Year: 2552 / Date: June 29th / Time: 1000 hours

On-board Cairo station.
geosynchronous orbit roughly 35,900 kilometers above Earth, over the Egyptian city of Cairo, hence its name.
This was the station on which Solar was going to get his promotion to captain.

it was four hours away from the ceremony where not only would he receive his rank of captain that he had been for all his UNSC career, as well as being able to see his ship for the first time with his own eyes instead of looking at blueprints and pictures of other halcyon class light cruisers and imagining himself at the bridge.
To finally have a ship of his own was an amazing thought to Solar, at first he couldn't even imagine having a UNSC corvette to command, but a halcyon cruiser was on a whole other level.

he had left his large apartment home which was in the United States for Cairo station when he got the message directly from command itself about his promotion.

His letter of promotion was almost the same as any other serving UNSC officers letter of promotion, the only differences being the word 'equine' were tossed in some places to make it a little more personal as well as to replace some of the 'human' references throughout the notice of promotion, same can be said for his document of promotion.

Solar Spent a few hours thinking about his whole life and his current situation before a knock was heard at his personal quarters.

Solar:" Who is it?"
"who do you think it is? look sir, i suggest you start getting dressed because your promotion ceremony is about to begin in thirty minutes"Solar looks up from the ground and towards the door, musing for a moment and then starts to smile and gets off the bed, heading towards the door.
Solar:" Catherine i you honestly think i would be late to my own promotion?"
Catherine:" well the question was..." solar opens the door, looking down at Catherine with his tilted to the right, for a moment just gazing at her before,in a up-lifted tone, sarcastically saying "oh, so did i hire a nanny to take care of me?"

Catherine just crosses her arms and walks inside
Solar:" so you'll just invite your self in then huh, going to start cooking to then?"
Catherine:" no, I'm going to make sure you get dressed properly and go in there looking good, a lot of earth is watching this, especially because you are no normal officer, making this event rather unusual And if we ever find your home world and your race decides to join the UNSC, you'll be the one who sets the standard. So you have to dress for this! not just throw on everything at the last minute."
Solar sighs in defeat, knowing that she is right he gets up and straightens out, standing at his full height on all four and then uses his magic to start preparing, pulling out his uniform and officers beret
Solar:" you are right, but i don't need your help to get dressed."

As solar gets dressed, Catherine just looks at solar, mainly focusing on his cutie mark. It showed a moon which was in a hazy blue mist covering it, while what appeared to be behind the moon, just coming over the top and around the sides was a star which looked like it was glowing and pulsating in color and intensity. She reached out to touch it in curiosity, wondering if was either embedded into solar fur or skin, or something else entirely. She was just about to touch it before solar asks her a question.
"So... are you just reaching out in curiosity or is it something else?"
Catherine, unclear of what solar was asking, quickly asked him for clarification.
"what are you talking about Solar?" Solar just turned his head away from the mirror which he was using and looks at Catherine with a 'you know what I'm talking about' expression, painted all across from one side to other, he then coughs once and turns back to face the mirror and begins to speak
Solar:" you want to touch my mark to see if its either the skin or the fur that is colored to create that image"
Catherine:"Well?"
Solar:" its both, as well as magic, its all to hard to explain with only..." solar looks at his wrist watch. "twenty three minutes, i'll need at least an hour to explain how it works in full, proper detail and before that you'll need some knowledge in magic, and not just the basics, but what i can tell you in this short amount of time is that it basically depicts what i am good at. In my case it depicts that i am good at using Solar and Luna based magical spells and elemental magics, Hence my name, Solar Midnight."

Catherine:" but you said your race had to find their cutie marks, they ain't just born with them, so how did your mother and father know to name you that?"

Solar nods in confirmation and turns around while lifting one front leg up to slip through his officers jacket
"well because i have not had any children of my own i don't really understand how my parents explained it. what they said was 'one night, exactly one week from your birth, we both just knew what your name was going to be', so honestly i don't have much of an idea on it works but its pretty much a 7th sense."

Catherine:" what happened to the 6th sense?"
Solar:" its the same as your 6th sense, no differences."

they continued their conversation while solar got dressed with idle talk about the difference between earth and equestria till only ten minutes were left till the ceremony.
solar:" well we better get going. Its like how you said, if I'm late it will reflect quite baddy on every other equestrian and i honestly don't want to wait. I can just imagine it, Lord Hood, promoting me to captain, and then being taken to the mars cradle to see my ship"
Catherine:" speaking of your ship, have you thought of a name?"Catherine asks politely as they leave his quarters into the open space of Habitat Delta, wondering if solar had indeed thought of a name for his ship. Solar was quite for a bit while he was thinking, and spoke up once they had reached one of the many tram stations that were nearby.

Solar:"i have had trouble of thinking up something original, maybe inspiration will strike me in the final moments?"
Catherine:" well if it does hit you, don't say it because the cameras are on. i suggest you flatten your hair and straighten your beret, don't want to look shaggy for your promotion sir!"
Solar:" i ain't your commanding officer yet Catherine, we are the same rank still."
Catherine:" for only a few more minutes"
as the tram made its way towards Cairo stations bridge, everyone started to line up and applaud and celebrate. cameras went about as they filmed solar and Catherine on their way to the bridge.

When they arrived, solar stepped out of the tram to be met by a lot of people lined up to congratulate him, most of them being people he previously served with. He started his way towards the door that lead to the bridge and upon it opening, he was met by even more people. Most of the bridge was filled and a pathway leading to the island Lord hood with his old commanding officer Admiral mandrake, was on lined with many familiar faces and people who were going to serve on board his ship. He walked slowly and with pride towards the island, knowing that every thing he had done in the UNSC was leading up till this point, and that everyone around him respected. With Catherine in-tow, once he had reached the steps he walked up each one while scanning the entire room, just to see how many people there were, and after a moment he looked outside to see a lot of UNSC ships around Cairo station.

Once he was up on the island, Lord hood turned around and started his speech.
Terrance Hood:" Solar, Due to your dedication and outstanding performance for the UNSC as well as your diligence in situations of absolute near defeat and your outstanding bravery, acts of selflessness and courage in unimaginable odds, i hereby award you with the colonial cross and medal of Honor." during his speech two marines, one from either side come up from behind Terrence Hood, both hold oak box and open it up to reveal a red valet interior with one medal in each.
"As for your service as acting captain and tactical prowess shown in situations against a insurmountable difference of firepower and numbers, you have still been able to achieve victory as well as your constant dedication to commanding with absolute a surety and confidence and for this, you are to be promoted to the rank of captain." Solar has the the captain ribbon pinned to his coat.
Terrence Hood:" Make the UNSC proud."

This is a Memory Chapter

In other words, these will be short chapters in the past that i will write to add story and if you guys want any backstory, just tell me and I'll make a Memory Chapter for you.

anyway tell me if there are any problems or if you have any suggestions because that is always welcome and if you have any criticisms that is a very good thing too.