Because there is somewhere better than Home.
"What exactly does this maniac want from you." Asked Octavia while lying in bed. Only seconds ago her friend Metal Riffs had received a letter from an insane friend called Shield Heart.
"The letter is pretty straightforward, he's requesting my help for a supposed invasion upon Manehattan. He wants to meet up in Vanhoover for briefing." Said Metal as he stroked his goatee.
"Burn it, I don't want anything to do with him. Last time was a disaster." She said as she crossed her arms.
"If you're talking about the Baltimare incident, it wasn't his fault."
"Yes of course, because he was forced to release a chimera into the streets, which also happened to be hunting me specifically."
"All right, he was guilty of releasing it, but on his defense he did kill it before it scratched you."
"If by scratch you a referring to nearly peeling the skin off my back then yes! He did!"
"Don't exaggerate, it was just a scratch, not even visible now!"
"Not visible was that monster when it started camouflaging."
"Chimeras don't have camouflage!"
"This one did!"
"Please, I'm asking you this one favor, please let me go to Vanhoover!"
"No! I need your help getting a new job, preferably away from this town."
"Oh! I know this one bar where people who appreciate music go to!"
Octavia moved into an upright position. "Where is it?"
"It's in Manehattan! There is also another one in Vanhoover. Your choice." He said with a smug grin. The last locale was her finding, and that turned it rather badly for her.
"Manehattan, really? Your suicidal friend just told you that it will be attacked and you expect me to go there?"
"Oh, c'mon! He'll be the to save the day! You'll come to no harm!"
Octavia played with her long, silky hair. She contemplated her options. One was to kiss her luck and throw herself at danger and the other one was to live next to a lunatic who charged at chimeras while in a motorcycles and holding a dozen spears and acting like a toreador.
"Metal, get me two train tickets to Manehattan, we leave tomorrow as soon as possible." She said with cold confidence.
Her friend chuckled and kissed her in the forehead, telling her that he would be back as soon as he cleared all of the other chores.
Soon as the grunge man in denim left her room, Octavia fell asleep. The pain she suffered was unbearable, and had caused her exhaustion beyond belief. In her dreams she saw her old teacher, Pentagram, as he gave her her first lessons.
.oOo.
Metal was back at the apartment packing everything. Since he was a roadie he had always insisted on keeping things ready in case they needed to leave. It took him fifteen minutes to pack every single piece of clothing. The furniture would stay, it was rented, just like the rest of this place. He was about to pick up all the luggage when there was a knock on the door. Metal's instincts told him to go for Marceline, in case it was a hooligan or some other form of trouble. He gripped his holstered axe and headed for the door.
Standing outside was a tall man clocked in dark blue. His eyes were shining silver, reflecting the small amount of light. It was creepy, the skin was barely visible amidst the cloak, but the eyes shone like stars. Metal relaxed his grip. Although mysterious, this man didn't look dangerous.
"Good night sir." Said Metal, trying to figure out what was happening.
"Yes, it is a good evening sir, I believe you are worrying why I am present before you." Said the dark man in a cool, soft voice.
"Yeah, there's that."
"Do not worry, I am an agent of our beloved Princess Luna."
"No I don't have time to listen to your religious bullshit." And Metal slammed the door, but the man responded by smashing his hand into the door.
"I'm sorry, but I am not here for religious business, it has come to our attention that you have been contacted by a mutual acquaintance, the Grey Warden Shield Heart."
Metal was surprised, the message had come only to him, so hearing someone say that they somehow found out about a secret message was troublesome.
"Don't worry, you are not in any sort of trouble, I just wanted to know what he told you."
"If he sent a letter it would be my business, not yours. Now if you don't mind I need to finish packing before I leave for Canterlot with my boss." Said Metal as he tried to close the door, but the stranger wouldn't budge.
"You're not going anywhere until you tell me what Shield Heart told you." The agent said with a creepy voice. "Two other messages were sent, one to a Grey and the other to the chief of police in Manehattan. Now, I need to know what the letter said because we fear of what he is going to do."
"The letter said: Come to Manehattan, cuz there' s going to be some problem and I want your help. That's it, there's nothing more to it."
"That is all? Very well, if you see him again tell him that Night Wing was asking for him." Said the agent in black as he jumped seven meters into the air and slowly descended to a rooftop.
Metal closed the door and said to himself: "Asshole." Before returning to his chores. Lifting the bags would usually represent an impossible task for most people, but for this roadie it was just Tuesday work. The more tedious task was carrying it all the way to the train station, but he had carried once a hundred and five kilogram man across a lake, so it didn't matter much.
At the train station he noticed that there were guards in the station. Usually there were none, but tonight it seemed like there was a convention and they were giving free cinnamon rolls to whoever showed up.
He went for the luggage daycare, where one could leave their stuff and expect people to respect it long enough for the next day. He bought tickets for the ten o'clock, first class of course, it had been too long since hey stopped going basic coach.
He returned to the medical wing, hoping that they would be able to check Octavia out with enough time to spare the following morning. But strangely, his thought deviated to Night Wing. The figure was slightly familiar, and his agility left Metal jealous. Also it was creepy how the eyes stood out while there was absolutely no visible skin. Then Metal finally realized, the threat was very real, otherwise Princess Luna would not have sent that man or have increased the security, because they were all around the place, guarding every single alley.
After a long walk Metal was resting in the couch at the hospital, looking through the letter. He told Night Wing the context, but he had purposely left out several details, such as Shield telling him that it was changelings, there was a possibility of a bigger threat and the need for his musical talents.
Music was his true specialty, long ago his father had taught him how to use music to channel magic, just like the stunner solo he had used at the bar. That was just the first of many he knew. He had a solo for calling down a meteor, one for face melting, another one to increase the strength of his allies and another one to form a giant rock wall.
Metal woke up and took a look at the wall clock. It marked five past nine.