The toy generations and the animation generations can be a little confusing with regard to Tales. The G2 toy line didn't have any animation, whereas the G1 toy line had two separate series: My Little Pony 'n Friends (sometimes just "My Little Pony", as "'n Friends" would have a pony episode followed by a nonpony cartoon from a different Hasbro franchise. But I find it confusing to use the same name for both the franchise and the show, so I'll generally refer to it as "'n Friends"), and My Little Pony Tales. Since the G2 toy line didn't have any cartoons, MLP Tales is sometimes referred to as G2, but it would be more correct to call it G1.5. Although, that introduces some confusion as well, since there is both a G3 and G3.5 toy line.



Some more trivia: G1 also had two short movies, Rescue at Midnight Castle, and Escape from Katrina, as well as a longer movie, simply called My Little Pony: the Movie. While these aren't part of any television series, they share the same continuity as MLP 'n Friends. "G1" generally refers to all three movies plus the TV series. Another fun fact: G3 didn't have a TV show at all, but instead had a bunch of direct to DVD movies and shorts.



G3 has its own generational confusions, as well, as there is "G3", G3.5, and Core 7. The difference between G3 and G3.5 is one of art style, with G3.5 having a more chibi look. The difference between G3 and Core 7 is one of character focus, with G3 not having a consistent set of protagonists while the Core 7 are similar to FiM's Mane 6. Core 7 actually overlaps with G3 (the art style) before the chibi G3.5 art style took over. Core 7 had its own opening sequence, and they even remade it in the G3.5 style, where it's nearly identical to the G3 version aside from the art style.



And then of course there's Newborn Cuties, but we don't like to talk about that. Technically, Newborn Cuties is yet another G3 related toy line, while the actual animation is correctly called Once Upon a My Little Pony Time.



But to answer your question, no, as far as I'm aware Patches didn't appear in any of the MLP 'n Friends continuity (G1) animations, only in MLP Tales. This has been a My Little Pony Generations 101 lecture, and this will be on the test.



Wow I'm a huge nerd.