When Cheerilee asks her students to write an essay on their greatest hero, there's only one stallion Rumble can write about. That is none other than the stallion who's loved, protected, and cared for him the most. The one who's been there when nopony else has. The one who guides him, provides for him, and leaves big horseshoes for him to fill someday.
Takes place before "Wonderbolt Academy".
Thanks to Skeeter The Lurker, Holo, iloveportalz0r, Vexy, and TheApexSovereign for editing.
Now featured on Equestria Daily!
Now with a French translation by inglobwetrust!
Rated Everyone.
Chapters (1)
DAMN. That was fast.
Also... This was something, alright. Very well done on it.
~Skeeter The Lurker
3114770 The feels.
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Aww! That was adorable!
3114770
Thanks again for the help!
I'm glad it came out well.
3114841
Indeed. I hope they are good feels.
3114942
Thank you!
Wow, Featured!
Feels... yes. No mention of Thunderlane's Wonderbolt appearance. Must take place before that.
3115073
Yup, more around Hurricane Wondershy (hence the "lazy Thunderlane" thing).
Damn the feels... great job!
D'awwwwwwwww!
That was wonderful! A few misspellings here and there (not the ones in Rumble's essay :P) but other than that this was really cute!
Adorable! Only... One problem...
Are we blinking into Ponyville here, or did Thunderlane morph into his brother?
3114995 They are.
This got featured after so long? What happened?
The feels man...
Tears are running down my cheeks, too
This story was incredibly awesome and I hope for more!
-FatTony-
Good guy Thunderlane.
congrats on the Feature. good story.
Very sweet story, liked and faved :)
This was well written, I hope you enjoyed writing is as ,much as I enjoyed reading it.
Nicely done
Oh gods this was beautiful.
So, so very well written, so plenty of feels. It's been a while since I teared up while reading a story for the last time.
I- wonderful. Simply... wonderful.
Kindly,
~Sinrar
God damn, you are just trying to kill me with the feelings from this.
I'm not crying, these are liquid pride streaming down my face. Bros are always you're hero, at least they should be.
3115451
Well said.
Awwww
This is beautiful. A masterpiece.
Rumble is so cute and Thunderlane is a great big brother.
Bad, I'm afraid you've been diagnosed with chronic ballerness. It's uncurable, and it could be a side effect of you writing too many awesome stories.
What do mean I'm crying.... DAMN IT! IT'S NOT TEARS!
As usual, excellent quality from one of my favorite authors on the site.
I miss my brother now....
I will download this later, maybe tomorrow.... This looks good!!! Advanced like and favorite, but I will give you my full review, like and favorite when I read it
>Rated Everyone.
I think you mean:
>Rated E for Everyone
3115293
Thanks!
I caught and fixed one misspelling right now but will give it another run-through when I have the chance. Fixing things on a phone is hard. 
3115303
Fixed, thanks! That was a big whoops.
I am incredibly happy this fic is featured. All must know how glorious Thunderlane is.
th09.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2012/257/8/c/manly_tears_by_dylandylan72-d4n7l51.png
and yet... I don't want this to be over. I wish to see more into this family. I want......moar!
...
...I...
...I...have a stinging feeling...in my eyes...
This is why I like you.
(Have I posted this one before? I can't remember.)
Touching stories about characters with little more than names and barely any dialogue between them? Check.
Always good to read something about background characters.
Manly tears shed...
Dude, you need to continue this... The feels are too much. I need an ending for this
I don't see what the big deal is. It's just...
Huh...that's odd. My heart seems to have stopped.
I wonder what itjasdonvvosnbipanihernvlkandfjnbjfbowrenhnbvfbkjrkjbvzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Wow this story actually made me tear up. Good job, this is a top notch story. I would like to see a little follow up at any point, even if there isn't this is still great on its own.
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Thank you!
I'm glad you guys enjoyed it! 
3115293
Went through this again now, hopefully any things I missed have been cleared up.
Thanks again!
3115345
Glad to hear!
3115382
It was actually Featured at the bottom of the list with Mature checked off about two hours after it went up. Then I checked this on my lunch at work and BOOM! I'm really flattered by the reception!
3115451
Sums it up perfectly.
3115475
He sure is. Now he needs to be a meme.
3115617
Thank you! I really enjoyed writing it, too.
3115799
My plan has been foiled! Seriously though, I'm glad the feels were strong with this one.
3115824
Agreed.
3116109
Thank you for the diagnosis, Doctor Inspectah. I'm afraid to say, however, that I recognize the same symptoms in you as well. We shall be uncurable ballers together, my friend.
Seriously though, I'm glad you enjoyed this one! :D
3116155
It's liquid pride...
3116167
D'awww, thanks, Bob! You're one of my favs, too.
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3116266
Awesome! Can't wait!
3116370
You got it!
3116874
Thunderlane is an awesome stallion. Agreed.
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Thanks guys! Unfortunately, at this time, I don't plan on writing a sequel or follow-up, but that may change in the future.
If you choose to do so, I hope you enjoy future works by me!
3117086
Awww...I like you too, my friend.
Nooope...you haven't used that one before...but it's so beautiful...
3117621
Agreed. Background ponies need more love.
3118154 No problem.
I wish that every story on this website was like this.
This story is majestic. Also proof that group spamming works. I commend you on your techniques. I've taken notes on them, and plan to use them in the future.
Garbo out and stuff.
Huh. A nice SoL story at the top of the feature box. Guess there's still hope for humanity.
EDIT: Except if there was shenanigans involved in getting it there...
is that a tear coming out of my eye? NO! It cant be! get back in there tear! *notices u* oh its liquid pride. I was so not crying
This was nice read
3118506
Aww...thank you! I'm glad you liked it so much.
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Thanks guys! However, there are no shenanigans here. When this was published, I added it to the following groups: Slice of Life, Rumble, Thunderlane, Love and Tolerate, and TheBronyFiction (a group icudeadnow made that's kinda all-inclusive). The rest of the additions were not me. It got into the box at 20 likes and just kinda churned from there. By contrast, this story I wrote I added to all its relevant groups--all the characters, the genre, and Regi's group, because Regi--twice as many groups. It got 20 or so likes on its publish and stayed at 26 likes for almost a week (gained a like today apparently). I also wrote a Rarijack story that shot up to 49 likes on its first day. I added it to five groups, no feature. Finally, a SoarinDash story I wrote hit 62 likes on its first day, also added to five groups, no feature.
TL;DR Yes, I added this to some groups--the readers added it to the other half--but that isn't a gaurantee to feature. I've added stories to just as many groups or more and hadn't hit the box. It also got into the box fairly quickly. How? I have no idea. My other three stories to get featured were a series (which makes sense, since reader anticipation and stuff), so I was very surprised this got featured.
3118649
That's right, it's just liquid pride.
3118673
That was a genuinely moving story. Some people (and ponies, it seems) have to grow up too quickly and shoulder too great a burden too soon. It is the measure of their fortitude and the strength of their soul as to whether that breaks them.
I loved your characterisation of what, after all, are two far-background characters, not even ones in which the fandom are particularly interested. However, you gave them a lovely, three-dimensional background and nature. You can really understand Thunderlane and Rumble's dilemmas, crises and feelings.