Two stallions crested the hill, and stood silent, gazing down at the serene scene below.

It was a mid-sized town, erected in the middle of a lush plain. A solitary river, as blue as the sky, ran through its outskirts, and the golden fields of the town's edge lit up beneath the sun. The thatched roofs of the buildings and the winding cobblestone roads seemed to be giving an invitation for all to come for a visit, all underneath a cloudless bluebird sky.

The pegasi, one silvery grey, the other matte black, took in the sight of the town from afar. The taller of the two was holding onto a nostalgic, almost sorrowful smile while his shorter, muscular companion looked uncaringly at the small settlement. They wore dress uniforms; white hats on their heads, a red stripe down the side of the navy blue garments, and insignia and medals on their breasts.

"This is it?" asked the black one in a gruff baritone, "This is where you want to live?"

"Yes Flash, it is," came the response in a voice a bit higher.

He responded by swallowing the last drops of bourbon from a bottle, the same one he had been nursing since they left Stableside, and saying, "Not what I had in mind."

He tossed the bottle away uncaringly, and it came to rest somewhere in the tall grass.

"Well what were you expecting?"

"I don't know Gale, just not this!"

"What's wrong with small towns?"

"I've got nothing against small towns, but you and I don't belong in them."

"Why not?" inquired Gale.

"Look at us. We're not farmers or bakers like they are," he said, pointing to the visible agricultural fields on the town's outskirts, "We're meant to be out there fighting; it's what we're good at. We should still be over there."

"I didn't want to leave either Flash, but they tend not to allow cripples and amputees to stay on the line. Even if we wanted to, they were going to rotate Foxtrot platoon back anyway, whether we liked it or not."

The grey pegasus bent his rear right leg to prove his point, and its metallic gears twisted and squeaked as his prosthetic imitated a flesh and bone limb.

"Well, I would have requested a temporary transfer. I would've got it too."

"If you'd have done that, you know I'd have done the same. But, things happen, and we're in reserve now. Guys in our condition don't always get to stay until the job's done."

"I know why they let you go, but I'm still pissed I was rotated back. I can still see just fine."

Flash looked at his brother through his left eye, the only one of the two that still held its rich brown color. His right ocular was all the same color of white. What had made it so was apparent by the scar running across his face, bisected by the dull eye.

"Yeah, but you can't aim without your dominant eye," Gale said to receive a disapproving look.

"Flash, just be happy with the three purple hearts and the stars you already have. We've done enough for Equestria."

"The others gave more," the dark stallion corrected, kicking the dirt, "Why shouldn't we?"

His companion didn't respond; he only put that half-smile back on his face to hide sad eyes, and began walking down the hill towards the town.

"You can fly you know," rumbled Flash as he trotted up to his grey companion's side.

"No. I'll stay with you."

Flash unfurled his left wing without a problem, but struggled with a painful grimace as he tried to do the same with his right. The bones weren't straight as they were in the other one, and he curled it up crookedly with a wince against his side again.

"Just another reason why they let you go."

"I could still do anything else. I can pass any test they can give me."

"Flash just accept it; we're not at war anymore. We can try and lead a normal life again until the war's over or they call us back."

"It doesn't matter! We left before the job was done!"

"Others will get the job done. We've done our part. Now quit getting angry about the past."

"How can I?"

"Look," advised Gale, looking down at his companion, who's chestnut eyes were even with his chin, "We're still marines, but we're not at war anymore. Embrace it. We can be Gale and Flash again. We don't need to be Captain Force and Gunnery Sergeant Thunder anymore."

"Miles is still Lance Corporal Striker," argued Flash.

Gale's sad eyes averted when he continued, "Why should we be any different?"

"Look," started Gale, "I'm not making you come here with me, but I'm going to try and start again here. It's quiet, it's small, it's peaceful, and I think it'll help ease the transition to normal life. So if you want to go and spend your life wishing you were still fighting or using your benefits on booze and mares in some darkened corner of Equestria, that's fine with me, but know that I'm done giving you orders. You can do as you please."

"I know," answered Flash, "but we never leave each other behind. You're my brother; I'm with you."

The dark stallion looked through his one good eye, its deep, rich mahogany matching the hue of his cropped mane, and a rare smile spread across his face.

Gale returned the look with a genuine grin; his eyes smiled along with his face this time.

The two, walking proud, upright and subconsciously in step with their eyes pathologically glued into a forward oriented stare, strolled into town.

On the road, near the outskirts, they passed a few of the town's citizens to receive awkward stares.

Flash, walking on his brother's left, could see peripherally the stunned faces of a light brown stallion and an aqua pegasus mare as they passed. He tried to ignore it, but couldn't.

They progressed into town, the looks of those they passed near the town's edge mirrored on the rest of the inhabitants. Gale led the way to the square, the concentration of onlookers increasing the closer they came.

The pair marched through the doors of a building near the edge of the square labeled with a sign reading 'Real Estate'. They entered, and found themselves facing an empty receptionist's desk.

Gale moved to ring the bell for service, but Flash grabbed his hoof, stopping him short.

"Did you see them staring?"

"I did," answered Gale, pulling his forelimb from his brother's grip and ringing the bell.

"I don't like it."

"Why not? They're probably just not used to seeing soldiers here."

"Not soldiers, us. They weren't staring at our uniforms, they were staring at my eye and my wing, and your leg. I saw it."

"What makes this such a big deal?" Gale asked as some rummaging started coming from the back room.

"Gale, they were staring!"

"You need to calm down! We're newcomers in a small town, and we're not like the rest of them; they're going to st... Hello ma'am."

Gale transitioned abruptly from a heated argument to a warm demeanor as a young mare with a beige coat and a curled red mane came out of the back, and approached the desk wearing a friendly smile.

"Hey there," she said as if she knew them, and took her seat at an office chair at her desk.

Gale smiled back at her, but Flash's suspicious scowl was still adorned on his brow.

"What can I do for you?"

Gale looked to Flash, trying to give his brother a chance to make himself appear approachable, but the black stallion was diligently scanning everything in the room, from the mare, to the windows and doors, to every object in sight. Gale could see an old familiar look start to come into his eyes; a fiery look, behind which, the gears in his head were being turned by engrained martial instincts.

Seeing Flash wasn't about to talk, Gale turned back to the mare, who was wearing an expectant look below her neat bun of hair.

"Well ma'am, my brother and I are moving here, and we need a place to live. We were wondering if there is any real estate available in town."

"Well, let me see," she started, going for a file cabinet below the desk.

The drawer opened, and Gale saw peripherally his brother draw in a sudden breath. The black pegasus's hoof shot to his hip, and Gale jumped in front of him.

He pressed his hoof into Flash's chest, and the other onto his forelimb. The fire was back in his eyes, the fire he had become so accustomed to seeing in Germaneigh, and his breathing was rapid and excited.

Gale pressed his forehead against his brother's, and held it there, not allowing Flash to move until he saw the fire begin to die. When Flash's breathing had slowed and his muscles relaxed, Gale released him, and reverted to his original position.

He looked back at the mare, who's confused expression had been tainted by a hint of fear. Gale didn't blame her. He knew that her going for something concealed beneath her desk had triggered his brother's reaction. She had every right to be confused, even if she wasn't already by the two scarred, incomplete pegasi in her office.

She was holding a trio of papers she had recovered from the file cabinet, and she set them down on the desk before her customers.

"So," she said, clearing her throat and putting on her most professional expression, "there are three sites available in town."

Gale stepped forward and bent down to look, and read along as the agent spoke.

"So," she explained, "two of the three sites are cloud homes."

Gale looked up at her confused, and Flash, his scan of the room complete, diverted his attention to the coming description.

"You don't know what a cloud home is? Well, basically, it's a house for pegasi constructed out of cumulus, and they drift around in the sky. They stay within a relatively confined area, but they do move, so it's a very interesting architectural style."

"But they stay in the sky?" asked Gale.

"Well of course; it's a cloud."

Gale looked back at his brother, who looked down at his right wing, skewed against his ribs. Flash looked back at his brother with a less than satisfied look, and Gale delivered the message.

"What's the third option?"

"Well, there's a flat near the park. One story, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, plus four additional rooms including a kitchen and a living room with fireplace. Furniture comes with it, but mind, it's very old."

"We'll take it," said Gale immediately after she finished.

"Don't you want to tour it first?" she said, looking up at them bewildered.

"No thank you."

"Well, shall we discuss the mortgage and the down payment?"

"We shan't," said Gale as his brother approached his side.

Both stallions placed a large bag, retrieved from their saddlebags, on the desk, and several gold coins spilled out.

"Will four month's wages for a Captain and a non-commissioned officer suffice?"

The mare, obviously not accustomed to such things, chased a shocked look from her face, and said with a nervous laugh, "Yes. Yes of course."

She handed Gale a piece of paper, a deed, and the two turned to go.

"Do you want me to show you to the site?" she called after them.

"That won't be necessary ma'am. Thank you very much for your business," answered Gale as he followed his brother out through the exit, and back into the square.

The agent laughed to herself, went back to her papers, and mumbled, "Jarheads."

It was late in the night. Gale was lying awake in his bed, the blue moonlight coming through an unanticipated skylight in the bedroom. It was keeping him up; that and the quiet.

They had found the flat without a problem, and discovered everything working right. It was larger than they expected, with a vaulted ceiling and several large rooms separated by thick walls. The abundance of windows and skylights made for good stargazing, but it also made for an absence of darkness, a much needed factor for sleep. Whoever made the home sure liked the view, because the surface area of windows almost exceeded the amount of drywall in the one story house.

Gale rolled over onto his side on the new mattress, one of the two they had bought that day. The home did come with furniture, more than enough for the two of them, but an absence of mattresses prompted the expenditure of a few more bits than they had planned on spending that day.

The pale light penetrated the darkness and illuminated his sheets, as well as a section of his wall, which reflected the blue light all too well. He tried rolling onto his back, but found himself staring up into the bright face of the full moon through an inconveniently placed skylight. He rolled to the other side, and found a window, also letting the moonlight come in uninvited to dance across his light blue eyes.

Unable to block out the light, he rolled onto his stomach, and buried his face in a pillow. Finally, he found the much sought after darkness he sought, and found himself growing lighter in a dream.

Pictures began floating by; memories of days past with his family and his brother, memories from when they were young.

But the memories progressed along the timeline of his life, and the calm scenes shifted. When the engrained picture of his brother laying against the lip of the berm, concealing a smile with the stock of his rifle as he lay prone, trying to stop laughing and continue watching the field, drifted across his eyes, he shot awake.

He sat up with a start, breathing heavily, but soon realized he was back in his new home. Only it didn't feel like home. Too many things were missing.

He gave up on sleep, and ambled outside his bedroom to the living room.

Flash was already there, reclining in one of the two armchairs in the room, one on either side of a sofa. He had a fire going, and the crackling and snapping of its enflamed pine contributed most of the sound in the room.

"Can't sleep?" inquired the darker of the two.

Gale nodded.

"Dreams?"

Again, Gale nodded.

"About him?"

A third nod.

"Me too."

He stared back into the fire, and pulled the cork on another bottle, the second that day, and began to drink the night away, while his brother sat in the company of his silent memories, waiting on the arrival of dawn.

Author's Notes:

More coming soon