Culture Shock
The train grinded to a halt in front of a little station at the scheduled stop time. As ponies of all races and colors boarded off the train, a trio stepped onto the platform and into the afternoon sun. Twin earth ponies and a unicorn, together they walked through the station and into the town proper. They had arrived in Ponyville.
The unicorn, the oldest of the three with a plume feather cutie mark, raised a hoof in order to motion towards the town around them. "We're only in Ponyville for a few days--I'd like to see a friend. But remember, we have to get on the train to Tall Tale in order to see your father. I trust that you two can fend for yourselves?"
The two cream-colored ponies rolled their green eyes and glanced at each other. Both sported their mother's dark green eyes and light blue mane, but theirs were longer, wavy, sported a single silver stripe, and covered one of their eyes. Physically identical in every way, aside from their cutie marks, with the exception that one also sported a set of freckles upon her cheeks. Their mother had her mane in a bob cut--something she felt she didn't have to change--with alternating light and dark blue stripes.
"Mother," One commented as she held a hoof to the gold necklace that adorned her neck, "You know you shouldn't worry about us! We'll be the perfect little fillies while you're hanging out with your friend."
The other twin nodded, her own gold necklace jingling against her neck. "You don't have to worry about us at all. Go! Have fun!" She grinned encouragement as the older mare gave them an incredulous look.
"Well...Alright." She sighed then gave each of her daughters a kiss on the forehead. "I'll see you at the Inn tonight for dinner. Have fun exploring town, you two!"
With a final smile, the light-brown unicorn trotted away from the two towards the town's financial district. With no one else to talk to but each other, the twins walked towards Ponyville's heart--the plaza.
"It certainly is a...quaint town, isn't it?"
"Very different from Manehatten."
"Very rustic too. It doesn't even look like this place has its own theater."
The twins chatted to themselves, keeping their voices low as to not be heard by the other ponies. From what they could see, ponies of Ponyville had very basic talents--farming, flower growing, baking, small-business, candy-making. Certainly not what one would see in Manehatten too often.
The twins themselves, the young adults that they are, also compared their cutie marks. One, a treble and bass cleft in the form of a heart. She was a composer of music, and it was something she took very seriously. The other, the two pony masks of Comedy and Tragedy, brought together by a ribbon. An actress, a talent she would never change for any other.
They finally came across the plaza at the high point in the afternoon when most vendors had their products proudly on display. They moved between stalls, glacing at the fruits and vegetables and flowers, sometimes pausing just long enough for the sellspony to wonder if they were interested in buying, only to continue on without even a word.
Finally they come across a stand selling apples. They looked big and delicious, and obvious that each was grown with tender love and care. Behind the stand was a stallion around the girl's age. Orange coat, a brown mane with almost caramel-colored stripes running through it, and blue eyes. He stared at the twins with a big smile on his face.
"Hey! You interested in some apples?"
Two green eyes met each other, before one voice spoke. "Shouldn't a gentlecolt introduce himself before trying to sell their product?"
The stallion blinked. "Uh..Name's Golden Delicious." He wondered briefly if these mares were new to town. Most ponies knew him, or at least knew of him, since his mother was an Element of Harmony and went on many adventures in her youth. Somepony like that doesn't live a relatively normal life without bits of her private life coming to light.
The filly who spoke brought a hoof up to her chest as she introduced herself. "Inky Melody," and then she motioned to her sister. "And Staged Gallery."
Staged Gallery now piped up. "Where did these apples come from, hm?"
Now this was a question which required no thought. His expression gave away his proud and excited feelings. "Grew them over on Sweet Apple Acres, right here in Ponyville. My family has been maintaining that farm for generations."
At this, the twins seemed to almost pity the stallion, which confused him greatly. Why were they making such expressions?
"Oh Inky," Staged muttered to her sister as she walked around the little stand. "A farmer! How stereotypical of earth ponies."
Inky Melody sighed as she brought a hoof to her cheek. "I know we earth ponies have innate growing abilities, but a farmer? Oh the poor colt."
Golden Delicious glanced between the two as they continued to belittle him. Just who were these ponies? "Now you wait just a moment--"
"Do you think he's ever done anything besides farm work? I bet he's never even seen a play."
"Maybe he's never even gone to school. Don't need a lot of smarts to buck trees."
"Now hold it right there!" The stallion jumped to his hooves and moved to the front of the stand, where now both fillies were sitting in their haunches. "I don't know who you are or where you come from, from around here it ain't right to go around insultin' ponies."
Staged Gallery gasped in fake realization. "Oh please excuse us! We're visiting from Manehatten on our way to a culture festival in Tall-Tale with our mother. For whatever reason she wished to visit an old friend who lived here on our way over."
"I'm a composer, while my sister is an actress. Our mother is writer and our father is a musician.."
"We contribute to the advancement of culture. You know, the arts? We cement our place in history by making a name for ourselves, even as earth ponies."
He had only known these mares for several minutes, and he was already getting annoyed. Sure, it took a lot to get under his skin, but within the first two minutes the twins have insulted something very dear to him, and even questioned his intelligence.
His eyes just stared them down as the two spoke, adding to each others thoughts. About how earth ponies can be more than just farmers, can do more than have their hooves in the mud, and can actually contribute like unicorns and pegasi. Finally they seemed to stop talking, and glanced at him expectantly. If he hadn't been tuning out their words, he could have answered their question.
But he had, and he had no idea what they were talking about.
"Well, uh...Did you want to buy some apples? Or did you want to stand here and waste my time more?"
Eyebrows raised, the two mares stood up on their hooves and turned away. "Oh no. It would be encouraging you to continue being a farmer if we bought some."
With that, muttering under their breaths about the stallion, the twins walked away to continue exploring the town.
If there was one thing Golden Delicious took from the encounter, it was this: Never visit Manehatten.
That night, when the sun set and most ponies were home for the day, Golden Delicious trotted up to the big barn on Sweet Apple Acres, the cart harnessed to his back. While the rest of his day had gone smoothly, it was that one interaction that morning that continued to ruffle his fur.
What was it with those fillies? Just because he was a farmer doesn't mean he wasn't contributing. And he didn't really care to have his name immortalized. He was quite content with making ponies happy now with his apples. Yet something about them just made him bristle with anger.
After setting the cart harness down, Golden turned and gave the wall a swift kick. He needed to get rid of some unwanted stress. Maybe he'll take a page from Starburst's book and do a few jogs around the orchard. Maybe the entire farm. But before he could get into a running stance, his ears pricked up to a voice calling for him.
"Cousin! Whatcha doin out? You know Aunt Applejack is gonna be combing the entire farm to see where you are."
It was his cousin, Red June, who was also a farmer pony. However, her specialty was cherries. And awhile the farm's namesake and prime product were apples, that didn't stop the family from growing and selling other crops. Nearly as tall as he was, peppermint-stripped mane with her mother's mauve coat coloring, Red June trotted up to her cousin.
"And what about you? I'm sure Uncle Mac and Aunt Cherri isn't gonna like you out at night either."
She simply shrugged at this. "They'll be fine. I was just going to borrow something from Api. But that's besides the point." Her green eyes hardened as she stood in front of him. "You look a little shook up. You wanna talk about something?"
He paused for a moment. Should he tell her? If he knew his cousin, she'd find whoever bothered her family and she'd give them a good 'talking to'. The last time he could recall somepony was on the receiving end of her talks, they ran off crying and wouldn't even look at Api for a month.
"Just some mares at the apple stand." He left it at that. All this talking wasn't doing anything with his emotions, and the more he just stood there and thought about what happened the more annoyed he became. He started to jog in place to get rid of some of that energy.
But Red June didn't seem to catch his annoyance, and instead interpreted the sentence as something else. A sly grin spread across her face. "Oh! Did Goldie meet some attractive mares while out selling? Did you lay down the ol' Ponyville charm? Come on! Who were they?"
He stopped jogging and glanced at his cousin. He couldn't deny that they were attractive, but that wasn't the reason that he couldn't stop thinking about them. "No, I did not lay down the 'Ponyville Charm' they were just..." He huffed angrily and stamped a foot down before taking off running, leaving his cousin in the dust.
Red June, confused, ran after him. "Wait! Del! What happened!"
This sequence of a stallion running and a mare running and shouting after him continued for quite some time, the two weaving through the apple trees and around the orchard until finally, Golden Delicious had to stop. He stood, panted and head lowered, watching as his cousin slowed to a trot up to him.
"Now--" She paused to catch her breath, readjusting her signature bandana. "Now...will you tell me what happened?"
He was cornered, and he couldn't keep away from Red June forever. Collapsing to the ground, he told his cousin about the mares that he met that morning.
Ponyville's Inn, the twins decided, was like the rest of the town: Quaint. Rustic. Not like the comforts of Manehatten. Once again, after eating breakfast, their mother went to spend the day with her friend. They would be leaving on the first train after sunrise the next morning, so they decided to visit some of Ponyville's attractions.
Sugarcube Corner was too sugary for their tastes. It didn't help that the pink pony behind the counter and the mare they assumed to be her daughter were so upbeat so early in the morning. They left without buying anything.
The library was what one expected it to be: Quiet and full of books. In fact, it was too quiet, and the only pony there was Princess Twilight Sparkle. Even being one of the princesses didn't seem to matter as long as she was able to stay in Ponyville and maintain its only library. After a small discussion over their cultural preferences, the two leave for their next destination. They left with the knowledge that Ponyville did not in fact have any sort of theater for plays or musical events, which disgusted the two earth ponies.
After visiting Carousel Boutique and bonding with the seamstress there, and Ponyville Park and watching as foals played and their parents or babysitters talked amongst themselves, the two made their way to Sweet Apple Acres. They just had to see how their little farmspony actually lived.
Staged Gallery seemed mildly impressed with the amount of apple trees, Inky Melody seemed unimpressed that they were on a purely dirt road. The main part of the town at least had scattered cobblestone, but the last time she had walked on an actual dirt road was back when she was a foal.
With the distinct sound of hooves against wood, the twins found Golden Delicious hauling several barrels of freshly-harvested apples. With a devious thought in mind, they diverted from each other, coming in on the unsuspecting stallion from different directions.
Staged was the first to approach him. "Oh my! Hello again...Golden Delicious, was it?" She stood at his rear, and couldn't help but giggle at the look of surprise and annoyance on his face.
"And just what are you doing here?" He asked as his body locked up. It wasn't that he completely distrusted the mare, but he wasn't in any mood to deal with belittling.
The night before, after he confessed to Red June what the mares had said to him, he also confessed something else that had been probing at the very back of his mind. He loved apple farming--it was the family business--but what if he was missing something by not being more cultured? His perception of "culture" was limited to Ponyville festivals and Clarity and her mother. Apple farming was his entire life, but was it life? He didn't care about being immortalized, or even just being known as "One of the element's sons." He loved the farm, and he planned on taking over once he was able, but he was still young! For once in his life he wanted to do more things than just kick trees.
And he didn't like those thoughts. He didn't like the ponies that gave him those thoughts either. So seeing one of them standing right in front of him did little for his nerves or his mood.
Staged giggled again and trotted behind a tree. "Is that really any way to treat a lady?" Right at that moment, Inky emerged from another tree, making it appear as if the twin had teleported. Coming from Golden's right, the stallion jumped with the mare was suddenly next to him.
"I mean, really. Do you even remember my name? And to treat such guests so poorly." Inky followed her sister's footsteps and disappeared, allowing Staged to appear from a different location.
"Then again, I guess they don't teach Ponyvillians proper manners when approaching a refined lady." Staged paused in front of Golden Delicious and stared straight into his eyes. He glanced away nervously. What were they planning by circling him? "Come on, Mr. Delicious. Do you remember my name? And no looking at my cutie mark, either!"
Golden stared back at the mare, swallowing a lump before he spoke. "Ms. Gallery," He started slowly, but seeing the change in her expression to amusement allowed him to continue on. "If you two don't mind, I have work to do."
Taking a tentative step to the side, the stallion walked towards a loading cart, where other barrels of apples were waiting. As he loaded the apples on, the twins both approached him.
"And just how did you know who was who?"
"Maybe you aren't as much of a simplepony as once thought."
Golden Delicious' first response was to grunt. He can't let the two distract him from his chores any longer than they already have. Ignoring the twins, he took the cart to another part of the orchard and continued to buck apples. Unfortunately for him, they seemed too bored do anything else or too amused in torturing him that they stayed by his side the entire time.
"You know, Golden. If you wish to have a taste culture in your life, maybe you should do something about it."
"Yes, you could maybe build a little stage and form some sort of performance group."
The twins glanced at each other, hooves to their lips as they dropped their voices to a whisper, but just loud enough for the farmspony to hear them.
"Oh, but what would they perform about? Farming?"
"Not much of a performance art than a grade school play. Remember when we had that play about the seasons?"
"You were a natural, of course, but I don't think they can do a better job of anything more challenging than that."
He tried to focus on his work, he really did. But the girls muttering behind him, about him, just didn't let him concentrate. One tree he bucked so hard the wood splinted where it made contact. He dropped a barrel in anger and apples rolled everywhere. This only gave the mares something to giggle about.
Luckily for him, he spotted his cousin trotting up from over the next hill. When their eyes met, Red June sprinted towards him.
"Hey Cousin! ...Whoa. Looks like you could use a break." The two mares eyed the other mentally examining and judging her. Golden Delicious just sighed in defeat and sat on his haunches with his back against a tree.
Red June, now noticed the twins, put on a big, fake smile and walked up to him. "Red June, Golden's cousin. You must be Inky Melody and Staged Gallery. Golden told me a little about you. It's not so often a customer gives such an...impression."
The tension was thick and obvious between the three mares, and for a moment they only stared each other down. It was Staged who returned the fake smile and delicately extended a hoof. "A pleasure, I'm sure. So I can assume you..." She quickly glanced at the mare's flank, which adorned a single pair of cherries. Her smile only grew with amusement, "..are a farmspony as well?"
June nodded. "Cherries are my specialty. Just as I hear music and acting are yours." This was met with a couple of smug grins, just as she expected. So she continued. "And I love being a farmer. Nothing is ever gonna change that. Especially not a couple of high-society ponies who don't even have enough manners to know not to make fun of somepony whom they just met just because they choose to get down and dirty. In fact..."
Red June's eyes focused on the twins and a mischievous grin spread across her lips. Before either of the twins could react, her hoof was raised and slammed down into the earth, splashing mud over the three of them. The two Manhattenites screamed and shook the mud off while Red June laughed to herself before glancing back at Golden Delicious. He had a hoof to his face to try and cover up his laughter.
After mostly being cleared of mud, two green eyes glared at the other mare. "Well I never!"
"Hmph. Just incredibly rude, and to somepony you've just met."
"Now you know how Golden Delicious felt. Now as part of the Apple clan, I'm going to ask you to leave our property."
Surprised that instead of being able to leave on their own, they were actually getting kicked out, the two huffed and turned their backs to the farmsponies.
"Just as well, Ponyville isn't our type of place anyway. Too rustic, so behind the times."
"Let's just find mother, maybe we can leave this little town a little earlier."
With a nod, the twins walked away from the cousins, too prideful to just simply walk away with their heads down and their tails between their legs.
Once the two were out of sight, Red June turned to her cousin, who was still sitting. He gave her a faint smile as she joined next to him.
"How are you feeling, cuz?"
"Relieved that I'll never see them again." He chuckled under his breath. "But--"
She lifted a hoof to silence him. "Look, Goldie. If you think you're missing something in life then go for it. But honestly, being the son of one of the elements, being the friends of the other elements--who are their own crazy characters in their own right--is something exciting. I mean, you know a draconequus and two draconies! Not everypony can say that."
Golden Delicious pondered this, then gave his cousin a smile. "Yeah, I suppose."
"Besides," She gave him a slight nudge, "If what I hear about is true, being high-society is overrated. They have their heads so far up their flanks that they can't do anything except stroke their own egos."
This earned a laugh from the stallion. He reached out and gave her a hug. "Thanks, June. You're the best cousin."
She sneered as he pulled away. "Don't let Api hear you say that, she may kick your flank."
He only shook his head, looking up at the tree above them. "You know what I'm in the mood for? One of Candy's special cupcakes. Let's go to Sugarcube Corner."
She grinned and hopped on her hooves. "I'll race you there! On your mark, get set, GO!" With that, she took off running towards the main part of town, with Golden Delicious laughing as he ran after her.