“Are you sure you wish to do this?”

Inuyasha was born of a demon and a human, a heritage that made him an outcast among both classes. His father died protecting him the day of his birth, and he was raised in a small village with his mother. His mother died when he was young, and he was left to fend for himself through most of his life.

“If it means we can be together, then yes.”

Kikyo was the priestess of a small village, entrusted with the sacred Shikon no Tama. Her job was to ensure that no vile demons could ever lay a finger on the jewel and have their dark desires fulfilled. Her job eventually led her to meet Inuyasha in the forest surrounding her village. She refused to kill him.

“If we do this, then it cannot be undone.”

The two of them began to open up to one another. Slowly, Inuyasha’s cold heart warmed up to Kikyo’s kindness. It was a kindness that he hadn’t felt from any being since his mother’s passing. No one accepted him, because he was only half of either side. Demons beat him and cast him out, while humans shunned him and left him for dead.

“I understand that. Let’s get it over with.”

The star-crossed pair soon found themselves lost in each other’s loving embrace. Kikyo devised a way for them to be together in peace and harmony. Using the Shikon no Tama’s power, she could turn Inuyasha into a human. Such a pure wish would in turn cause the jewel to disappear from their world, and demons would cease their endless hunt for its power.

“When this is over, we shall live happily in one another’s company.”

On the day they set aside to make the wish and use the jewel, a jealous demon by the name of Naraku caught wind of their plans. He took the form of each lover and systematically set them on a path of hatred and betrayal. He attacked Kikyo in Inuyasha’s form and stole the Shikon no Tama, all the while delivering a fatal blow to the priestess. He attacked Inuyasha in Kikyo’s form and sent him into frenzy.

“Yeah, I’ll like that.”

Inuyasha attacked Kikyo’s village to obtain the jewel himself, unaware that it was planted by Naraku. Kikyo travelled to her village to find Inuyasha with the jewel. Thinking he had stolen it from her, she released a sacred arrow into the demon’s heart and bound him to the sacred tree. She died shortly after he entered his endless slumber. With her body, the sacred jewel was burned and buried deep in the earth so that it would never be of any threat to another mortal being.

“You understand that the limits of a human body are much less forgiving than those of your current state, correct?”

Two-hundred years passed, and a girl was born as a reincarnated form of Kikyo. Within her body rested the purified Shikon no Tama. On Kagome’s sixteenth birthday, she entered a sacred shrine in her grandfather’s temple to search for a missing pet. Upon entering the shrine, the hands of a demon grabbed her and pulled her through a well into the past. She arrived in the world fifty years after Inuyasha and Kikyo’s dispute.

“Of course I know that! I ain’t an idiot…”

After a series of complex events, Kagome and Inuyasha joined together to kill Naraku and restore the Shikon no Tama to its former glory, and remove the threat it posed to the world. They were joined by a cursed monk and a demon slayer, as well as a child fox demon and a flea. Together, they managed to destroy Naraku and avenge the deaths of all that he had slain, including Kikyo.

“Very well, let us begin, then.”

Kagome made a wish on the Shikon no Tama to live in the Warring States Era with Inuyasha, so that they could be together. The purity of her wish caused the portal between their worlds to close permanently, and the jewel disappeared from existence. They lived happily and started their own family.

“I’m ready when you are, Kikyo.”

But what if none of that had ever happened? What if Onigumo the Bandit had never been ambushed by his debtors? What if Kikyo had never had to care for him? What if he had never sacrificed himself to the demons to become Naraku?

“Oh holy Shikon no Tama, hear my plea…”

What if Inuyasha and Kikyo had been able to meet and use the jewel? What if they had been able to live happily through the entirety of their mortal lives, just as Inuyasha and Kagome had been able to later on down the line?

“…Allow this demon to become pure by your power…”

What if they had been allowed to live in a world of peace and comfort, away from the threats of the demons and power-seekers?

“…Cleanse his aura and make him human by your image…”

What if they had never been made to believe that they betrayed one another on that day fifty years ago?

“…And allow us to live together in a world free from the evils of those that would corrupt our pure hearts! Allow us to be free from the greed and sin of those around us!”

Would they truly be happy in a world like that?

“Protect us from the demons within ourselves, and allow us to live happily together…”

High in the night sky, way above the library she called home, Twilight Sparkle watched a shooting star zoom across the dark expanse. She let out a deep sigh and rested her head on her pillow. She looked over to her side to see her assistant comfortably curled up in a ball. She giggled as she noticed how cute he was in the moonlight. She closed her eyes and made a wish.

She opened her eyes and wondered what every one of her friends might have wished for. For a brief instant, she could have sworn she saw a bright pink light flash from within the Everfree Forest. She cast the light off as a tired hallucination and curled up beside the baby dragon before nodding off to sleep.

Deep within the forest, however, two ponies were unconscious and unaware of what awaited them upon their waking up…

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