#her mate is assumed dead and she can't return to her original colony (they've exiled her)

[ask-the-pioneer]

Why weren’t you and your sibling born into a colony?

"I… don't know… I never asked. I was young and just accepted everything at face value. Hell, I didn't know slugcats live in colonies until much later in my life".

"Why did mom decide to raise me and my sibling outside of one... I will probably never know, even if I wanted to".

With a defeated look on her face, Marbles' eyes drop to the floor. A big part of her still misses her mother and sibling, but secretly she dreads to find out the family's true fate. If they really are gone for good... the pain of knowing would be too much to bear.