//------------------------------//
// Knowledge Is Knowing That A Tomato Is A Fruit. Wisdom Is Not Putting It In A Fruit Salad. Truth Is A Lot More Complicated Than An Internet Quote. 
// Story: The Everycraftery 
// by Liquid Truth 
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The silver bells chimed, announcing the arrival of one Sunset "Sunnybuns" Shimmer and one Sweetie Belle into The Everycraftery.

"I'm telling you, it has seeds in it!" came the annoyed voice of Lucy. "It's a fruit!"

"But I got taxed!" came the equally annoyed voice of Einstein. "Look at this receipt. See this line? It says 'vegetable tax'!"

"Not everyone is as knowledgeable as I am. That is the result of centuries of ignorance!"

"And not every knowledgeable creature have wisdom. The tax is left there for a reason!"

"And that being?"

"The reason people buy them! People buy them as vegetables because that's how they eat it!"

"That doesn't make it true! A tomato is still a fruit, no matter what society says it is. Science is not dependant on the opinions of the masses."

"But that's not what we're arguing about, now, isn't it?"

Sunny, having put down the grocery bag and let Sweetie sort them out, came between them and raised both hands in a defensive gesture. "Alright you guys, what's the matter this time?"

Lucy pointed an accusing hoof at Einstein. "Albert's being stupid. He says that tomatoes are vegetables."

"But it is!" Einstein defended. "She's the one being stupid. Here, Sunny, let me ask you a question: Say you're going to sell tomatoes. Now, would you put it in the 'fruit' aisle or the 'vegetable' aisle?"

Sunny sighed. "Is that exactly what you two are on about?"

"Yes!" both shouted in unison. "We're going to sell Performatoes; the tomato that can be thrown at bad performances to make them good ones instead of leaving them with a self-confidence deficiency on top of their incompetence."

"But we have a problem," Lucy cut in. "No one's going to buy them if we set it up in The Everycraftery. So, we're going to sell them in the marketplace."

"And Lucy thought we should sell them next to the local Applejack's stand. No one's going to look for tomatoes in the fruit section!"

"But it's a fruit!" Lucy interjected. "That's where it belongs. We can change society little by little if we persevere! Battle the ignorance of those who do not know that tomatoes are fruits!"

Sunny took a deep breath. "Sorry, Lucy, but Einstein's right on this one. You don't sell tomatoes in the fruit section."

Einstein shot a fist upward. "Yesssss!"

Lucy put a hoof on her chest and sobbed. "After everything I've done for you . . ."

Sunny gave her an unamused look. "Stop that, Lucy. We know you're faking it."

Lucy grumbled. "But that," Lucy pointed at Sunny's glasses, "that should've told you the truth! You have the knowledge, Sunny, you're the one faking it!"

"First of all, I have five more PhDs than you do; I'm at least five times more qualified at dealing with falsehood than you are. Second, you're five times more manipulative than I am, making that number at least twenty-five times now. Third, you want proof?" Sunny glanced back at Sweetie. "Sweetie, give me something from there."

Sweetie looked up from the assortment of groceries laid atop the counter to Sunny. "Which one?"

"A tomato and anything of your choice."

Sweetie took a tomato and a carrot and passed it to Sunny.

Sunny took the tomato and presented it to Lucy and Einstein. "Now, what is this?"

Lucy cocked an eyebrow. "A fruit."

"A vegetable," Einstein answered, smiling smugly.

Sunny took the carrot. "You're both right. Now, what's this?"

Lucy grumbled. "Can you just tell us what you're intending to do?"

"Just stick with me on this one. What's this?"

"A vegetable," both answered in unison.

Sunny nodded. "Einstein's right and Lucy's wrong. Carrots are, indeed, a vegetable."

Lucy leveled a stare. "And I'm wrong because . . . ?"

"When you say that a tomato is a fruit, then by definition, a carrot is a root."

Lucy cocked her head. "Well, I mean, it is the part of a plant that is the root . . ."

"Exactly: it's a botanical classification. Lucy's right when she said that a tomato is a fruit because this thing⁠—" Sunny waved around the bright red tomato in her hand "⁠—is the seed-bearing structure of the Solanum lycopersicum plant that formed from the ovary after flowering. It's not a vegetable because, in botanical classifications, there's no such thing as a vegetable; it's not a part of a plant.

"Which brings us to why Einstein's also right when he said that a tomato is a vegetable: he's describing it in its culinary term⁠—the term used when you're selling, buying, and taxing a tomato. People buy tomatoes because they want to eat it as a vegetable, not because they want to put it in a showcase at The Museum of Fruits. You eat a tomato as a main course, not a dessert⁠—no one eats a tomato like an apple."

Crunch

Three heads swiveled to the sight of a bitten tomato held in Sweetie's hoof.

Sweetie looked up from her meal and met Sunny's chuckling face, Einstein's blank stare, and Lucy's triumphant grin.