Princess Twilight Sparkle stared at the front of the video game case Rainbow Dash held proudly before her like a filly's first A+ on a book report. She tilted her head as she read the title.
"Final Fantasy XV? So...what, the fourteen that came before it weren't final enough?"
Rainbow snorted. "Pssh. It's just a name," she said. "An awesome name for a bunch of really awesome games!"
"They're that awesome? Really?" Sunset asked with a small smirk.
"I've been a huge fan of Final Fantasy since I was little," Rainbow Dash replied enthusiastically. "I mean, okay, some of 'em kinda suck, but most of 'em are awesome! Especially Final Fantasy VII." She laughed. "Remember when I went as Cloud for Halloween when we were twelve?"
Fluttershy ran her fingers through her hair, a mild pout on her face. "I remember you forced me to go as Aerith," she said. "I'm still not sure how I feel about that."
Sunset snickered. "Rainbow Dash dressed up as Cloud," she said. "I can totally see that."
"Yeah, it was awesome," Rainbow said, preening.
"Well it must be pretty popular if there's fifteen of them," Princess Twilight said. "Still, that title, though. I mean, I can't wrap my head around it. If it's the fifteenth game in the series, it...it just isn't very final..."
"Actually, there's a reason they're called that," Twilight said, pushing her glasses up and taking on her lecturing tone. "Thirty years ago, Square was struggling and facing bankruptcy. They'd been in business for a few years, but none of the games they were making were selling very well. Their lead designer was thinking of quitting the video game business and going back to college, but he wanted to make one last game with the company. They could only afford to develop and publish one more game, and he wanted to do an RPG. They decided to go ahead with it since some other RPGs were really popular then, and they named it Final Fantasy because they were all pretty sure it'd be the last game they ever made."
Princess Twilight leaned forward eagerly. "And then what happened?"
"It blew up," Rainbow Dash said. "Saved the company."
Twilight nodded. "They didn't waste any time making Final Fantasy II." She shrugged. "Then Final Fantasy III, and then when the next video game console came out, Final Fantasy IV. And so on and so on." She looked at the game Rainbow Dash held. "Now they're up to Final Fantasy XV."
Princess Twilight pursed her lips. "So they're making one every two years?"
"Eh, not exactly," Rainbow said. "They were makin' one every year for a while, then they had some gaps, then they started remaking some of the older ones in between workin' on the new ones. And there's a lot of like, side games. Not numbered FFs, but they have the title and they're all their own little thing. If you added up all of those, there's really like, I dunno, thirty or forty Final Fantasy games."
"Wow," Princess Twilight said. "So the title is because it was supposed to be their last game, but then it just sort of became a brand?"
"Pretty much."
"I guess that makes sense." Princess Twilight frowned. "Still, if the first one is thirty years old, doesn't that make it kinda hard for new players to get into it? I mean, if you're just starting, you'd have to track down and play fourteen games to get to the new one...it just seems like you'd get tired of it way before you got to fifteen."
"That's not how it works," Sunset said with a laugh. "I don't play these things, but I kinda know a little about them. They're not really sequels like..." She shrugged. "Like the Star Wars movies or the Daring Do books. It's not all one story. Actually, almost none of the Final Fantasy games have anything to do with each other except for stuff like the magic system, some of the monsters, basic stuff."
"Yeah," Rainbow said, nodding. "Every game is totally its own story with its own world and its own characters and everything. That's why if you don't like one you can just skip it. A lot of the big RPGs are like that."
"I had no idea you were such an RPG fan, Rainbow Dash," Sunset said, raising an eyebrow.
Rainbow snorted. "What, you think I wanna advertise it? Besides, I really just play Final Fantasy, and really only the ones that came out like, after I was born. I haven't even played Final Fantasy VII, just the games that have the characters in 'em and stuff." She sighed. "Man, when the remake drops next year, I don't even know how I'm gonna afford that..."
Princess Twilight looked around. "What about the rest of you? Do you girls play these games?"
Applejack shook her head. "Not mah thing. Ah'm more inta racin' games an' shooters."
"I like RPGs, but I'm more into Dragon Quest and the sillier ones," Pinkie said. "Final Fantasy gets too..." She shuddered. "It goes weird, dark places I don't like."
Rarity snorted. "Really, these games are so ridiculous. Especially the costume designs!" She paused. "Though I must admit when Rainbow Dash showed me a EweTube video of that...Sephiroth..." She let out a dreamy sigh. "I did have a moment of weakness."
"Because Sephiroth is so cool and so badass?" Rainbow said eagerly.
"Mmm, something like that," Rarity deferred.
"Umm, I've only played the Kingdom Hearts games," Fluttershy said meekly. "Other than that, I don't really like Square's games. I'm more into Pokemon."
"Kingdom Hearts," Rainbow snorted, rolling her eyes.
"Kingdom Hearts has a beautiful story!" Fluttershy said defensively.
"Yeah? How do you figure out what the hell order to play the games in to figure out what the story even IS?" Rainbow challenged.
Fluttershy drew back. "Well," she said. "Umm..." She paused. "That's..." She trailed off with a sigh. "I like it," she mumbled behind her hair.
Princess Twilight frowned. "Wait," she said. "I thought you said these games don't have connecting stories."
"Most don't," Sunset said. "Kingdom Hearts is...different."
"Yeah, way different," Rainbow said with a snicker. "What's the next game? Kingdom Hearts 2.8 over 365 Pi to the Tenth: Dumbo Drop Dawn?"
Pinkie Pie exploded into a fit of giggles. "G-good one, Rainbow Dash!" she laughed.
Fluttershy crossed her arms and huffed. "The next game is HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue," she said with a sniff. "And just for your information, Kingdom Hearts III comes out later next year."
Princess Twilight frowned. "What are you two...fighting over?" she asked.
Sunset rolled her eyes, pulled out her phone, and ran an Internet search. Once she had what she was looking for, she handed her phone to Princess Twilight, who read the screen, her brow furrowing in confusion. "Oh," she said. She paused, then added, "...what?"
"See? She gets it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, throwing up her hands.
"No, I...I don't get it at all," Princess Twilight said.
"Exactly! You get it that you don't get it because you can't get it!"
Fluttershy's face turned red. Eyes narrowed, she got right in Rainbow Dash's face. "At least I didn't play Lightning Returns," she hissed.
"Oooooh," Pinkie cooed as the room went quiet. "Them's fightin' words."
Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at Fluttershy. "That's it. I'm kickin' your ass."
Princess Twilight grew alarmed. "Rainbow Dash! You can't—"
Rainbow Dash pulled her 3DS out of her pocket.
Fluttershy smirked. "Sure, I've got ten seconds to kill," she said as she pulled out her own 3DS.
Sunset facepalmed. "Oy."
Princess Twilight blinked. "I don't understand. What's going—"
"Best leave this one alone," Applejack said tiredly. "Rainbow done poked the bear."
"You know," Rarity mused, "it does sometimes seem like this little group of friends can't have a conversation without it ending up someplace silly, or in some sort of drama..."