felt like she was way more obnoxious, flanderized, weaker (in the magical sense), and treated more like a joke. While I disagree with her being like this most of the time, I'll be completely honest and say that at times it does feel like that. Here she feels so much more natural to her older appearances, but still feels fresh as a character. Her boastfulness has been subdued to a comfortable amount, she shows a lot more humbleness to everypony, and it's subtle— but I think Starlight has been helping Trixie become good at magic again. Hell, even better than before Magic Duel happened. It goes to show that the writers are taking notice and go out of their way to strengthen characters where they need it the most.
And as for new characters, the only new one we meet is Hoo'far, who is funnily enough the first new Saddle Arabian character we've met since Magic Fuel when the race was introduced. And hey, he's a Unicorn! There goes the headcanon that Saddle Arabians are all earth ponies or otherwise, normal looking horses in Equestria. Anyway, I know some people found him annoying due to how often he shows up during the episode, but in all honesty, he helps move the episode along. He offers to make a trade to help Trixie, he knows how good friends they are, and when the time came for him to trade Trixie's wagon back he wanted nothing else for it aside from the fact that he knows that they really do care about each other. Plus the fact that he had shown so much genuine interest in the show just made it all the better since he really did care enough to help Trixie out.
Now then… as I mentioned earlier, there was one particular moment in the song that caught me off guard when I heard it. And that would come from this line here:
Trixie: For untold seasons yet to come, our friendship will be here!
Starlight: For nine at least.
I missed on my first watch, but seeing it again it was an obvious confirmation that there will be at least be a season 9. Had it not been for the December leaks, this may have been the first confirmation of a new season. And from within the show no less! Do you know how fucking awesome that is to have something confirmed like this? The didn't need to, but they did!
And well… before I go on this tangent, there are spoilers ahead about some possible info from the December leaks. These are major ones that affect a lot more than the show, so if you don't wanna know, I would skip this part entirely.