Noctis (Knock-Tis, Night) and Die (Dee-ay, Day) were both 1st class members of SOLDIER. They had always been unusual, even in the eyes of other members of SOLDIER. They always refused to go on missions without their sibling backing them up. They denied orders handed to them directly by the president of Shinra himself, and when they found out he was sending an army of Shinra troops, they sacrificed themselves to make sure that they failed to carry out those orders. They should've gone back to the lifestream. Instead, they ended up in an entirely new world, filled with talking ponies.
I've got a co-author now, jtpivot, and we may work from different timezones, but we still do some, hopefully, good work.
5/10/12: Before I post chapter 7, know that it the story has taken a very large turn. No, I won't tell you what it is, you'll have to figure out what it is by reading for yourself.