//------------------------------//
// First Model 
// Story: Wargaming for Ponies 
// by Mystic Sunrise 
//------------------------------//

"Are you sure you do not mind?" Sci Twi asked as she and Pearl entered the latter's home. "I am about ready to drop dead right this second. I don't know how I'm going to survive four years of this."

Pearl giggled. "Trust me, I know. Kazumi's tutored me several times when my normal teacher couldn't make it. Even when we are friends, she is ruthless when she is teaching. No matter who you are." She smirked. "And I think pony you needs a friend. I can only do so much."

Twilight shook her head. "Oh come on, you're not that bad. This is just the sort of thing Twily loves. She can deny it all she wants, but I have it on good authority from her Shining Armor that she loves this kind of thing."

Pearl rolled her eyes as they made their way up to their bedroom. To her immense relief, the pair found Princess Twilight still on the youngster's bed, looking out the nearby window, seemingly deep in thought. She smiled as she spotted the pair and made for them. "Hey. I couldn't help it, but I read the whole thing. Even if I didn't understand any of what came after the painting section."

Pearl rolled her eyes. "Somehow I'm not surprised. And I'm glad you didn't touch anything. I have everything right where I know they are and where I need them."

Twilight giggled as she wrapped an arm around Twi as her love sat down next to her. "I wanted to so many times. I just can't stand this kind of mess on your desk."

Pearl only smiled. "Organised chaos, princess. It works for me. I literally kicked Kohaku out of here when he tried to fix it a few months ago. He got the point after that. Glad I don't need to repeat the process."

Twilight's eyes twitched at the use of the words organized chaos. Two words that should never go together. "I do think I found one I like. But are you the only one who plays this army?"

Pearl shook her head. "Nope. Another girl plays a Ghyran Guard Vanguard Auxiallary Chamber. She has a massive rivalry with a Maggotkin of Nurgle player. Good-natured of course. They usually play against each other once a week. And another guy plays Celestial Vindicators. I know Rainbow is interested in the Lightning Hawks. Her eyes all but lip up when she saw them and the Harbinger Chamber. She's not very good at hiding what she's thinking.

Twilight nodded. That made sense, from what she had read. And that was true of Rainbow as well.  "Well, I would be lying if the Knights of Azyr don't sound interesting. As a scholar myself and always looking to recover lost knowledge. Though I don't know what a Lumineth elf or Hysh is."

Pearl rubbed her forehead. "It is a very long story, and I'm the wrong girl to ask about the Lumineth Realm-Lords. And Hysh is one of the Mortal Realms. Just like Azyr and Ghyran are. But that's a whole other story with all eight of them. Not counting the Eightpoints as well."

Twi giggled as Twilight groaned. "I think we might break her at this rate. Maybe we should move on?"

Pearl rolled her eyes as she began to grab things from her desk. "Fine. Grab the model and follow me, princess. This first step needs to be done outside for safety. Luckily, I have just the paints you need for this Stormhost."

Twilight wanted to ask more but decided to hold for now as she grabbed the Liberator and followed Pearl outside with Twi not far behind.





"Now I understand why Spike does this outside," Twilight said, as the trio returned inside, her model now an even black color. "I always knew paint fumes could be dangerous. But I didn't think it would smell so much."

Pearl nodded. "Yeah. Usually, Kohaku tries to help in some way during this, but he can't take the smell of the paint, no matter what I do. He's usually back by the time the primer is dry. Chaos Black is good for a darker color. The shoulder pads will be harder to do right since white isn't easy to make look good." 

Twilight rolled her eyes as Pearl made space for her at her desk and began pulling out paints.





Twilight had an idea in mind for how she would do this, as she thinned her first paint. Spike had always said it made sense to start with the largest areas on the model and paint them first. In this case, it would be everything but the shoulder pads, shield, and hammer.

Starting from the head, steadying her hands as much as possible, she dipped her brush into the pot of Kantor Blue and began to paint. She smiled as the helmet went from a drab black to a dark blue. Careful to keep the blue off from the halo, she next moved down to the main armor panels of the chest.

She smiled as this too began to take shape, both front and back. By the time she was done with this section, Twilight was beginning to understand why so many found this relaxing. As the arms began to take shape as well, a well of excitement began to grow inside of her. And even if it wouldn't be seen because of the shield, she made sure to paint all of the Liberator's left arm and hand.

The legs felt like she had just finished a major part of a test, even as she very carefully painted around what looked like a lightning bolt on the right leg. But as she finally pulled away for a moment, Twilight sighed, knowing that was far from the truth.





"This is going way better than I thought it would," Pearl whispered as the princess added Retributor Gold to the halo, shoulder pad trim and hammer symbol on the right pad, shield trim and hammer symbol, belt buckle, loincloth, the hammer on the shield, and the decorative symbols on the knife scabard. "You sure she's never done this before?"

Twi nodded, impressed by all of this. "No. Spike has plenty of models in his room. But Twily's never done any herself. For a long time, she thought they were a waste of time." Her smile grew. "But if there's one thing Twily is? It's that she never does anything half-baked. No matter how long it might take."

Pearl chuckled. That she could believe.





Twilight tuned out the background noise. She knew that they were talking about her, but this was too important to think about anything else at the moment.

Her Liberator was really starting to look like a proper Stormcast Eternal now. and it made her feel good to see it all come together, as she began to paint the tabard's trim with Ushabti Bone, before adding Khorne Red to the assets and weapon hafts, Leadbelcher to the hammer's head, and the lightning bolt on the right leg.

Now came the part that worried her the most, as she cleaned her brush once more. She knew how hard it was to get white right on a model. Spike complained about it often enough that even she could understand that. But damn it all if she stopped now as she grabbed the pot of Celestra Grey.

Starting with the shield, Twilight began to carefully paint around the hammer and lightning bolts. This was easier said than done, as the parts she was trying to get to were so small. Scrunching her eyes, Twilight fought the growing urge to speed this up. Not now. This was too close to the end. She was too invested to even think about stopping now.

After a moment, she smiled as the shield came out in an off-white color she was happy with. She didn't think there was anything else she could do to get it any whiter. Now came the final parts. The left shoulder pad was rather easy to paint since it was nothing but a flat surface, only making sure to avoid the edges.

But it was the right pad that worried Twilight the most. If the shield had small areas she needed to get to, the shoulder pad was even worse if possible. 

Twi saw the growing worry in her girlfriend's eyes and made to stand. Only to have Pearl put an arm on her shoulder and push her back down with a shake of her head. Twi went to argue. But the glare in the girl's eyes said that this was for the better. Especially at this critical moment.

Twilight bit down on her worry, and moved ahead. She wouldn't get anywhere sitting here like this. Very carefully, using only perhaps a single brush hair, or maybe two (she couldn't tell), she painted in and around the hammer symbol on the shoulder pad. By the grace of whatever gods may be watching (or she was better at this than she thought), Twilight managed to keep the grey off of the gold.

Only once she was sure that she had not missed anything, triple checking to be sure, did Twilight allow herself to relax as she set the Liberator down, releasing a breath she hadn't known she had been holding, as Twi rushed over and pulled her into a hug.

Pearl also let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding as she joined them and looked the model over. "Well. That went way better than I thought it would. Are you sure you haven't done one of these before?"

Twilight chuckled. "I'm sure. But now I can understand why people like doing things like this. Is there anything else I need to do?"

Pearl shrugged. "There's a few more for the model itself. And then you really should give it a proper base. Do you have anything in mind?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not really. I still know so little of this game, so I wouldn't know what to put on it."

Pearl nodded as she pulled out some new paint pots. Drakenhof Nightshade, Reikland Fleshshade, Nuln Oil, and Seraphim Sepia. "Then we can use the one they did in the battletome." She smiled sheepishly. "And this next step? Well... I'm going to do it." She held up a hand as Twilight went to argue. "I know you did great on the rest of the model. But this is one step that can go wrong if you're not careful. Give it a few more models before you do it."

Twilight bit back a retort as Twi held her close. She wanted to fight this. This was her model after all. But the look in the young girl's eyes told her that she was not ready. At least not yet, she sighed. "Fine. What about all of the highlights?"

Pearl shrugged. "Depends. Do you want them? He'll look great even without them. But they'll make him look even better."

Twilight thought for a moment, before smiling. "Then he deserves the very best. If this turns out to be a one-time thing for me, I want something that will look great on my shelf. But I want to do something before this is all done."

Pearl nodded happily as she set to work. "Then you can definitely do the base. It's not that hard. Even for a rookie."

Twilight pouted at being called something like that, even as Twi giggled.





Twilight watched Pearl work with not a little bit of awe. She didn't think hands could do something so delicate as highlighting things so small on the Liberator, but again, she had been proven wrong.

And again, as she watched Pearl work with an intensity she found both cute and impressive at the same time, there came the persistent itch in the back of her mind that they should have been something more than just friends. Much more. Both here and in Equestria.

"I don't think my hands will ever be this good," Twilight said, as Pearl put down a pot of Fire Dragon Bright, having finished highlighting the tassets.

Pearl giggled as she grabbed for the pot of Pallid Wych Flesh to finish off all the highlights. "Give it time. It took me years to get this good. Nobody starts out knowing how to do this." She smirked at the growing pile of notes at the princess's side. "And Rainbow was right. Your note-taking is crazy. You'll be doing this in no time at this rate."

Twilight pouted while Twi giggled at her marefriend's expense. It took only a few minutes before Pearl sighed and pulled back, cleaning her brush thoroughly as she did. The model looked even more amazing now, to Twilight. Something she hadn't thought possible before. "Now comes the fun part."

Twilight went over as Pearl stood up and began to pull several things out of storage, even as she returned most of the paints to their proper places. "You only need a few things for this step, princess," she said, handing her an old brush that had seen much use. "And this is better for one step in particular."

Twilight frowned as she sat down once more, as Pearl set out something called Citadel Sand, and another called Middenland Tufts, alongside Steel Legion Drab. This last one, at least, made sense, as she very carefully painted the outside edge of the base with it.

Giving it more than enough time to dry, Pearl handed Twilight some PVA glue with a smile. "Now? Just apply this to the whole base, making sure to avoid his feet. That's why I use an old brush."

Twilight wasn't sure what this was supposed to do but did as she was told, moving the glue around with the brush to make sure it got an even coating.

Pearl nodded as this was done and opened the sand. "Now you just cover it with the sand. Make sure you shake off the excise. Then add a few tufts, and then just wait for the glue to dry before doing anything else."

Twilight blinked, but did so. There was a sweet sense of satisfaction as she added two tufts to both the front and back of the Liberator. "Now what?" She asked, leaning back in her chair.

Pearl smirked. "Now? Let the glue dry for a while before moving it again. You don't need to be back in Equestria any time soon, do you?"

Twilight shook her head. "Well. No. But Chancellor Neighsay has been asking for me lately. I do not want to make wait for me too long."

Pearl blinked. "Neighsay? What the hell is he chancellor of anyway?"

Twilight shared a surprised look with Twi, who only shook her head in bemusement. "The Equestrian Education Association. Why? Is he not in this world?"

Pearl shook her head. "No, he is. But he's the store manager for Games-Workshop here in Canterlot. He's rough around the edges. But he does genuinely care and does what he can to help new people in the hobby."

Twilight was taken aback by this, as Twi rocked her gently. But it was something for later. Right now? She just wanted to relax after all of this.