"Station Shenanigans"

At a bench at Zootopia Central Station, Nick sat with Molly, Judy's five-year-old sister, as they waited for Judy to finish up in the restroom. Once Judy was ready, she and Nick would escort the kit back to Bunnyburrow, where she had escaped that morning on yet another misadventure aboard the Zootopia Express. It was her fifth time riding the train from Bunnyburrow alone, which she had first done a few years ago because she had wanted to follow her big sister Judy when she was beginning her life in Zootopia. She had started that journey on top of the train before falling into the passenger area through a door in the observation dome, but each subsequent trip, she spent more and more time on the outside of the train, enjoying the thrill and the wind in her fur. Bonnie and Stu had successfully pursued the train in their truck the first four times, but this time, unable to keep up, and with a phone that cooperated, they had arranged for Judy and Nick to meet Molly in Zootopia.

"Attention passengers," a male voice on the public address system said, "the 12:42 p.m. train to Gnu Haven will arrive on Track 2."

"And ten minutes behind that will be our train to Bunnyburrow," Nick said. "I hope Judy hurries up."

"Hey!" Molly said as she pulled at Nick's arm a little.

"Hey!" Nick replied back. "What's up?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

Nick smiled. "You just did."

"Do you like my sister?"

Nick stared at the five-year-old for a moment. It was such an unexpected question. For a few seconds, his hustler's mind worked on a creative dodge or a clever non-answer, but then he just smiled.

"I love your sister."

"You do?"

"Absolutely. One hundred thousand percent."

"How much do you love her?"

"Take the number of bunnies in Bunnyburrow, multiply by the number of stars in the sky, then multiply by the number of snowflakes in Tundratown. Then multiply all that by infinity. The result is just a tiny fraction of how much I love Judy."

"Wow. Does she know?"

"I think deep down she knows I care for her. But I've never told her directly, no."

"Why not?"

"Just waiting for the right moment. For both of us. It's an extremely huge thing to admit, and I don't want to rush it or do it wrong."

"Why are you telling me so much? Aren't you afraid I might tell Judy?"

Nick chuckled. "No, not really."

"Why not?"

Nick smirked. "Because it would be my word against yours, and you have a bad habit of riding on top of trains even after your parents have told you not to. Anything you might say can be almost entirely discounted because of being a mischievous five-year-old, possibly with an overactive imagination." He playfully messed up the kit's head fur a little. "No offence, kid, but it's the truth. So it'll stay our little secret for now. It's called a hustle, Molly."

"Oh." Molly reached into her pocket and pulled out a familiar orange object. "What if I played her this?"

Nick's eyes widened. "You ... you stole Judy's carrot pen?" Nick shook his head. "That was very naughty of you." He held a paw out. "If you give it to me right now, though, I promise to get it back to her quietly and that I won't tell her or your parents."

Molly laughed. "But this is my pen!"

The fox raised an eyebrow. "Your pen?"

Molly nodded.

"What, are all you bunnies just born with those blackmail devices in your paws?"

"I always thought Judy's pen was cool, so I asked her for one for Christmas."

"Ah," Nick said. He thought for a moment. He patted his pockets. "Hey, you mind if I borrow that pen? I was going to get a newspaper and do the crossword puzzle on the train, but I don't have a pen with me."

Molly laughed. "But you signed for the tickets with your pen!"

"Well ... yeah ... but ... my pen is blue, and I want to do the crossword puzzle in black."

"Sorry," Molly said as she put the carrot pen back in her pocket.

Nick sighed. "You're worse than a common street criminal, you know that?"

"Not true. If I was a criminal, you'd take the pen right out of my pocket. But I'm just a sweet kit, so you're not going to do that."

"Touché." The hustled hustler sighed again. "All right, what's it going to take to get you to delete that recording? How about a nice carrot smoothie from the station café?"

"No, I'm a little too cold for a smoothie."

"Riding on top of a train through Tundratown will do that. OK, what about a warm carrot tea?"

"I don't drink tea."

Nick presumed the next answer but had to ask anyway. "Don't suppose you'd be a coffee drinker, then? Get you all hopped up on caffeine? I bet your parents never let you do that."

"I snuck a sip of Dad's coffee once. I didn't like it."

Nick pulled out his wallet. "I've got a nice crisp five-dollar bill here."

"And it can stay there."

"Did I say five? I meant fifty."

"Nah."

"I've got my ATM card. I can withdraw up to $1,000."

"I'm five years old. What would I do with $1,000?"

Nick put his wallet back and pulled out his pawcuffs. "These are authentic ZPD pawcuffs. Have some fun by 'arresting' your siblings for various petty crimes."

"Arrests are too much paperwork."

"That's actually true." The fox cop put the cuffs away. "Gazelle is returning to Zootopia from her international tour next month. I'll get the best seats, plus backstage passes."

"I think Gazelle is just OK."

"I'll make sure Judy picks you to be the flower girl when we eventually get married."

"Hey, I know what I want!"

"Great!"

"I want to drive the train!"

The fox's heart nearly stopped. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, and also no," Nick said, shaking his head with each word.

"Why not?"

"Because you are not an engineer, and let's just say I witnessed something once that proves just how important it is to be properly trained before operating any kind of rail equipment."

"But I want to." Molly tilted her head down and buried her face in her paws. After a moment, she began to cry.

Nick gently placed a paw on her back. "Please don't cry." After a moment, he sighed. "Fine. I'll make it happen."

Molly looked up at him. "Really?"

Nick nodded. "I know everybody. I'll make some calls. I'll get you ten minutes with your paw on the throttle, not a second more. And the engineer and I have to be with you the entire time. Agreed?"

Molly nodded.

"Good. Also, you can never tell anyone else about this. Not Judy, not your other siblings, not your parents, no one. And most importantly, you must promise me that you will never ride on top of a train ever again. I know it feels exciting, but it's extremely dangerous. You also can't ride a train at all alone until you're older."

"If I can also blow the horn once," the kit said as she held her paw out.

Nick shook it. "We have a deal."

Molly let go of Nick's paw and presented him with the carrot pen. "Don't be too mad, but the batteries died this morning. I wasn't able to record you."

Molly is a character from the "Hopp on Board" episode of Zootopia+. She hitches a ride aboard Judy's train from Bunnyburrow to Zootopia, starting off on its roof, and Bonnie and Stu pursue in their truck.