In which Trot, Button-Bright, and Cap'n Bill find themselves prisoners yet treated with unexpected kindness among the industrious and colour-themed Pinkies of Sky Island, where rival tribes vie for the sun's favour amid splendid sunrises and sunsets. They soon learn that their fate—whether to remain as guests or face a perilous expulsion—is to be decided by Queen Tourmaline and her counsel, who ponder the strangers’ place in the island’s harmonious order.