"Ahh! I love the smell of fresh air in the morning!" said Izzy as she took a deep breath. "Don't you agree, Mario?"
"Eh!" responded the boy, shoving his hands into his pocket as the girl followed him across campus to their class.
"It's been a week, and it feels good to be back!" stated Izzy as she felt like singing. "Hanging out with the crew in the schoolyard, yeah! Finding trouble never lookin'-"
"IZZY!" yelled Mario as he quickly glared at the girl to shut up her singing.
The boy kept his glare as he turned and walked to enter the building. Izzy just smiled and followed him in while still humming her little song to herself in her head.
The school bell rang, signaling that the school day had finally ended. The group was in their Earth Science class, and Principal Celestia had an announcement to make.
"As you all know, next week is Earth Day. And each one of you is expected to work on a project," said the principal to the class.
"I loooooooooove Earth Day!" shouted Sunny loudly, unable to contain her excitement.
"Tell us why, Ms. Starscout," asked Celestia.
"Why?" Sunny said as the girl leaped out of her desk and began to give a small speech with a big smile. "It's all about caring for the environment, endangered species, nature, and learning about the ozone layer and global warming. It's…."
Mario began to tune out Sunny's tangent. She went on as he looked at the window before looking at the clock. It was two minutes until they were done with school for the day, yet it seemed time moved slowly, given how much talking Sunny was doing. He planted his face on his desk while covering his ears, hoping she would stop rambling.
"... and about all the future generations who come after us who need to have the Earth taken care of so that they can enjoy fresh air, clean water, beautiful mountains, lakes, rivers, and…"
At that moment, the school bell rang, attracting everyone's attention. Mario perked up as he and the rest of his classmates began to move.
"Hold on, class! Sunny wasn't finished," said Celestia as the girl stood beside her.
"Oh, boy!"
"Ah!"
The class let out a collective groan as they were forced to stay behind and sit to listen to more of the girl's rambling.
"Go on, Sunny," smiled Celestia.
"We'll never get out of here at this rate," commented Mario.
"And… let's not forget Earth Day is also a time when we can do what we can for the planet's future!" stated the girl.
The moment Sunny finished her sentence, the class began to move.
"... And…"
The class groaned again as they sat back to listen again.
"It's our responsibility to do what we can so that future generations…"
"Sorry, Sunny," chuckled Celestia as she politely cut off the girl's speech. "We appreciate your passion, but we're out of time."
"Okay," smiled the girl as she began to head back to her desk.
"Finally," remarked Mario as he and the others began to move.
"Just a minute," said Celestia.
The class groaned and sat down as Mario glared at the girl who considered herself his little sister. It was clear he didn't want to be here much longer, and thanks to Sunny's rambling about saving the planet, they were forced to stay behind even more.
"You can do your projects alone or work in teams, but you must announce your projects by the end of the week!" said Celestia.
"Um… Principal Celestia. Can I just say one more thing?" asked Sunny, raising her hand.
"Oh, come on!" said Mario and the rest of their friends, minus Roll, as they looked at Sunny, who all wanted to leave school.
"I just want to wish everyone good luck on their projects. Ooh… I just loooooove Earth Day-"
"We know!" yelled everybody else while looking at the girl.
"Esta chica!" Mario mumbled as he facepalmed his forehead, starting to get a headache from Sunny's tangents.
"Class dismissed!" said Principal Celestia.
As if on cue, everybody bum-rushed to the entrance. Everyone wanted to get out of there before Sunny started speaking again.
The group was walking across campus. Mario, Hitch, and Zipp were passing a soccer ball between each other while the others walked behind them. Sunny was discussing with her friends the potential ideas they could do for their Earth Day project.
"There are so many cool things we can do for Earth Day!" said the girl.
"Hey, what if we adopt a rainforest animal?" suggested Izzy.
"Don't even think about it!" yelled Mario as Hitch headbutted the ball to his bud before flicking it and executing a pinwheel maneuver to pass it to Zipp. The heiress caught with ease as Mario landed perfectly after executing a tough move.
"My brother's right, Izzy. Besides, where are we gonna get a toucan?" said Roll.
"Here's an idea. What about a worm farm?" said Zipp as she passed the ball to Hitch. "Worms are great for gardens."
"Worms? Ew, ew, ew!" said Pipp as she shuddered at the thought of touching something so disgusting. "I refuse to touch anything gross!"
"Come on, Pipp. Worms are people, too!" responded Zipp to her sister's attitude.
"Actually, worms are nematodes," clarified Roll.
"You know what I mean!" responded the heiress.
She then kicked the ball toward Roll, who extended her leg to catch it before passing it to her other foot and kicking it back. Hitch saw it coming at him as he tried to jump and grab it but missed; it soared past his head and landed into a rather messy, cluttered lot, making a crash sound. The group looked at the messy lot before them, surprised to see how much garbage and trash had piled up.
"Hey, when did this empty lot get so full of trash and stuff?" asked Zipp.
"I hadn't noticed how bad it looks," commented Hitch.
"It's, like, the only place in the neighborhood that looks that way," said Pipp as she pulled out her phone and began taking photos to tweet to her social feeds.
"From what I've heard, it's had so many different owners that nobody takes care of it," said Roll.
"That's it!" shouted Sunny as her excitement was louder than expected.
"Oh, boy," said Mario, with a slight groan.
"You know what we should do?" suggested the girl to her friends.
"Go back to the worm farm idea?" asked Izzy.
"No! We should clean it up!" declared Sunny.
"Clean it up?!" repeated the others, looking at her.
"Yup! It can be our Earth Day project!"
"Sunny, that's a great idea!" remarked Roll.
"I just loooooove Earth Day!" proclaimed the girl.
"Would you stop shouting that? " Mario said as he started to get annoyed by Sunny's passion for saving the planet.
The group soon cleaned up the messy lot, but it was proving a bit more difficult than expected.
"Maybe this is a bit too ambitious…" said Zipp as she was picking up some cans while Pipp held the bag while looking away, not wanting any to get on her clothes or smell the nasty scent.
"There's always the worm farm, Sunny!" said Mario, picking up litter.
"Come on, guys! What happened to your Earth Day spirit?" said the girl as she addressed her friends who were having difficulty staying positive while trying to clean up the entire lot.
"No se! Maybe I left it in my other coat," responded Mario.
"Oh, come on. Think about it. We'll be heroes!" said the girl, with a big smile and wide eyes, as she imagined how happy people would be to see them doing something to save the planet.
The others also imagined themselves being proclaimed heroes for their good deeds. Apart from Mario, the boy didn't want to be viewed in that limelight, given who he was related to and how some portrayed his father in that light. The others were soon convinced by Sunny's words, which motivated them to press forward and continue to clean up the lot.
The next day at school, Principal Celestia received some special news that made her smile. She couldn't wait to share it with the rest of her students.
"Great news, class! Our school has been chosen to be visited by the Global Earth Day Committee, and they will select a project to be featured on their Earth Day website! Which means people around the world could see your project!"
"Around the world?! " Sunny said, as hearing those words from her principal sent her mind racing with so many thoughts.
Celestia's words intrigued the other students, who began to murmur and chatter about how others might view their work.
"Around the world? I've never even been to New Jersey!" remarked Izzy.
"So, who's ready to present their project?" asked Principal Celestia.
"Oh, Principal Celestia! Principal Celestia!" shouted Sunny while waving her raised arm about.
"Sunny?" said the woman as she called on the girl.
The girl then grabbed Roll and Izzy as they stood before their class.
"Go on, Roll. Tell them about our project," said Sunny with an euthnastic tone.
"Well. We've adopted an empty lot-"
"A real fixer-upper!" interrupted Sunny as Roll looked at her before speaking again.
"Si! It's been neglected and needs to be cleaned up-"
"And who better to clean it up!?" said Sunny, cutting her friend again and pointing to them. "Go on, Roll."
The girl was about to speak when she quickly looked at Sunny, expecting her to cut her off again.
"You sure?" asked the girl, to which Sunny nodded. "Alright. We're going to separate the recyclables-"
"And send them to the recycling center. And we're going to pull out the weeds and cut the grass…"
Sure enough, Sunny cut off Roll once and took over the rest of their presentation as she went on a tangent. Hitch then coughed into his hand as he gave his girlfriend a look, which Sunny saw and registered as she smiled nervously for a moment.
"Hitch, Zipp, Pipp, and Mario are also part of the team, too! Isn't it the greatest project on earth?" said Sunny, putting her hands together as she beamed joyfully. "Oh, pardon the pun."
"It's a very good project, Sunny. I'm sure the whole school and the neighborhood will appreciate it. Thank you." said Principal Celestia.
"Oh, and have I mentioned I looooove Earth Day!" said Sunny.
"YES!" yelled everybody at the girl, as they didn't want to hear her say it again.
"Now, who would like to go next?" asked Principal Celestia as Jazz raised her hand. "Yes?"
The girl stood up as she addressed her team's Earth Day project.
"Our team is going to do a scientific study and analysis of how much trash our school produces in a week," said the girl as she got some positive responses from her classmates.
"Hey! We're picking up trash!" commented Sunny.
Another student rose as he presented a folded-up blueprint.
"My project is a windmill that will power the fish tank pump!"
The class gave even more oohs and praise as they liked that idea.
"Awesome!" shouted Izzy as she was onboard for that idea.
Oh, man, these are some good projects.
Sunny was now starting to think twice about her own idea as it was clear there was some competition among her classmates to have the honor of their project posted on the website for all to see.
"Now, even though we can only have one winner-"
"Oh! Um…" said Sunny as she got out of her desk and raised her hand to get her principal's attention.
"Yes, Sunny?"
"We forgot to mention that we have a whole second part of our project that will definitely make it the coolest project ever!" said Sunny.
"Huh?!" said the others.
"No, we don't!" said Mario before Sunny stuffed her hand into his mouth to shut him up.
"Um, after we clean up the lot, we're going to, um, plant a community garden!"
"Un jardín? We are?" said Roll, turning to look at her.
"Uh-huh! Of course, we are!" Sunny said, putting on the biggest fake smile as Mario glared at the girl who still had her hand in his mouth to shut him up.
"A community garden?" said Hitch as he addressed the others.
Sunny's impromptu plan worked. It got the other students talking, and they were now giving her high praise and marks for going above and beyond the call of duty. The girl kept her smile before eyeing Mario, who continued to glare. She slowly removed her hand from his mouth and silently sat at her desk.
"A community garden?" repeated Zipp, feeling Sunny was overdoing it to win first place and have them featured.
"I just loooove-"
"WE KNOW!" yelled everybody, not letting Sunny finish that sentence while all giving her glares.
"Oooooh!" growled Mario angrily at her.
"Heh! Sorry," chuckled Sunny sheepishly before sinking back into her desk and realizing she just put her foot in her mouth.
After class was over, the girl wanted to speak with her friends to get their thoughts on the new part of their plan. However, she was the one tracked down, as Mario had something to tell her.
"You can't!" said Sunny.
"I mean it, Sunny! I'm out!"
"But why?"
"'Cause I don't want any part of this! You asked me to help you clean up the lot; you mentioned nothing about a community garden!"
"W-w-well… I was gonna get there initially," smiled the girl nervously.
"You mean you pulled it out of your ass at the last second because you were desperate. I'm out!"
"But what about your grade?"
"I'll take an F. Principal Celestia can fail me for all I give a shit!" said Mario.
"Mario, please! I'm sorry, I just… I loooo-"
"If you finish that saying, smoothie girl, I swear I'm gonna…" said the boy as he tried really hard not to throw an outburst at Sunny, given the girl viewed him like an older brother. Instead, he just took a deep breath before addressing her. "Don't worry about me. Worry about getting yourself out of this mess."
"Mario!" said the girl as she saw the boy walking away. "Mario, please. I need your help. Isn't a big brother supposed to help his little sister out of love? You know, what your mark is supposed to represent of the unity part?"
"Don't you dare mention that?!" yelled Mario as he turned to growl at Sunny. "I don't want to be reminded of that stupid representation!"
Mario huffed as he left, leaving Sunny to lull her thoughts. The girl then left, knowing the others were waiting for her. Mario was looking to head back to his dorm as he wished Sunny the best of luck getting herself out of the hole she had dug herself in. As he walked across the campus, he saw Dalhia struggling to carry bags of soil. The girl couldn't see in front of her as she fell to the floor and landed on the bags, pouring some out.
"Oh," said the girl as she got dirt on her face.
"Need a hand?" asked Mario as he stood over the girl.
"Mario," said Dahlia as the boy offered his hand. The girl grabbed it, and he pulled her up easily. "Thanks."
"Planting more plants?" asked the boy.
"Well, actually replanting them. The soil has gotten a bit dry. So I went to get some." said the girl before looking at the now-exploded bags of dirt. "Guess I better go get more."
"Leave it to me. Come on!" said the boy as he was willing to give the girl a hand with her plants.
Sunny finally met up with the others, sugarcoating Mario's absence by saying she was doing something else for the moment. However, her main focus was discussing the community garden proposal she had thrown out without fully thinking it through.
"So, what do you think, guys? Wasn't that a fabulous idea?" said Sunny as the others made faces.
"Uh, a community garden?" said Hitch, being brave enough to tell his girlfriend what was on everyone's mind.
"Yeah! A garden! I mean, why clean up the lot if you're not gonna do anything with it?" justified the girl.
"It's hard enough to clean up the lot," responded Roll.
"We don't know how to make a garden," said Zipp.
"Where would we even begin?" asked Hitch.
"I am so glad you asked! I found this on the Internet!" said Sunny before she pulled out a folded-up list that extended out. "It tells us everything we need to know about creating a community garden." As Sunny spoke, Izzy noticed the list and grabbed it, and she began to extend it out. "Izzy! Ooh!" The girl yanked back her list, which sent her spinning around in place as it wrapped around her.
"Oops," said the girl as Sunny was now tied up in her list.
"It's okay. I can't imagine anyone will have an Earth Day project even close to this good!" said Sunny confidently.
The group all gave grimace expressions to each other as they hoped Sunny knew what she was doing with her plan.
Mario and Dahlia had arrived at the flower shop, and the boy had purchased some brand-new bags of soil. He also got the girl some new tools as it was the least he could do for her since he covered the cost of the bill himself.
"Is that everything?" asked the cashier.
"I believe so," said Mario as he handed the woman his card.
"Thanks again for the help, Mario," said Dahlia, glad she came across the boy when she did.
"Eh, think nothing of it," said the teen as he was handed his card and receipt while Dahlia was given a plastic bag with the new stuff Mario had purchased for her.
"Here you are, sir!"
"Thanks!"
Another cashier had finished with a customer as they left the store. Dahlia approached the window, saw the customer who had just bought the tool they purchased, pulled it out of the bag, and simply tossed the plastic in a nearby trash can that was full.
"Why did he take a bag if he was just going to throw it out?" asked the girl.
At that moment, a small gust of wind picked up, and the plastic bag flew out of the can.
"Oh, no! That's litter! Come back!" said Dahlia as she rushed out of the store to chase the plastic down. Thankfully, it didn't get too far. She grabbed the plastic bag before it entered a nearby drain opening, and Mario had just exited the store, holding the bag of soil.
"Was wondering where you were. You left in a hurry," said the boy, approaching the girl holding the material. "You good?"
Back at the lot, Sunny and the gang were putting on their helmets as they prepared to finish cleaning up the lot.
"Ok, guys, we're going to have so much fun," said Sunny, passing out gloves to her friends. "We can do this!"
"If you say so," said Roll, putting her gloves on.
"Earth Day team members, let's move out!" stated Sunny before blowing the whistle around her neck, and the teens began to do their individual assignments.
The group carried out their assigned tasks as Pipp picked up cans and litter and sorted them into proper bags. Sunny was by a stack of old tires, and the girl tried to push them off of each other but struggled. The girl's lack of strength to move the tires properly proved a challenge, and she fell over. The top tire also fell, as it had some water in it that splashed in the girl's face. She sat up and wiped the water off as a vacuum sound was heard. Roll was using a vacuum they borrowed to suck up all the small bits of glass and dirt, along with other small stuff scattered about.
Sunny managed to get the tire that had fallen off the top of the pile to stand upright as she tried to roll it forward. The girl struggled as she got it to move a bit before it continued rolling forward, and she held onto it. The tire rolled forward at high speed, crashing into a tower Izzy was making using all the cans she picked up. The girl fell to the side as the tire that Sunny was inside rolled until Hitch grabbed the thing to make it and his girlfriend stop. He made it roll before falling on its side as Sunny emerged with stars circling her head while wobbling back and forth. She then fell back as Hitch managed to catch his girlfriend in his arms as he smiled.
Mario and Dahlia were shown entering the Sweet Shoppe. The pair had dropped off the bags of soil back at the school when she told him she wanted to go somewhere for a quick minute.
"What are we doing here, Dahlia? I mean, I had a craving for a chocolate chip muffin," said Mario as he licked his lips and approached the display counter to see the sweet pastries and baked goods that just come out of the oven.
"Hey, Dahlia. Mario," said Mrs. Cake as she spotted the two teens who often came around.
"Hello, Mrs. Cake. Say, can I ask you a question?"
"Go right ahead," said the woman as Mario focused more on what sweet he wanted.
"How come you use paper bags and not plastic bags?"
"Now that's a good question, Dahlia. You see, paper bags are much better for the environment. In fact, the best thing to do is to bring your own bag from home and re-use it!" said Mrs. Cake as she showed off the bags she and her husband gave their customers so they could use it again when they returned.
"Why?" asked the girl.
"That way, we don't waste resources. Did you know that here in the States, we use over 300 billion plastic bags annually?"
"300 billion?!" said Dahlia as she found that hard to believe.
"Yup. If you piled up all those bags, they would reach from here to… to… well, I don't know how far it would reach, but it would be very far," explained the baker to the girl.
"Hmm."
"How much for those frosted danishes?" asked Mario as his eyes landed on the baked goods.
"Thanks for the help, Mrs. Cake. You gave me a great idea!" said Dahlia as she grabbed Mario by his collar.
"Hey, wait a second, I was gonna buy something!" shouted Mario as the girl dragged him out of the store before he could finish his purchase.
Back with the others, they had just finished cleaning up the lot as they sorted and separated all the stuff to be taken to the recycling center.
"Good job, everyone!" exclaimed Sunny, proud her friends came through.
"We have to take all of this to the recycling center!" said Zipp.
Sunny approached a stack of newspapers they had piled up as she tried to lift them all up, but she slipped and fell on her bottom, causing her hard hat to fall off.
"Whoa! These are heavier than I thought," said the girl as her boyfriend picked her up.
Hitch bent down as he tried to pick up the stuff, but it proved difficult.
"Come on, sheriff! Put your back into!" shouted Zipp.
"What do you think I'm doing!" shouted Hitch as he tried to lift the stack. "Why don't you give me a hand since you have time to stand around and shout!"
The others bent down and tried to lift the stack of newspapers together, but it was way too heavy to move, even with all their combined strength. The teens soon gave up as they fell on their bottoms and looked at the stack before them.
"I knew we should've done the worm farm," commented Zipp.
"Maybe we need some help," said Pipp.
"Si! We need help! But from where?" asked Roll.
The teens began to think as an idea popped into Hitch's head.
"I might know someone with a pickup truck," said the boy.
Applebloom was in her Synchro classroom when she heard a knocking and looked to see Hitch standing in the doorway.
"Howdy, Hitch."
"Um, howdy, Ms. Apple Bloom."
"What can I do for you? Did you come to see what grade I gave you on your latest quiz?" asked the professor as she spun around in her chair.
"Um, no, ma'am. You see, I was wondering if you could help me with a small favor," smiled the boy sheepishly.
Hitch and Zipp were shown carrying the last bits of bags as Big Mac had just set the stack of newspapers into the back of his truck. Apple Bloom dusted her hands clean before she looked at the empty lot that the teens had tidied up as she was impressed by their work.
"I must say, you kids did a good job!" said the woman.
"Eeyup!" said the woman's older brother as he closed the back of his pickup truck before getting in the driver's seat.
"Well, we're off to drop this stuff at the recycling center," said Apple Bloom as she entered the passenger side.
"Thanks again, Ms. Apple Bloom!" said Hitch as he and the others waved at the Apple siblings, who drove off to deliver the stuff.
"Okay. Now that the lot is cleaned up, it's time to move on to making the community garden itself. Thankfully, we still have two days before the Global Earth Day Committee gets here!" said Sunny as she unfolded her long list, making the others put on faces. "Now, let's start the garden! Ooh! I can't wait! I just-"
"We know!" said Roll, stopping Sunny from speaking. "Sunny loves Earth Day!" The girl mocked her friend, getting a laugh out of the others.
The sound of the school bell signaled the start of another class day. Most of the students were busy with their Earth Day projects, and the chatter of being featured on the committee's website was the talk of the town.
"I hope your Earth Day projects are coming along nicely. I look forward to seeing all of them," said Principal Celestia. "Oh, and I almost forgot- the Global Earth Day Committee will be here to look at your projects tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow morning?!" shouted Sunny, caught off guard by the sudden development. "But I thought it was two days!"
"It was, Sunny, but the committee has another contest to judge, and they need to get here earlier than expected."
"But- but we have a whole garden to plant! And if it's not finished, the committee will never put us on the website!" said Sunny, as they were now severely behind schedule.
"Well, Sunny. Just do the best you can do. That's all that matters." said Principal Celestia.
"But-but-but- oh, we-but…"
Sunny was lost in her stammer as the others were now worried.
The group was heading back to the lot after school was let out as they had shovels and other equipment in their hands.
"Face it, Sunny. We'll never get a whole garden planted in less than half a day!"
"Never say never, Roll!" the girl responded to her friend. "We are going to be on that Earth Day website—I just know it!"
"But the committee is coming tomorrow morning!" said Pipp.
"Well, we just have to take things one step at a time!" said Sunny as they arrived at the lot. "Step one: The plan says to clear the soil of all the weeds!"
As the group looked about the empty lot, they could see thousands of tiny weeds sprouting out.
"No problem! Hee hee hee!" chuckled the girl.
The group got to work on clearing out the weeds, which was a lot of pulling. Sunny was trying to pull a very long weed stuck in the dirt, and she used her strength to pull it. Izzy and Roll soon joined her as they grabbed part of the weed to pull. Hitch noticed a weed as he began to pull, but it wouldn't budge. Zipp and Pipp then joined in to help the boy as they pulled, unaware that it was the same weed the other three were pulling as they were having a tug-of-war with each other. In the end, Zipp, Pipp, and Hitch outmuscle their friends as they let go of the weed that traveled to the others, who fell back from the sudden momentum.
"Step two: Prepare the soil for planting."
The group was looking at Sunny's designs on the internet, as they had yet to learn how to fit them into such a small space.
"I know the plan may look complicated, but we just have to be creative. It's going to be great!" said Sunny.
"Hitch, you start over there, and Zipp, you start over there!" instructed Roll as she followed Sunny's blueprints. "I'll start here."
"Meanwhile, we'll make sure every little rock is removed," said Pipp, not wanting to do the actual physical labor of preparing the soil.
Sunny bent down as she picked up a rock and tossed it behind. Pipp bent down to pick up the rock Sunny had just thrown and threw it back. Izzy then came up and did the same before it landed by Sunny, who thought nothing of it and threw it back. The three were now in a continuous cycle of tossing around the same rock they picked up and thought it was simply another rock on the ground to get rid of. After a while, Roll, Hitch, and Zipp had finished preparing the soil as they dug trenches for the saplings and seeds that would be planted. When it was said and done, Sunny compared it to the plans she had looked up to, as it was a bit messier than expected.
"This is so much better, guys! Soooo original!" stated Sunny as all three were glad she wasn't upset.
"Step 3: Dig holes for any large trees or shrubs."
Pipp attempted to dig a hole using a shovel. The girl stuck the tool into the ground but couldn't pull it out. She pulled on the end, attempting to get it out, but soon broke off the handle as she fell. Hitch dug a hole and flung some dirt behind him, unaware of Izzy, who got buried in the dirt.
"Dirt bath!" said Izzy with a smile as she enjoyed it.
"Sorry, Izzy," apologized the boy to his friend.
"I can't believe how well this is going," said Zipp as she and Roll retrieved some potted trees and brought them to the holes.
"I hate to say it, but maybe we can pull it off," the girl agreed with the heiress.
After a bit more time, the group had finally planted a couple of trees as things were coming along nicely.
"Good job, guys!" said Sunny.
"I'll admit, I was skeptical about all this, but we might actually finish in time!" said Zipp.
"All it takes is a little teamwork!" responded Sunny as she petted the small sapling tree.
"Now, nothing can stop us from winning that first prize! Nothing!" said Izzy proudly.
At that moment, the universe heard the girl and decided to do something about it. Clouds quickly rolled in, and thunder boomed, followed by some heavy rain.
"Yeah… nothing, except rain," remarked Roll as they were getting poured on.
"Ooh!" growled Sunny as her hair and clothes got immediately soaked.
"What are we going to do?" asked Pipp, trying to protect her hair from getting more wet. "Look at all this rain! My hair!"
"Let's face it. We're never gonna win now," said Zipp.
"No! We can't stop now! We can do this! It'll be easy, right?" said Sunny to her friends before turning around to see the now soggy lot that had water filling up some of the holes and trenches they dug.
"I hate to say it, Sunny, but I don't think even you can't pull this one off," said Roll, confronting her friend to break the reality news.
"Come on, Sunny, it's pouring rain!" stated Pipp.
"Hey, what happened to your Earth Day spirit?" barked the girl at how her friends were willing to call it quits.
"I don't know. I guess it's stuck in the mud somewhere," said Izzy.
"Stuck in the mud? Stuck in the mud… Well, let me tell you guys something about being stuck in the mud. When we started cleaning up this lot, it was a mess. Totally forgotten, uncared for, unloved. And we decided we were going to change that. And we worked, scraped, and dug until we finally started feeling proud of this place. And you're going to throw all that away because of a little rain?"
"But, Sunny, this lot looks worse than when we started. We'll never win first place."
"First place?! This isn't about winning a contest, Zipp. This is about doing something for our planet, environment, and neighborhood. Come on, just another hour or so, what do you say?" pleaded the girl with her friends.
"Sorry, Sunny. It's just a little too… wet," said Pipp, looking at how muddy the area was.
"I'm hungry," said Izzy, as they hadn't eaten yet.
The group began to leave the lot one by one to escape the rain. Roll stopped for a moment to look at Sunny and Hitch, who sighed before disappearing. The boy looked back at his girlfriend before looking at the others, and he started to leave.
"You too, Hitch?" said Sunny, as she couldn't believe her boyfriend was also giving up.
"I don't want to give up, Sunny. But I think it might be time to go," said the boy to his girlfriend as he put his hands in his pocket and left.
"Hmm!" said Sunny as she couldn't believe her friends.
The girl was determined to finish the community garden by herself in time for tomorrow morning. The rain continued to pour as Sunny trudged through the mud to a leaned-over sapling tree. She grabbed it and tried to pull it upright, but it proved difficult, especially with the dirt and slippery mud. She lost her grip and footing as the girl was sent forward and planted her face into the ground, now getting mud in her hair and face. Sunny lifted her head to spit and cough out some mud she got in her mouth; she then began to cry as she was starting to lose hope she could finish it all by herself.
Just when the girl was ready to call it quits, a set of footprints appeared by her side. She turned and looked as Hitch stood by her.
"Hitch! You came back!" said the girl, looking at her best friend.
The boy smiled as he offered his hand and pulled his girlfriend up. He held the girl as the mud on her clothes transferred to his, but he didn't mind.
"I just you could say… I just looooove Earth Day," smiled the boy, using his girlfriend's saying as it made Sunny smile.
The girl then leaned in as she captured Hitch's lips before he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer in and getting himself all dirty. The pair broke apart as he brought a hand up to wipe some mud off Sunny's cheek.
"Need a hand?"
Sunny rolled up her jacket sleeves, and along with Hitch, the two picked up the sapling and began to drag it toward the hole.
"We want to help too, Sunny."
The pair heard that voice as they turned to see the rest of their friends had returned.
"We might not win this contest, but we're gonna finish our garden. Come rain or shine!" said Zipp.
Sunny was relieved that her friends were willing to stick by her as they all got to work on finishing their tasks, even with the constant downpour.
The next day, the Earth Day Committee arrived, and they began to look through the many projects and ideas the CHS students put together. Unfortunately for Sunny and the gang, they worked well into the night, as it was still raining before they all decided to head home. When they returned in the morning before class to check on the lot, it was still filled with water and mud, and cleaning it out would take longer. As such, it was clear they wouldn't win first place, but Principal Celestia applauded the group's efforts nonetheless. Soon… the committee members decided as they were currently snapping the winner's picture.
"Dahlia was able to convince several people in the neighborhood to switch from plastic bags to paper bags or bring their own reusable bags!" said Principal Celestia as she announced the girl as the winner while shaking her hand for a photo op.
The other students applauded the girl for her efforts and for being featured on the website.
"Thank you. But… I couldn't have done it by myself. So, I also want to share the credit with Mario," said the girl as she turned to the boy leaning against the lunchroom counter with his arms crossed.
The boy did not expect the girl to acknowledge him as all he did was hand out flyers, while Dahlia went up to people and told them about it when they passed the street corner they were on. But it seemed the girl was willing to be generous and wanted to spread the love, unironically, with him. Seeing everybody look at him, he sighed before getting up and approaching the girl. He smiled as Celestia shook his hand to have their photo taken.
"You know you didn't have to do that?" said Mario, leaning over to speak with Dahlia about her selfless act.
"Yeah, but I wanted to. As a way to say thanks for helping me when you could've ignored me. Why did you?"
"I don't know… I guess I just did," remarked Mario with a shrug.
"Is that so? You sure you didn't do it out of the love in your heart?" teased Dahlia.
"Alright, I take everything back! I never should've helped you," said the boy, making the girl giggle. "By the way, does this mean I get a good grade?" The boy leaned in to ask Celestia as she nodded, to which he smiled.
"How you just get me some doughnuts next time?" said Dahlia as her way for the boy to pay her back.
"It's a date," said the boy as he gave a high-five to the girl.
"I can't believe your brother beat us," said Zipp to Roll as they applauded when Dahlia made the announcement to share the prize with the boy.
"He has his way of things working out for him," said the girl with a smile as she eyed her brother.
While she knew he still wasn't over being labeled as love, regarding what part of the power he represented, it was clear just as it was on Valentine's Day when he went around to deliver all those cards to people, that Mario had a way to make people smile.
"Even though we can only have one winner, all of you did a great job. I know some of you weren't able to finish due to circumstances beyond your control," said Celestia as she looked in the direction of Sunny as the girl at that moment had an idea run through her head before shooting her arm up. "Yes, Sunny?"
"We weren't able to plant our community garden, but we are going to finish the garden this weekend, rain or shine!"
"We are?" said Hitch, looking at his girlfriend.
"But Earth Day is today!" said Izzy.
"But we should celebrate Earth Day every day, right?" asked Sunny to her principal
"Very true, Sunny. Now-"
"Oh, and, umm- could I add just one itty bitty little thought?"
"We know, Sunny!" said Roll with a smile. "We love Earth Day, too!" The girl knew she was gonna say what she wanted to say and did it for her.
The weekend came as true to Sunny's word, along with some additional help from their classmates, the community garden was finished. Soon a grand opening was held as Sunny held a giant pair of scissors in front of a rainbow ribbon. At her side, there was Hitch wearing the cowboy hat that Aj had given him a whileback, as he wanted to look presentable for his girlfriend's big event.
"Thank you, everyone for coming to the grand opening of Canterlot City's new community garden!" Sunny announced to the crowd. The rest of their friends were apart of the crowd, as they all cheered Sunny.
"Yeah! Community garden! Woo!" Izzy cheered.
"This will be your place to grow fresh food, foster friendships, and have fun in the fields!" assured Sunny to the crowd with a smile. She then looked at Hitch and extended the scissors to him. "Take it away, Hitch!" The girl gave her boyfriend a smile before stepping to the side.
"Thanks, Sunny!" Hitch said with a smile, taking the scissors. "I'm very excited-" He tried to speak, but Izzy cut him off.
"Aw yeah!" Izzy cheered. "That's our friend! Nobody interrupts him when he talks!" she shouted, while Roll, Zipp, and Pipp looked at each other with smiles at the girl's attitude, while Mario rolled his eyes.
"Oh, ah… Thanks Izzy," said Hitch with a little smile, before he cleared his throat. "Welcome, everyone! As Sunny, said this garden is the best place to grow and harvest…"
"Whatever you want!" interrupted Sunny."
"Um, right, thanks, Sunny. Uh, where was I? Or yeah! A place to grow whatever your heart desires, but also a place to share and bond with others so that you can…"
"Get to the point!" shouted Mario, before Izzy shushed him.
"Don't interrupt hi-"
Mario didn't let the girl finish he put his arms around in a chokehold, but didn't apply it. Instead, he merely put his left hand over Izzy's mouth to get her to shut up while dragging her away who making some sounds.
"Date prisa, sheriff!" said Mario, as he dragged Izzy offscreen, waving her arms about and making muffled sounds for help.
"Right. Um, I declare the community garden open!" said Hitch as he cut the ribbon to an applause.
The crowd then hurried in as they got to work. Hitch was almost stampeded as he got up from the sidewalk and dusted himself. Sunny approached her boyfriend as she gave him his hat before capturing his lips. Their friends, apart from Mario and Izzy, appeared beside them as they turned to look at the many people inside their community garden as they were proud to have created something stellar.
Author's Note: Wanted to do an Earth Day special chapter, as we know Sunny of all people would be a strong advocate when it comes to protecting and helping the planet. And once again, Mario while he may not like being labeled as the defender of love, there's no denying that he's showcasing that as he was willing to help out Dahlia with her project.