The Sage of Equestria

It was late at night, and Spike had just sent Twilight's letter to the Princess before falling asleep. "Who'd you send that letter to?" asked a voice, startling Twilight.

"Eep! W-Who's there?" she asked. Suddenly a figure dropped down from the ceiling, and landed next to Twilight, making her jump up in fright. When she realized who it was she let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, Orange Citrus, it's just you." she said, "Anyways I was just sending a letter to my teacher, the Princess."

"You two have a strong bond don't you?" he asked.

"Yeah." said Twilight, "She's been like a second mother to me. I don't know where I'd be if it weren't for her." Naruto let out a small chuckle.

"Reminds me of the Pervy Sage." he said. Twilight let out a giggle.

"That's a weird name." she said.

"No, that's not his real name, I just call him that because he's perverted." Naruto said.

"Well you must have a strong bond with him." said Twilight.

"Yeah." said Naruto sadly, "I did."

""Did?" asked Twilight, "What do you mean?"

"He died recently in a battle." Naruto said. Twilight gasped upon hearing this.

"I'm so sorry." she said.

"It's fine." he told her, "I'm going to tell you something, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else, not even your friends. Promise?"

"I promise." she agreed. Naruto took a deep breath before beginning.

--

"And then he used the last of his power to bring back the people of the Leaf Village." Naruto finished.

Twilight stood, shocked at the story Naruto had just told her. She couldn't understand how anypony could do such a thing, and what's more was she couldn't figure whether she thought he was good or bad. Then a question made it's way to the front of her mind.

"How was he able to do all of those things?" asked Twilight.

"He had the powers of the Sage of Six Paths." Naruto told her.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"The Sage of Six Paths was a very powerful shinobi." Naruto told her, "Even though he wasn't as skilled, he was still a powerful enemy."

"Even more powerful than the Princess?" asked Twilight.

"Probably." said Naruto.

"I have to report this to the Princess right away!" said Twilight.

"No!" shouted Naruto, startling Twilight.

"What? Why not?!" she asked.

"Because you made a promise." he said. Twilight stared into his eyes, and suddenly felt guilt welling up in her. She had been willing to break a promise she'd made to a friend just because she'd gotten excited.

"I'm sorry." she apologized.

"It's okay." he said, giving her a small smile, "We should probably get some rest."

"Yeah." agreed Twilight. With that, Naruto left the room, and Twilight lay down. She was unable to get to sleep, though. She stared out her window into the night, and thought about what she'd been told, and how it all connected back to her. She hadn't realized how long she'd stayed awake until her mentor's sun shone in her window onto her back.

"Morning already?" she muttered to herself, "Spike! Can you make me some tea. And wake up Orange Citrus, I want to talk to him."  Spike walked in, rubbing his eyes.

"I can make you some tea, but the guard disappeared sometime last night." Spike told her, "Although he did leave this." Spike held out a piece of paper, and Twilight wasted no time taking the piece of paper.

Dear Twilight

I know you probably want to know more, so I'll tell you more tonight. I want you to keep it a secret though. Right now I'm at Applejack's, if you want to talk then you can come over, but don't mention anything in front of the others.

Sincerely Orange Citrus

Real name Naruto

"Huh. Naruto. Well I look forward to knowing more." she said to herself, "I guess I'll head over to Applejack's. Spike! I'm heading out. Clean this place up please." With that she left, leaving Spike holding a cup of tea. He let out a sigh, and turned around to go back into the kitchen, but tripped, spilling the tea all over himself.