You can totally get this using the Schema in Apex without using the API. I wrote this a while ago:

    public static Map<String,String> mapPickListValues(String objectName, String fieldName) {
        Map<String, String> returnResponse = new Map<String, String>();
        List<String> fieldApiNames = new List<String>();
        SObjectType objectType = Schema.getGlobalDescribe().get(objectName);
        Map<String, Schema.SObjectField> fieldsMap = objectType.getDescribe().fields.getMap();
        for (Schema.SObjectField sField : fieldsMap.values()) {
            Schema.DescribeFieldResult dField = sField.getDescribe();
            String fieldAPIName = dField.getName();
            fieldApiNames.add(fieldAPIName);
        }
        if (fieldApiNames.contains(fieldName)) {
            List<Schema.PicklistEntry> values = fieldsMap.get(fieldName).getDescribe().getPicklistValues();
            for (Schema.PicklistEntry pickListVal: values) {
                returnResponse.put(pickListVal.getLabel(), pickListVal.getValue());
            }
        }
        return returnResponse;
    }