Celestia, principal of Canterlot High School, crouched in her yard, working on her garden. It was something she did every Saturday, finding it very peaceful and relaxing. As much as she loved her job and her students (well, most of them), there were times when it could be pretty stressful or frustrating, and did not require much in the way of physical activity.

That was why she enjoyed gardening so much. A chance to get outside in the sun, work up a slight sweat while making things a little more beautiful, and let the stress of the work week melt away before she had to go back to the grind.

Plus, it was nice and quiet, which she appreciated all the more after the whole singing flowers incident.

"MOM!"

Straightening up, she pressed her hand against her back, rubbing at the tender spot from her being bent over so long. It was such an annoyance. Used to be, she could work nearly the entire day on her garden, hunched over for hours on end, and feel fine. Maybe a little sore, but nothing that a good stretch and long, hot soak could not handle. Now, her knees and back would ache after a few hours and would still feel stiff in the morning.

"MOM!"

Celestia took off her hat, fanning herself with it. She leaned back, closing her eyes to look up and let the warm sun shine down on her directly for a moment. She may not have been a millennium-old alicorn pony princess who was able to move the sun itself (which was a comparison that, until earlier this year, she never would have even imagined, much less one that was possible), she did enjoy it still. And while she had to be careful not to be out in it too much or get burned, but it was nice to feel its warmth against her skin for a little while.

"Can I have a popsicle?" a child's voice asked.

Celestia turned toward the voice, and stopped. She had been expecting a child, but one that lived in the neighborhood that for some reason or other was either being very social, or had confused her for someone else.

What she was not expecting, was to see a child that looked like one of her students.

Celestia found herself staring down at what looked like a child-version of Sunset Shimmer. She had the same skin, the same eyes, and the same hair color. This little version was less than half her normal height though, with her red and yellow hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was dressed in shorts and a tee shirt, and held a stuffed white unicorn with a pink mane and tail under one arm.

"Mom?" little Sunset asked, brow furrowing with concern. "Are you okay?"

Was she? Celestia knew she never had a child, and certainly not Sunset Shimmer. It was not the sun getting to her, was it? She had not been out that long. Maybe she was having some sort of psychotic break? There had been a history of psychological disorders in her family. Even her sister, Luna had suffered from depression, then had a psychotic break which ended up putting her in a hospital for a couple months. As such, it was not so far fetched that Celestia would finally have one, and imagining herself as a mother to a girl who it turned out saw her as a mother-figure (technically, her other world counterpart was the mother-figure, but it was likely some of that emotion would transfer between worlds).

Reaching out, Celestia placed a hand on top of little Sunset's head. She could feel the warmth of the girl's body, and the softness of her hair. That meant that it was not a hallucination, right? If she was imagining it, she would not actually be able to feel the child, would she? Or would her mind also include the other sensory feedback required for touch the same as it did for sight and sound?

"Mooom," Sunset whined out. "You're messing up my hair."

Celestia could not help but smile at that. That did sound like something a child version of Sunset would say.

"So, popsicle?"

"I don't think we have any," Celestia finally answered. She then leaned down, putting the two of them closer to eye level. "Besides, have you eaten lunch yet?"

"...no," Sunset answered, looking down.

It was a simple enough trick for Celestia to figure out. Students had tried it on her before. Wait until an authority figure was distracted, then ask them something in a specific way, hoping they would not catch on.

"Let's get some real food first, then we'll see about ice cream."

"Okay," little Sunset cheered out. Turning around, she ran for the house as fast as her little legs could carry her. She was such a cute little...

Celestia mentally slapped herself. What was she doing? There was a little kid version of one of her students at her house, calling her Mom, and she was acting like it was normal or something.

First, she needed some sort of evidence to prove that there actually was a little Sunset Shimmer in her house, and not something that she was imagining very, very, very vividly.

After making them some sandwiches, an idea came to her. Pulling out her phone, she turned on the camera and pointed it at Sunset.

"Smile."

Sunset smiled around a big bite of her sandwich as her picture was taken. Celestia then sent the picture to her sister, along with a quick message.

Do you see anything strange?

She was able to eat her own sandwich before getting a message back.

Who is the child?

Well, that meant that Luna could see it as well. So that was something. Now she just had to figure out who to call about it. Sunset would be the one who makes the most sense, but she was not really an option considering she was a child and right in front of Celestia. One of her friends then. Preferably one that was good with children.

Two possibilities came to mind at that.

Stuffing the rest of the sandwich into her mouth, Celestia got up and headed to her home office. She should have Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie's numbers listed there.