A foalish grin was the bare minimum that Rarity could give as she watched the Princess furiously scribbling away. The alicorn's horn was shimmering in its magenta magic as she made herself notes. The brilliant yellow-orange of the library's chandelier painted everything in a beautiful soft lighting. The otherwise dull browns and greens of the history and geography section behind the mare only served to highlight her shining lavender coat and the glorious crown upon her head. It was enough to make Rarity wish that she had her camera to capture the moment forever. But out of everything that formed this perfect portrait, Rarity's keen eye was drawn to the most important detail:
Twilight was smiling.
It was a sophisticated smile. An understated smile. Dare Rarity say it... it was an ethereal smile. And it was something that the fashionista felt was well overdue. To see Twilight so content after so much tension was like trading spiked heels for luxurious slippers at the end of a long day.
She was getting closer to Twilight and, perhaps, Twilight was getting closer to her. And Rarity wanted so badly for that gap to narrow. To be together with Twilight in a way that felt like they weren't just working together.
And we most certainly are not just working together, thought Rarity, suddenly remembering something important. Twilight said I was her friend, did she not? And a friendship is more than a transactional relationship. Friends share life together. They support one another.
As her smile grew to fill her face, that promise filled Rarity's chest. The unicorn walked over to Twilight, who was too busy writing to even notice, and Rarity gently rested her head on the Princess's withers. Only to be abruptly reminded of why that sort of closeness was never really an option for the two mares.
Rarity shivered as she was bathed in a cold rush. Instead of meeting with the warmth of her friend, a part of her face had phased inside of Twilight's form. The Princess abruptly leapt sideways, away from Rarity.
"What are you doing?!" Twilight said. She was as visibly shaken by the experience of having somepony put their head inside her torso as Rarity was from having done it. "Why would you try to touch me like that?"
"I... I'm so sorry, Twilight," Rarity stammered. "I don't know what came over me! I saw you sitting there writing and you looked so... so real. So at home. I just... I forgot that you weren't really..."
The Princess' eyes darkened. "Come on. Say it."
"Please, Twilight. I'm sorry. Truly, it was a mistake."
Yet, it was too late. The iron wall that separated the two was firmly back in place and Twilight was in no mood to mince words. "You forgot that I'm not really alive."
"Twilight!" said Rarity in a mortified tone. "Don't you talk that way! You are most certainly alive or else I couldn't talk to you right now."
"Oh, I'm alive, am I?" said Twilight, closing the gap between the two with a sudden teleport. "Can alive ponies do this?!" Twilight thrust a forehoof into Rarity's side, causing the unicorn to flinch and back away. "Can alive ponies..." Upon seeing the hurt look on Rarity's face, Twilight stopped herself. Her eyes began to scan around, taking in Rarity, the papers on her desk, and finally, her own lightly translucent hoof.
Admittedly breathing a bit heavily, Rarity said, "Twilight, we'll get through this. I pro—"
"I'm sorry, Rarity," was all Twilight said before she teleported again, this time out of sight.
"Twilight, come back!" Rarity shouted, running through the rows of bookcases looking for her friend. "Twilight, I beg you! We can talk about this!" Yet as Rarity ran, the world around her began to grow hazy. At first she thought it might be from the tears she was shedding but then she recognized a familiar cloth texture in front of her eyes as she instinctively reached up and removed her sleeping mask.
By the time that Rarity had finished setting up the picnic in the park, she had actually forgotten her nightmare. The pleasant summer breeze and the feel of her hoofmade blanket on her stomach as she rested waiting for her date was more than sufficient to keep thoughts like that firmly out of her conscious mind. All she was wondering about now was that which was keeping Twilight from her.
What could it be? She certainly hoped it wasn't any sort of trouble with one of their friends. What if—? No, no. No need to worry. Rarity took a deep breath. Today was a beautiful day and she was going to have a beautiful picnic with a beautiful mare. Everything was—
In a startling flash, Twilight appeared right in front of Rarity. The two happened to be looking almost directly at one another and both gave a yelp, falling back slightly. The two stared at each other, both panting. Something about the event poked at Rarity's mind in a funny fashion, but finally, Rarity gave a light giggle. "Well, that was quite the entrance, Miss Sparkle."
Almost shouting, Twilight said, "Somecreature needed help at the school and I lost track of time!" Twilight glanced from the blanket to the sun then back to Rarity. "How late am I?"
"Oh, don't think anything of it, dear," said Rarity, a genuine smile adorning her visage. "Getting to be with you is a privilege worth waiting for." She began to step toward Twilight to give her a hug, but some subconscious force kept her hooves rooted to the ground. Something about that act was... wrong? Strange. Why wasn't she giving her date a hug?
"I'm sorry, Rarity," said Twilight. "I didn't mean to keep you waiting."
I'm sorry, Rarity. Those words sent a now seemingly familiar cold chill through Rarity's body. The dream from the last night flooded back into her mind and her smile accordingly faltered.
The ever observant Twilight did not fail to notice that. She shook her head and began to pace. "And now I ruined our date. I'm so stupid! I knew I should have re-scheduled my office hours. Or at least not teleported right on top of you like a rude jerk!"
Reaching out a hoof, Rarity touched Twilight's shoulder and, thankfully, met with solid flesh. "Twilight, dear." The alicorn stopped and looked at Rarity. "You certainly did not ruin our date. I was hardly waiting ten minutes and, if anything, I find your sudden teleportation to be flattering."
Twilight's head cocked to the side. "Flattering? How is it flattering?"
"Because," Rarity's smile returned as a mischievous grin, "it shows just how eager you were to see me. You couldn't wait another second."
The alicorn's cheeks filled with blood and her face burned. "Oh. I guess there's that."
"There's no guessing required, dear," said Rarity. "Not with how red your face is now."
Nodding, Twilight cleared her throat and said, "Well, you're not wrong. I've been looking forward to seeing you all morning." Moving to change the subject, she then asked, "But if that wasn't what upset you, what did?"
Rarity waved a hoof through the air. "Oh, it's nothing. Just a silly nightmare I had last night."
"A nightmare about me?!" Twilight said with a tone of horror.
"Listen, Twilight. It's not important. What's important now—"
"But nightmares are a manifestation of our subconscious fears. If you're having nightmares about me, that's really bad! It could mean that we have some sort of unresolved conflict in our budding relationship that could destroy it before it ever has a chance to become anything!"
"Twilight," said Rarity. "It was one nightmare and, honestly, I don't want this to ruin what is otherwise going to be a perfectly lovely date."
"What happened in the nightmare?" asked Twilight, her horn igniting as a quill and paper appeared in front of her.
Oh, for Celestia's sake, Rarity! You've gone and done it now. Next time, just leave it at "It's nothing." Taking a deep breath, Rarity said, "Well, for one thing, you were writing notes like that."
Rarity then described the rest of the dream. Any details she attempted to omit were quickly caught by Twilight's questioning until the princess had not only a complete understanding of the nightmare but also enough notes to write a master's thesis. At the end, Twilight read through the whole thing one more time.
Finally, the alicorn said, "This is all my fault."
"Whatever do you mean?" said Rarity. "How can you possibly feel responsible for what you did in a dream?"
"It's not about the dream, Rarity. It's about what caused the dream." Twilight stood up and started pacing again. "In the dream, you were trying to be close to me, but that was impossible. I was literally intangible. Totally unreachable. And when you did make any attempt at intimacy, I rejected you and fled."
Twilight stopped pacing and closed her eyes. "That's how you feel about me, isn't it? You feel like I'm not letting you get close to me like you want."
Rarity bit her lip. The thought had occurred to the mare on more than one occasion. A part of her wanted to touch Twilight all the time. To play with her mane. To hold her. To be held by her. And, no, that wasn't happening as much as she wished.
She could try to leave out a detail when telling Twilight something, sure, but Rarity could never outright lie to her. The idea was unthinkable. So she said, "Twilight, we were close friends for a long time. That was how our relationship was. I know you didn't have feelings for me like I did for you, and I am absolutely not expecting that to change overnight. That's why we're dating, Twilight: so we can see whether or not intimacy like that is going to work for us."
"But when it comes to physical touch, we did more of that as friends." Twilight was frowning as she looked Rarity in the eye. "Ever since you told me that you had feelings for me, I have been more distant. Heck, I don't think I've initiated a hug with you once in the last two weeks! It's been you every time. No wonder you had that nightmare." The alicorn began to cry. "I'm so sorry."
"Do not apologize," said Rarity, getting closer but not quite touching Twilight. "You've nothing to be sorry for. I brought this on you out of nowhere, like when I went to touch you in my dream. You have every right to behave however you see fit."
"Touch like that is a sign of trust, Rarity," said Twilight. She looked over at the other mare, tears streaking down in dark lines around her muzzle. "And I do trust you." Reaching out a hoof, Twilight took Rarity's in hers and gave a squeeze. "I really do."
"I trust you, too," said Rarity, a few tears of her own now threatening to ruin her makeup. "It's like I said before, darling. Getting to be with you is a privilege worth waiting for."
Author's Note
This is the second story here I've ever written and edited in one sitting. If you note any errors, please feel free to let me know. 
It's also the first time I've written anything from Rarity's perspective, so I apologize to any Rarity fans if I failed to capture her character well. 
