Equestria in MLP Gen 4 is essentially an idealized pre-industrial society at its core. 

Basically a divine monarchy run by the limited and frail gods of pre-history, it not infrequently depicts characters and situations reflective of modernity in a negative light.

Ponyville is nothing less than a sugar-coated medieval village where the farmers and tradesmen support and care about each other and share extensive personal and occasionally even familial ties.

Fall Weather Friends and Winter Wrap-Up consciously or unconsciously shadows the communal labor that would have begun and ended the growing seasons. The autumn harvest was especially community-oriented: even skilled tradesmen like smiths and butchers would close up their shops and lend a hand with the field work. Quite frequently there would be food and drinks provided for the workers, and despite the intense--and frequently compulsory--nature of their labors, the harvest time seems to have been a chance for fun.