Rainbow sighed with exasperation as she watched Twilight read through her book by the dim light of her horn as the candle wasn't providing enough light. “How is this supposed to help me sleep?”
“Rainbow please, whisper,” Twilight whispered herself as she looked up from her book. “I told you, asmr has been rumored to help ponies sleep.”
“What does-”
“Whisper,” Twilight hissed.
Rainbow rolled her eyes and obliged. “What does asmr even mean? You keep saying that, but I still don't get it. Sounds boring.”
“You want sleep right? Sleep isn't exciting. It stands for autonomous sensory meridian response. It's a perceptual phenomenon characterized as a distinct, pleasurable tingling sensation in the head, scalp, back, or limbs of a pony. For pegasi their wings, and in unicorns their horns. Unfortunately it's all just theory, but that's why you're here.” Twilight smiled.
“What am I here for?” Rainbow asked.
“Well, I'm going to try and trigger this phenomenon in you, and take notes,” Twilight motioned to her quill and parchment. “If it works, it should help you relax and sleep, and I learn something. If it doesn't... Well I still get to learn something.” Twilight shrugged and went back to reading her book.
Rainbow readjusted herself on the rug of the library floor and sighed. At least the rug was soft, and it was pretty quiet. She still felt sore from having slept little in the past week and training the whole day. If nothing else at least she had a reason to relax. “Egghead,” Rainbow muttered.
“Alright,” Twilight exclaimed quietly. “I think I got it. Are you comfortable?”
“As I'm gonna be,” Rainbow replied, proud of herself for remembering to whisper.
“Good.” Twilight turned her attention to a small container she'd brought with her, and rummaged through it with her magic, though she was careful not to make too much noise. Out of the container levitated two small wooden blocks.
“What are those for?” Rainbow asked.
“Just shhhhh,” Twilight answered. “Don't move.”
Rainbow let her head fall to the floor, deciding it was better just to let the egghead do her thing rather than argue with her. She wouldn't understand what any of it meant anyway.
Twilight levitated the small blocks over to one of Rainbow's ears and started clicking them together gently, filling the all too quiet room with the soft clicking sound. Rainbow's left ear twitched in response, and she raised a brow in confusion but said nothing.
Twilight did not let this deter her, and continued with the clicking, shifting slowly from one ear to another. She was watching Rainbow's reactions carefully.
Eventually Rainbow grew annoyed of the clicking and waved the blocks away with hoof, which levitated just out of reach. “Enough with the blocks Twilight,” Rainbow whined quietly. “They're starting to really bug me.”
“Fine,” Twilight sighed, levitating and placing the blocks outside of the container she'd gotten them out of. Next she picked up the quill and parchment, writing down her first findings of the night which were a huge disappointment.
Rainbow twitched and flexed her wings to stretch them. She still thought this was all pointless. How could noises help her sleep? She thought everything was supposed to be quiet... Then again some ponies did sleep with music.
Twilight took something else out of the box, a small bag filled with little round objects, marbles maybe? As before she levitated the bag over to Rainbow's ear, starting with her left, then moving to her right slowly, and back again, shifting the contents of the bag to create a different kind of racket.
Rainbow didn't like this at all, and shook her head. “No, definitely no.”
Twilight let her head fall a bit and placed the bag of marbles to the side, then picked up her parchment and quill, writing some more.
Rainbow twitched again listening to the sounds of the quill on the parchment in the silent room. That was a sound she did like. However it ended just as quickly to her disappointment.
Twilight stared at Rainbow for a minute deep in thought. “What do we know about you Rainbow?” Twilight asked suddenly in the same hushed voice she'd used all night.
“Well I-”
“You like to fly,” Twilight interrupted.
Rainbow let her ears fall flat and rested her head back on her hooves. Twilight didn't even hear her.
“You like to read too... Maybe.” Twilight scampered off into the darkness of the library, leaving a very bemused Pegasus behind her. She returned a moment later with a book, a Daring Doo book to be exact.
Rainbow actually lit up a bit. “Actually Daring doesn't sound too bad at the moment, let me see it.”
“No, I'm going to read it to you.” She paused. “In a moment that is.” After placing the book down Twilight disappeared into the dark again. When she reappeared she had a small desk fan with her. She placed it beside Rainbow, just a few feet away and turned it on it's lowest setting. She was pleased to find it quiet.
Rainbow liked it too. “That does feel nice.” She was whispering without thinking about it now.
“Well, I figured if you liked to fly, then you might feel more comfortable if you had some wind blowing through your fur.” Twilight went and picked up the book she'd left on the floor, and laid down in front of her, opening the book and began reading quietly.
Rainbow found she had a little difficulty hearing every word at first, but if she focused it were easier.
The story carried on for about a chapter when she first started noticing how tired she'd become. Twilight had a lovely reading voice, or whisper... The cool air coursing through her feathers and fur comforted her to the point where that was all she felt. Her body was relaxed, her breathing slowed and her mind at ease. She closed her eyes and just listened to the story, until a new noise introduced itself. A faint scratching noise.
Rainbow opened her eyes to investigate and saw Twilight's aura shrouding the quill and parchment. Twilight was still reading but saw Rainbow had taken notice of her writing. She stopped reading. “I'm sorry.” She set the quill and parchment down only to have Rainbow raise a hoof.
“No, actually...” Rainbow hesitated. “I kinda liked it. If you could maybe, keep up the writing while you're reading...”
Twilight beamed, looking rather pleased with herself. “Of course.” She picked the quill back up and continued reading. “And when Daring came to the ominous temple she-”
The story continued for a while before Rainbow could hardly make out any more of the words. She was fading out of consciousness and into her own little world of sleep without even realizing it. Being the last thing she was thinking about at the time she began envisioning Daring and herself on an adventure, until the vision slowly became a dream, and everything else slipped from existence for the time being.
Twilight got to chapter four before she finally stopped. More important than her research she wanted to make sure Rainbow had really fallen asleep. Besides, she had a feeling it worked and she could wait till morning to ask her what she'd been feeling at the time. What she hadn't realized was how tired she herself had become. She'd nearly put herself to sleep, and the spot beside Rainbow looked comfortable. Maybe... It wouldn't hurt to finish her writing in the morning... "The experiment worked a little too well." She giggled quietly to herself.
With less than a seconds thought she got up and trotted up next to Rainbow, ever so quietly. She gently lowered herself beside her on the fan's side. Rainbow was already asleep so she wouldn't mind if she took the fan. Twilight took a moment and blew out the candle, leaving the faint moonlight through the windows as the soul source of light.
Twilight closed her eyes and purred to herself. The fan really did feel nice, and the low hum it gave off was quite relaxing. It wasn't long until she herself, fell into the blissful world of sleep.
