(S6 E23 spoilers) In Which Patch Does Not Cry Over Spilled Milk Even A Little · 6:34pm Oct 8th, 2016
Okay, first things first: Mr. Filthy Rich.
I think we all need to take a moment and appreciate how Filthy Rich is adorable and a sweetheart and generally the best and I love him.
Like.
Look at this pony, people. :D Look at him.
His darling little bow tie and general excitement and how his accent gets more pronounced and distinct when he gets excited (fanon confirmed, heck yeah). And despite his alternate universe doppelganger being a stereotypical mustache twirling businessman and being kind of a butt in he comics, Filthy Rich Classic continues to be generally a decent fella.
Additionally:
- He values a hoofshake
- Good Ol' Colt
- Scared of his granddad, apparently
- Possibly even more scared of Granny Smith
- We've never seen modern Barnyard Bargains, have we? Though this is before it's actually become that, so I'm guessing it really blossomed in eight or so years. If the store's been in the family for three generations and is still fairly small, I gently doubt it could have financed the giant house the Riches now live in. Unless that money came from Spoiled's side of the family.
Actually speaking of Spoiled Rich, I'm starting to think October is officially Canon Shoots Patch's Fanfics Month.
Remember when this happened?
Yeah, not long after that I quietly decided to tie off the continuity with The Silver Standard at the end of season five. While I did fix the issues and holes from that canon-ball I knew (especially after What Riches Still Await) it'd be impossible to keep up when we eventually got more info on Spoiled. After all, the stepmom thing was my way of bridging canon and Standard and subsequently Riches Await exists because of the former.
It's an elegant patch-up, if I do say so myself, but because it was crafted in response to CotLM, I knew eventually canon would kill-shot me later and prepared to break post S5.
...And then it turned out I didn't have to. The only thing I need to out and out ignore is the maiden name Spoiled Milk (I still say "Rotten" is better because it makes a pairing of idioms). The rest is actually workable for Silver Standard, and thus didn't give me the heart attack CoLM did.
Why? It's a flashback but it's ALSO story being told to Apple Bloom.
That could mean that either
A) Within the confines of just telling the story, the Apples refereed to "Mr. Rich's fiance" or something similar, letting Apple Bloom presume it was Spoiled the whole time
or
B) Filthy's first wife, Golden Glitter, isn't mentioned in an effort to not drag out the Riches' dirty laundry. To directly mention Golden Glitter would mean additional questions (which are not related to this story being told). Those questions would eventually lead to very sensitive subjects that everypony would really rather avoid. If Bloom doesn't know about the immense dumpster fire that was the Rich divorce (and subsequent custody battle), then it's not the Apples' story to tell.
Either way, I can work with it. This episode at least had the courtesy to arrive BEFORE I drafted another chapter delving into Rich backstory. (That won't be for another couple chapters, but buddy lemme tell you these horses better buckle up, there's a storm a-comin')
Additional Things:
- So, I'm pretty sure we can presume the Apple parents are good and buried when this takes place. That means Apple Bloom's still a baby (I assume she was with a wet nurse or something this whole time). Which in turn means that either Diamond Tiara is younger than Apple Bloom...or Mr. Rich done knocked up his future wife. Or both.
...Probably both.
- 80s Cheerilee! Again, presuming the Crusaders are between twelve and eight (I currently headcanon them at eleven) that means this takes place in the early 90s. ...the 990s, I mean.
- It's official: teen fillies are gangly. We saw it with Fluttershy, we saw it with Plaid Stripes, and we see it again with Applejack.
- Applejack's bottlebrush pigtails are adorable.
- I like Spoiled...Milk's (eugh) ponytail. It's pretty cute. She's also a lot less nasty here (and in Applejack's "Day" Off) than in her first appearance. Was she having an exceptionally bad day, or making nice for the sake of her fiance? Or did she just eventually become worse, then better?
- This answered my question of why Apple Acres doesn't sell cider to Barnyard Bargains! That's pretty cool to know.
- I really loved chatty Big Macintosh. I loved seeing past ponies in general not being carbon copies of who they are now. AJ used to be quite a headstrong filly, rushing in the things all over the place, huh?
- Spoiled totally has a Canterlot accent.
- FILTHY RICH'S PRECIOUS LITTLE BOW TIE. AND ACCENT. He's so excited to do business stuff, what a sweetheart.
- 
c: Told you so.
Oh! And the final draft for the next Silver Standard is almost half done. It oughta be up a week from now.
FYI, that first image got marked as a dupe of this one.
Also, I actually like how the name "Spoiled Milk" accurately portrays her mothering skills. What should be wholesome has curdled into a poison.
And yeah, this was a great character-building episode.
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Oh hey, you're right! That's a neat catch.
Good to see that you're still managing to roll with the canon punches! As Silver Standard is one of my most favoritest ponyfics, and a big part of its appeal is the wonderfully fleshed out treatment of the various background characters, including the Rich family, it's comforting to know that the author's not tearing out their hair, drowning their sorrows in cider, or putting the story to pasture because they can't deal with the latest development.
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upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/df/Milk_and_Cheese.jpg/250px-Milk_and_Cheese.jpg
NO. MORE. LIVE. ACIDOPHOLUS. EVER!!!!1!!!
On the upside, this gave me fuel for a Filthy Rich fic I came up with recently. :3 I shall shoulder your burden!
If I wrote anything everRemember when you were a kid, and your mother told you that if you kept making that face, it would stick? Well, Spoiled's nose got contorted like that because she kept sticking it in people's faces. Pay close attention to her first appearance in this episode, and you'll see it.
Well, hey. A number of my favorite fics have been scuttled by canon fire, or even actively subvert canon from time to time... but I still enjoy them. Fics like The Three Wishes: The Cutie Mark Crusaders Before They Changed The World, Living in Equestria, and Trixie's Gettin' Back On Her Hooves. If it happens (and it probably will, sooner or later), it happens.