"War! War! Saddle Arabia falls into civil war! Read all about it!"

The papercolt yelled out. Ponies naturally were interested in this bit of news, as war seemed to have been a thing of the past for at least 700 years. Even ponies who normally would pass by the papercolts picked up the newspapers to read about this war overseas.

Sharp Shooter normally didn't bother with the news very much, Equestria was very peaceful, and he was content with his life and studies. Of course the conflict in Saddle Arabia had been the hot topic for months now, and so, some were not surprised at all that war broke out.

Saddle Arabia, like Equestria, were a monarchy. Its royal family loved by the ponies, and the country had many beautiful traditions and an amazing culture. Princess Celestia had made several trips there, and the two kingdoms got on well.

However, a faction had risen up, a faction claiming to want representation for the common pony. As far as Sharp could understand it, no pony had really complained before, sure there were issues, but no tyranny what so ever. Of course, he could not be expected to know all the details, nor could the public here in Equestria.

Maybe there was some backstory they were simply not aware of. But at any rate, this faction had started to become violent a few months back. Staging riots, planted bombs, and begun a campaign of fear and terror.

Details had become more confusing and somehow the faction had managed to grow enough to start a minor civil war. Saddle Arabia was fighting a war with no clear enemy, the rebel militia had no clear uniform, as well as no clear goal. They claimed to do it for the common pony, but so far, their actions had spoke more of a sort of coup than anything else.

Everything about the affair was just big one confusing mess, but Sharp still felt bad for the ponies living in the hot zones. Street battles, riots, bombs, shootings, the Saddle Arabian government were spread thin.

All of this however, did little to effect Sharp, or anypony else in Equestria, he continued living his life as normal. No reason not to.

As Sharp sat in his room, reading, as he often did during the sunny afternoons. A knock on the door brought his mind out of his relaxation and immersion of the book. "It's open." He called, sitting up in his bed as he closed the book.

The door opened, and in stepped his long time friend, Pin Point. Like Sharp, he was earth pony. Unlike Sharp, he was explosive and adventurous, always seeking out and trying new things. Sharp liked to talk about doing all the things Pin did, but often did not have the nerve, or conveniently had an excuse why not to do it.

Sharp was a thinker, a dreamer, and despite his special talent being that of an expert markspony, he had really no intention, or interest, of using it for anything.

Pin was the exact opposite, he liked to do all the things he thought of, often without regard for his own safety. He lived life as he wanted it, and did not waste time on dreaming about and wish he could do things, he would just do them. Sharp envied that about him, and often found himself wishing he could sometimes just do what Pin did, take a chance and live a little.

Like always, Pin had this huge grin on his face, signaling that he just had an awesome idea, something he had to share with his friend, Sharp. "Sharpy, what are you doing in here on such a nice day?"

Sharp sent his old friend a small smile as he stood up. "Enjoying summer vacation in my own way, what are you up to?"

His yellow coated friend gave him a grin. "This!" He reached into a small saddle bag, the kind of which you had that only held a few bits and whatever else you may needed when out in town. Pin placed a flyer on Sharp's desk, and with big letters it said.

'Join the Equestrian Volunteer Peace Corps'

'Help defend Saddle Arabian civilians. '

'Police districts.'

'Keep order.'

'Save lives.'

'Join Today.'

Then at the bottom were a bunch of recruiting information like minimum age, recruitment office, and so forth. Sharp frowned, then looked at Pin again. "You want to join the army?"

Pin chuckled. "It is not your typical army, Sharp. We are going to be a peace keeping force. We are not going to the front lines to fight, but protect the civilian population and help keep order."

"But, we need training, and.." Sharp was not sure about this. "Wait a minute." He looked to him. "You are expecting me to join up with you?"

"Of course I am!" Pin smirked. "Listen, I went to the recruitment office to hear what it was about, we are going to be trained by a mix of Equestrian and Saddle Arabian officers. Saddle Arabia has provided weapons, training, while Equestria provides food, soldiers, and uniforms. It's a mission to save lives, not take them."

"But, we carry weapons?"

"For self defense, and to defend the civilians. There is a meeting this evening for those interested and with questions, they are going to explain everything!" Pin's voice suddenly became a bit softer, and his smile more gentle. "We've always talked about going to see the world, Sharp. Here, we can see a new country, and even do some good." He placed a hood on his shoulder and gave him that sly smirk he had worked up after years of getting them into trouble. "I'm gonna join up, but come on, for once, why not join me and go on an adventure?"

Sharp looked at him, then the flyer. They had often spoken about going places, with Sharp writing about their adventures, finding lost treasures, seeing exotic places, just like Daring Do did now. But, Sharp had never really been that far from Trottingham before, and now his best friend was expecting him to sail overseas as a soldier?

It was dangerous, surely it had to be dangerous and not as simple and easy as he made it sound. Still, it was a chance to see Saddle Arabia, and as Pin said, they could do some good and help those not fighting.

"Well.. It won't hurt simply going to see what it is all about, I suppose.."

"That's the spirit, you won't regret it, I promise!" Pin laughed, and gave his friend an excited hug.

Author's Note

Should be said I know sharpshooter is spelled in one word, just liked the name for him two be two part.