FiM Cast [Tier-3] Filthy Rich [Ready]

[Bellosh]

Roleplay Type: World of Equestria RP – Tier-3

Name: Filthy Rich

Sex: Male

Age: Middle-aged stallion

Species: Earth pony

Eye colour: Light blue

Coat: A brown-coated pony, Filthy frequently wears a dark red tie featuring a yellow dollar sign.

Mane/Tail: Filthy’s well-groomed mane and tail are darkish gray. Certain sections of his mane are highlighted with a slightly-lighter gray.

Physique: Average for a stallion of his age.

Residence: Ponyville

Occupation: Owner of Rich’s Barnyard Bargains.

Cutie Mark: Filthy’s cutie mark consists of three whitish-brown sacks with dollar signs printed on each of them, representing his affinity for commerce.

Filthy Rich found his calling in life relatively early on in his youth. Admiring his grandfather Stinkin’ Rich, the young colt eagerly learned all about the dos-and-don’ts of running a country general store. The time came though when Stinkin’ could no longer run Rich’s General Store due to old age, leaving his successors to run the family business in his absence. As Stinkin’s heirs lacked the drive and aptitude to keep the store afloat, the customers dwindled away and it appeared that Rich’s General Store wouldn’t outlive its retired founder.

That was until Filthy impulsively stepped in. Figuring that consumer confidence in Rich’s General Store could be restored with a grand noteworthy gesture, he proposed to his elders a 66% sale on all items. Nopony took the colt seriously though, concerned that cutting that much into the store’s profit margins would prove disastrous. However, the elderly Stinkin’ Rich had faith in his protégée; buying into young Filthy’s proposal, Stinkin’ instructed his family to carry the sale out. The next day, the general store found its most profitable day up until then as a massive surge of customers came by, lured in by promises of discounts. Credit was given where it was due; basking in the praise of his family, Filthy Rich ended the day with a cutie mark of his own.

History:

Aside from teaching his grandson all about commerce, Stinkin’ Rich also passed down all of his core values and principles to Filthy. From his grandfather, the young colt inherited a sense of total commitment to not only work hard for to his family, but also for the town of Ponyville that enabled the Rich family’s prosperity. Once Filthy got his cutie mark and promised to inherit the general store, Stickin’ left retirement long enough for the colt to finish his education.

Filthy strove to be a model student as a foal, excelling especially at math and historical studies. Chief among his extracurricular pursuits were stints as a Foal Scout and the editor-in-chief of the Foal Free Press, both positions he relished for opportunities to give back to the community. Filthy’s good-heartedness won him the friendship of many of his peers and the respect of his elders, and nearly all considered Mr. Rich a good ole’ boy.

It was his years as a business undergraduate student in Manehatten where Filthy Rich’s characteristic ambition bloomed. Seeking to learn any skills that his grandfather couldn’t have taught him, Filthy paid his own way through college working in part-time jobs. By far the most defining and long-lasting of these jobs was a sales position in a department store; not only did Filthy homed in his skills with providing customer service, but he found inspiration for the future of his family business. Most importantly of all, Filthy met the love of his life; an equally-ambitious mare who also majored in business.

Returning home to Ponyville with a degree, Filthy Rich and his wife/business-partner set out to reshape Rich’s General Store using their grand vision. Shifting their business model from a focus on Ponyville-produced wares towards specializing in items manufactured out-of-town, the Rich family moved the store to a bigger location and rebranded it as Rich’s Barnyard Bargains. Offering huge discounts on a diverse line of products from wagon wheels and hammers to oranges and hay (especially if they could be purchased in bulk), some ponies wondered whether RBB could even come close to paying back its start-up costs, let alone turn in significant long-term profit. In time, Ponyville’s residents answered that question with their wallets; through perseverance and generating good will, Filthy Rich eventually could claim that he lived up to his name as he and his wife found success as big-name retailers.

Now that they are among the richest ponies of Ponyville, Filthy and his wife have begun to contemplate arrangements to establish RBB franchises in other markets. However, such plans take a back-seat towards raising their cherished daughter, Diamond Tiara. It is Mr. Rich’s most sincere hope that he can instill in his daughter the same core business ethic and values that he himself learned long ago from his dear grandfather.....

Character Summary:

If there’s one thing that Filthy Rich is known for as a businesspony, it’s his zeal to constantly cut down on prices. If a particular store in Ponyville attempts to sell a commodity like nails, Rich’s Barnyard Bargains will not only undercut the competition, but it would have much more of that product in stock. Keeping sales prices lower may cut into Mr. Rich’s profit margins, but his store ends up with higher sales volume as a result. Due to his financial clout, Mr. Rich also has an edge it comes to negotiating with out-of-town manufacturers over the costs of acquiring such items. As a result of such aggressive deal-making, RBB is the primary wholesaler in Ponyville.

Always the community-minded fellow however, Filthy Rich makes a point of not forgetting his roots. Believing that customers are attracted by quality customer service in conjunction with low prices, Mr. Rich pays his employees quite handsomely; their pay is on average higher than those of workers in city department stores. Additionally, the shelves of Rich’s Barnyard Bargains are always receptive of items produced by Ponyvillians who otherwise can’t sell their product on their own. Of course, RBB’s most time-honored tradition is its annual Zap Friday sale; on the Friday after the end of the Zap Apple harvest, the first fifty customers who buy ten items or more gets a free jar of Zap Apple Jam (those who don’t make it on time for Zap Apple Jam get 25% off all purchases on Zap Friday).

Ponies who meet Filthy Rich find him to be a very easy-going stallion. Filthy is on all occasions eager to connect with his fellow townsponies, desiring to personally know how they rate his store’s services and taking their feedback into consideration. Ponies are not advised to ask Filthy about how he achieved business success; Mr. Rich’s long and comprehensive presentations explaining the story and principles behind Rich’s Barnyard Bargains may captivate the hearts of investors, but most other ponies find themselves bored to sleep instead. The business owner extends friendly courtesy to everypony he talks to, just as long as they don’t call him Filthy. Always scowling whenever most ponies call him by that unfortunately-picked name (in his opinion), Mr. Rich only lets his darling wife get away with calling him Filthy.

Despite his status as one of Ponyville’s wealthiest residents, Mr. Rich finds himself more emotionally fulfilled by activities like knocking down pins at the local bowling ally or leading the local Foal Scout troop than typical upper-class pursuits. As a matter of fact, Filthy and his family live a rather modest lifestyle compared to their net-worth. Aside from what he and his wife deem necessary to provide a comfortable standard of living for their daughter, most of their wealth either goes back into RBB, gets donated to charity, or used to sponsor community events like the Summer Harvest Festival. Filthy thus finds himself with barely any acquaintances among his upper-class brethren in Canterlot and Manehatten, renown for their extravagant displays of wealth and power. This has proved at times to be a hindrance for Mr. Rich when it came time to arrange business deals, although he has learned to since compensate for his initial lack of connections through slick marketing and forcefulness during negotiations.

Deep in his heart, Filthy Rich believes the ultimate source of his wealth is not money, but by being blessed with an amazing wife and a precious daughter. Practically everything Mr. Rich does for RBB and Ponyville is fueled by an ever-consuming devotion to his family. In particular, Filthy showers his little princess, Diamond Tiara, with frequent bonding time along with the occasional gift or two. Make no mistake though; Mr. Rich is very insistent (sternly if he has to) that his daughter not only develops a strong work ethic, but that she’ll honor the and community spirit and traditions upon which the foundations of Ponyville are built on. Just as Filthy proudly considers himself a self-made stallion, he expects Diamond to use the advantages of her upbringing to accomplish the same feat rather than expect everything to be hoofed down to her.

Not everypony can be filthy rich in Ponyville, but Filthy Rich will do everything in his power to ensure that his hometown remains symbolically wealthy. While the stallion occasionally flirts with expanding his business outside of Ponyville, for the most part he stays content with his lot in life. Viewing his family and his home as the greatest treasures of all, Mr. Rich has no plans to forsake any of them anytime soon.....