Country Roads, Take Me *Away* From Home...

Sekkachi yawned, stretching her small, white limbs as she felt the gentle touch of her mother's hooves on her back. She stood shorter than your average filly, her pink and green messy afro mane bigger than her head. Her big, red eyes drifted outside as she gently rolled over in her overly large, soft bed - allowing the filly to see the gentle light of dawn.

"Wake up, Sek! We gotta go!" Her mother informed her; the gentleness of her voice would have felt forced to a pony who knew better. Little Sekkachi was not in that group.

"....go?" Sekkachi sat up in her bed gently, cocking her head to the side, curious eyes staring at her mother. "Where, mommy?"

The mare sighed, her eyes rolling upwards as she seemed to go deep into thought, considering her words in an oddly careful manner. Eventually, her pupils would drift back down to look at her daughter.

"...er...Equestria, d-" she started - but as she had expected, Sekkachi interrupted her almost immediately.

"Wh-what?! But...mommy! I thought...." Her face contorted. "...we don't like Equestria!"
despite this, she allowed her mother to tenderly pick her up and set the filly down lightly on her back.

"I know, Sekkachi. Mommy and Daddy have to do some things there, okay? We already got a house ready. We just need to leave so nobody we know sees us..."

She yelled as she felt Sekkachi's hooves pinch her fur out of worry. "...but mommy...there's no time to say bye-bye? Aloft...Mud...honey..."

There were a few moments of silence as the front door of their house creaked open - the pony who opened it being her dark blue older sister, Arashi Button. The mother walked past her and out into the dimly lit landscape. Their father had gone ahead of them to secure the house and pay early rent - a safety precaution.

"...I'm sorry, honey. You'll need to forget about them, okay?" The mare felt bad for telling her daughter something like that, but was thinking less about her and more the mission given to her family.

Sekkachi started to tear up, her eyes growing horrified. "B-but mommy! I...but...I really like having friends....they're so nice to me...so fun...."

The poor little filly kicked at her mother's back with all her might, causing her small body to go flying. As plentiful tears began streaming down her face she ran in the opposite direction her mother was headed.

"I don't wanna leave!!" She yelled as loudly as she could, hoping somebody would awake; much to her tired mother's exasperation. Unfortunately for Sekkachi nobody would hear her yell.

With a deep sigh and roll of her brown eyes, her mother told Arashi to run after her. Sekkachi was small and fast, but Arashi knew exactly where her little sister was going to hide, and the many shortcuts that lead there.

Most of Aellyn's roads were either dirt or old, cracked cement. This was a stark contrast to the plentiful flora dotting the landscapes, particularly in the wealthier area their family occupied. Sekkachi often enjoyed getting dirty by rolling around in the roads with her friends. There was one particular spot they frequented, hidden beyond the capital city's clock tower. Looming in its shadow was a shallow pit filled with warm mud.
Sure enough - upon inspecting the hole, Arashi easily found her younger sister and pulled the filly out of the pit, keeping a grip to ensure she didn't get away. Sekkachi looked to her with a hurt, sad expression before once more bursting into tears and hugging her big sister.

"....I..I don't wanna leave...Arshie!! Can't we stay?" She cried, burying her face in Arashi's shoulder as she softly cradled her little sister.

Slowly, she walked the sobbing Sekkachi back to where their mother awaited them. Arashi simply stared out at the sun as it slowly rose, flicking her long white mane out of her face. There was a long walk ahead of them. The family had gotten their passports long ago, but did not feel as though using the border was the best idea. Being one of the higher-up families in Aellyn, it would rouse suspicion of them. Sekkachi only had a vague understanding of why this was the case - being young, most of the concepts surrounding the hostility between the two countries went over her head.

Upon Arashi's return with her sister in tow, their mother sighed and turned around, beginning to walk. Arashi continued to comfort Sekkachi, trying to calm her down. Arashi herself had many friends she hated to abandon, but with her older age came a better understanding of why they had to leave so early. No time for goodbyes. But she was determined to stay strong, if only to keep Sekkachi intact.

"Lets move quickly. We'll be cutting around the border just to be safe. Don't worry, there's nothing in our way. We just need to ensure we’re not spotted is all." Their mother assured, trotting briskly along the rough dirt road.

The walk was, for the most part, uninteresting. Scenery rarely changed, save for the short bit of the path that led through a thick forest. Otherwise, it was all flat grasslands dotted with colourful flowers. Normally Sekkachi would love looking at all the vivid colours, but this was not the case today. The filly's eyes had dried out which got her to stop crying, but her face was still buried in Arashi's fur.

Arashi calmly kept a firm hoof wrapped around her little sister, eyes darting constantly to search for danger despite knowing there shouldn't be any. After all, she trusted her mother. They kept walking down the path that would sneak them across the border.

Their mother stared at the sky, blue and bright as the sun continued crossing it, blaring down. Thankfully it hadn’t gotten too hot yet despite the lack of shade on their route - it might've been because of how humid it was. They still had some ways to go; this was no short journey.