#dalpony

Curling up, I was thankful for Dally’s jacket. It was too big, but it was warm. Not even the rattling of the train could keep me awake, and I went to sleep in a hoodlum’s jacket, with a gun lying next to my hand.

Dalpony canon era but make it Lolita. I don't usually address the age gap in my Dalpony or DalOhNy (Dally/Johnny/Pony) fics, but it is realistically problematic and will be until Pony is at least like, 21-22.

I'm thinking it'll be set when they're 13 & 16 or 14 & 17, but I'm unsure. Very little tags and warnings for satire (is that the right word?), make it more implied. The entire narrative is going 'oh yes this is okay! its love they know each other they trust each other' yada yada yada, and it's written very seriously, as if the entire point isn't to show how people romanticize these kinds of age gaps and relationships without consciously acknowledging they're only okay in fiction.

Probably add in some kind of abuse or neglect, like Dally cheating on Pony, getting super upset when Pony asks if they can tell their friends, Dally guilt-tripping Pony, maybe even pressuring him into sexual acts. But make it complicated by showing that Dally has no clue this is truly wrong, because this is the same way he and the other boys treat women, and then apply that POV to the narrative itself. Keep it vague. Don't word it as Dally pressuring Pony, word it as him comforting Pony and helping him be more open. Don't word it as Dally cheating and gaslighting Pony, word it as him keeping their cover up so people don't kill them for being gay and oh he doesn't really enjoy it and its not as good as it is with Pony.

Perhaps it's canon compliant and Dally dies along with Johnny (or maybe only Johnny survives so he gets to be there for the reveal), and people don't quite understand why Pony seems so broken up about Dally to an almost theatrical extent, until he reaches under his shirt and reveals a chain with Dally's skull ring on it. He - in tears - tells the gang everything about his and Dally's relationship, and how much he misses Dally helping him be more comfortable with intimacy (aka pushing Pony's boundaries until he got a yes). How much he wishes Dally were here because who else would be willing to sleep with random girls just to protect Pony. And the gang isn't stupid right so they cotton on to the fact that Dally was manipulating Pony and not really helping him even though - while no one knows this - Dally thought he was doing the right thing, or at least not being any worse than usual. And of course they're telling Pony hey you've been manipulated this was NOT okay but Pony and the narrative double-down on this being okay for a while until someone (i imagine Darry or Johnny in the case he's still alive) really sits him down and says the right words in the right order and the entire feel and wording of the narrative changes to be dark and realistic and show that this wasn't some difficult but otherwise good relationship, but a toxic one.

And it kinda ends with Pony sitting at Dally's grave a year later and he's talking to Dally and wondering aloud if Dally himself even knew that what he was doing was wrong.

"Oh, I bet Eileen is having a fit," Mom said, a little worriedly. "She hates the thunder. Keith is probably running around trying to catch the rain in his mouth or something silly."

"Two-Bit? Heck, Two-Bit's probably trying to swim down the street," Soda laughed.

Before anyone could answer, the front door rattled violently. Pony didn't jump. He just watched as the door swung open, letting in a fierce gust of wet wind that made the candle flames dance and gasp.

Standing in the doorway, looking like two half-drowned rats, were Dallas Winston and Johnny Cade.

Dally’s white-blonde hair was plastered flat against his forehead, dripping water right into his eyes. Johnny looked even smaller than usual, shivering violently in a soaked denim jacket. He drifted automatically toward the window, looking completely worn out, and sank down onto the floor right next to Ponyboy. Pony nudged his shoulder against Johnny's wet one, a quiet welcome.

But Pony’s eyes didn't stay on Johnny. They went right back to Dally.

Dallas stayed standing in the center of the living room, water pooling rapidly around his heavy boots. His icy blue eyes scanned the room, taking in Darry, Soda, and their parents, until they finally landed on Ponyboy and lingered.

so in the case of Dalpony pony would probably get the ring. But it doesn't suit him very well because it clashes with his natural warmth. So years down the line Dally either steals, probably, or maybe buys another ring, this time gold.

Is there anything worse than shipping a pairing set in the way back, but knowing they'd get down and nasty to some modern R&B???