1 - 20 of 34 Works by RunningOnSunshine
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Ponyboy is the youngest of the seven princes of the Curtis line. Born without the ability to utter a sound and plagued with prophetic visions, he is mistrusted by all but his family.
When his six older brothers are cursed into swans, the evil deed is framed on Ponyboy. Exiled from his own kingdom, Ponyboy only has a certain amount of time to break the curse before his family is doomed to remain swans forever.
Medieval Outsiders retelling of Grimm’s fairytale “The Six Swans”
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Galveston, Texas, 1900
Ponyboy Curtis and his family live in the island town of Galveston. Life has been rough waters since his parents died in a maritime accident eight months ago. But his brothers are trying. Life's alright with Johnny Cade at his side and the rest of his gang to back him up, especially when "wharf dogs" like them are targeted by the east side "stockings," the rich kids from the Silkstocking District.
Galveston is built to weather storms. But even then, they'll never see a hurricane in their lives. It just isn't a possible phenomenon. Ponyboy and his family have enough storms to weather in their own lives, all meteorology aside. Galveston is the fastest-growing southern city in the country. There's nowhere to go but up. And Ponyboy has great expectations as a boy who lives in what is soon to be Texas's greatest city.
Until a hurricane catches the island off-guard, and, separated, the Curtis gang has to fight for their lives to not only save themselves, but get back to each other again. If there's anyone else left alive.
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A historical survival fic based off of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
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Sixteen-year-old Ponyboy Curtis has been exploring the cave systems of Kentucky all his life. He's the best cave guide around, and he knows he's about to find the next big tourist attraction.
But when a cave accident traps his foot, half-burying him 60 feet under the ground and 150 feet through a long, impossibly tight passageway, rescue is more than difficult when you've wedged yourself so far down into a cave. Only his brother, Sodapop, and a reporter come to town to report on the incident, Johnny "Skeets" Cade, can reach him.
A nation-wide media explosion ensues, only endangering him further. In a race against time, the Curtis family and their friends are desperate to find a way to save their youngest in time.
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Heavily inspired by the true story of Floyd Collins. Takes inspiration from both the musical and the true story. Historical notes at the end of each chapter.
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Those Who Go by RunningOnSunshine
Fandoms: Tex - S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
29 Jan 2026
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Rewriting Tex from Mason's POV.
All Mason McCormick wants to do is become a basketball star, do well in school, get a scholarship, get to college, and leave Oklahoma. But Pop hasn't been home in four months, the money has run out, and Mason is left to figure out how on earth to take care of his fifteen-year-old brother, Tex, when Mason himself is only seventeen.
There are those who go and those who stay. If Mason doesn't do something quickly, he's afraid he's doomed to be the latter.
(Some of the Outsiders characters will make cameos.)
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There Were Kids Trapped in a Fire (and a Couple of Heroes Came to Their Aid) by RunningOnSunshine
Fandoms: Tex - S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
27 Jan 2026
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Mason and Tex McCormick, along with their friends, decide to play in the old, abandoned church on Jay Mountain, even after their teachers tell them not to. But they're adults, and what do adults know? There's no harm in a little bit of fun.
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Mason and Tex are the kids in the church fire, and Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dally come to their rescue.
(Although this event is referenced in my fic "Those Who Go," it is not necessary to read that to enjoy this fic on its own!
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Ponyboy told his brothers he was heading for the Dingo. He ends up not going after a turn of events, narrowly missing being at the location when it was bombed. But his brothers had no reason to believe he wasn't there. No reason to believe he wasn't dead.
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Based on the detail in That Was Then This Is Now that the Dingo was bombed.
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Two Children and a Twentieth Birthday by RunningOnSunshine
Fandoms: The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
22 Jan 2026
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Two officers stand in the living room, looking uncomfortable and out of place. Darry’s brothers sit together on the couch, practically crumpled over each other, Ponyboy clutched in Soda’s arms as they both shudder with sobs.
The sounds tear at Darry’s heart, sending it to the floor as he rushes over, checking them for injuries, bandages, anything that could have warranted something like this. He doesn’t understand. Nothing adds up. “What’s wrong?”
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Darry is the last of the brothers to learn about the accident that took their parents' lives.
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When the Curtis brothers' truck ends up in a snowy ditch during a blizzard on the coldest day of the year, they have to survive the night.
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Ponyboy wants to be the dungeon master in a Dungeons and Dragons one-shot. The gang plays, rules are out the window, and Ponyboy is at his wit's end.
(I know DND wasn't invented in the sixties, but let's just pretend.)
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The Curtis gang watches the moon landing.
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Sometimes, Ponyboy hates how meticulous he is.
He shouldn’t know exactly how old Johnny Cade was when he died. But he does. He’s done the math. Johnny was 16 years, 7 months, and 1 day old when he took his last breath in that hospital bed.
Ponyboy has been counting down the days to today. The day he turns 16 years, 7 months, and 2 days old.
On February 23, 1968, Pony is officially older than Johnny ever will be.
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Sodapop’s always been told he looks just like his mother. It’s usually just in a passing comment. He’s never actually been mistaken for her.
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Darry hallucinates during a high fever, mistaking Soda for their mother. Soda uses the mix-up to learn the worries his big brother has been bottling up.
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The Curtis brothers resume their annual camping trip tradition. But when an accident leaves Darry critically injured and all three of them lost and stranded without help or a clue of where they are, Sodapop and Ponyboy have to be smart to get their whole family out alive.
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They Don’t Call It the Pony Express for Nothing by RunningOnSunshine
Fandoms: The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton, Tex - S. E. Hinton, Rumble Fish - S. E. Hinton
24 Sep 2025
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Nebraska Territory: 1861
Ponyboy Curtis has been riding for the Pony Express since its inauguration a year ago. His gang and family works at the home station he frequents. It’s hard work, but it’s thrilling. The mail must be fast, no matter what.
That rhythm is broken after an accident during a thunderstorm on the trail, and Pony doesn’t come into the home station on time. At all.
It’s life or death, and it’s up to Ponyboy and the Curtis gang at the Little Blue River Station.
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One-shots following my "Sodapop's Baby" fanfic.
Raymond Curtis is growing up! His life is anything but normal with the Curtis brothers, the gang, and his nanny raising him, but he is loved beyond belief.
Series
- Part 2 of Sodapop's Baby
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Pony memorized all of his friends’ and family’s draft numbers the day they were broadcast on December 1, 1969. The next day, he scoured the paper for the numbers corresponding to his, Darry’s, Soda’s, Steve’s, and Two-Bit’s birthdays. And for curiosity’s sake, even though four and a half years had passed since Johnny and Dally’s deaths, he looked for theirs, too.
The system had been explained. The lottery numbers corresponded to any possible birthday. Those associated with the numbers 1-366. Those from the ages of 19 to 26 with the numbers 1-195 were likely to be called up throughout the year. Lowest first.
Panic raced through Pony’s chest as he checked every birthday methodically, growing calmer with each number in the 200s or 300s. All of them did.
All of them, except for his.
Eighty-three.
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A Perfect Place for Laying Low by RunningOnSunshine
Fandoms: The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
20 Aug 2025
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When Dallas high-tails it from New York after getting caught up in a murder rap, he finds himself spending one night in an old, abandoned church in the hodunk town of Windrixville.
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How Dally found out about the Windrixville church
(Note: This fic borrows some Dally lore from my fic “An Eye for an Eye,” but it’s not necessary to read that to understand this one)
Series
- Part 2 of An Eye for an Eye
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Dallas Winston's gang from New York comes to Tulsa with a vendetta. Four years ago, Dally killed one of their own. A whole murder rap. And he ran.
Now he's dead, but revenge still has to be taken. The Curtis gang leader must be held responsible. How better to hurt Darry and his gang than to take and harm their most beloved?
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Sodapop is kidnapped by Dally's old gang, who are desperate for revenge because Dally killed one of them years ago.
Series
- Part 1 of An Eye for an Eye
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The Curtis gang falls to pieces when Ponyboy, three of his track friends, and their assistant coach die in a freak van accident.
What they don’t know is that only a few miles away, Pony lies in a hospital bed recovering with another family watching over him, completely oblivious to the fact that he has been misidentified as their son.
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Heavily inspired by the true story of Whitney Cerak and Laura Van Ryn, two university students whose identities were mistakenly swapped after a horrific van accident. Whitney’s family grieved for her and had a funeral. Meanwhile, Laura’s family was unknowingly at Whitney’s hospital bed for five weeks before realizing she wasn’t their daughter and that Laura was the one who had actually died.
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A few weeks after Bob Sheldon, Johnny Cade, and Dallas Winston die, they make an unexpected return. Ponyboy is the only one who can see them, and for some reason, they're stuck to him, unable to move on.
As Pony tries to hide this from the living people in his life, things become a lot direr when it becomes clear that these three ghosts aren't the only entities that Pony's unstable grief has manifested.