“What the hell do you want?” Beachberry asked when she looked up from the monitor to find Rarity and Applejack standing next to the desk.
“Answers,” stated Applejack.
“Quite right,” added Rarity. “And I believe, considering Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and myself assisted in preventing you from being injured any worse than you already are, that you might be more inclined to answer our questions than you were yesterday.”
Beachberry's expression was blank. “You believe wrong. Oh, and thanks for actually checking on me before you chased after the other magical freak.”
An uncomfortable expression crossed Rarity's face. Seeing her friend's distress, Applejack jumped in.
“Look, I know you don't like Sunset, and you really have no reason to talk to us, but whoever attacked you is still out there, and she's getting worse. You hear what happened to Pepperdance last night?”
Beachberry frowned. “No. What happened?”
“Our mutual enemy attacked her. And unlike your encounter, she succeeded this time,” Rarity answered, regaining her composure.
Beachberry's frown deepened. “Is she all right?”
“Not sure,” Applejack pushed her hat back on her head. “She's alive, at least. But we don't know much more than that.”
Beachberry leaned back in her chair. Rarity came around the desk and sat in the chair at the next computer.
“I know you don't like Sunset, and I'm not here to plead on her behalf. But you've been attacked, and both Sunset and Pepperdance are in the hospital. Whoever is doing this is getting worse. Unless we find out who she is and stop her, it's very likely someone is going to die as a result of her actions. So, please, tell us anything you can. Anything that might help us understand why this is happening.”
Beachberry sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Pinkie made a mistake when she talked to me yesterday. Sunset didn't do anything to me just before the Fall Formal. I did something to her.”
Applejack and Rarity exchanged surprised glances. Applejack folded her arms. “Go on.”
“I got curious about what her deal was and I began doing some digging online. And I found absolutely nothing. No school records, no birth certificate, nothing. Of course, I figured this meant that she was an illegal alien, and maybe if I threatened to expose her, it would get her to back off on the rest of the school. So I confronted her with what I knew.”
The tri-toned girl sighed again. “I should have known better. In trying to dig up dirt on her, I kind of accessed a bunch of government databases I shouldn't have. And the day after I told her I was going to expose her, she came back with solid evidence that I had hacked into those databases. So, we cut a deal.”
“Mutually assured destruction,” Rarity said. Beachberry nodded.
“We both agreed to leave each other alone and to not use the information we had on each other. And after the Fall Formal, it really wasn't a problem. But I was still pissed about how she had gotten one over on me, so... yeah, I kept sending her messages just to get under her skin. I guess I wasn't as careful with the one Pinkie showed me.”
Rarity frowned and reached into her bag. She pulled out a few of the emails Twilight said came from the same person, despite the different email accounts and IP addresses. “Are these some of them?”
Beachberry took the emails and thumbed through them. She looked up at the other two girls with a suspicious expression.
“We won't tell anyone you sent them,” Rarity said. She looked up at Applejack, who quirked an eyebrow at her. Rarity gave her a look and thrust her head in Beachberry's direction a couple of times, indicating the farm girl should agree. Applejack rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Oh, all right,” Applejack said. “We won't rat you out, but Principal Celestia has all the emails Sunset saved. So if she figures out you sent them all, you're on your own. Fair?”
“Fine,” Beachberry said. “Yes, most of these are mine. I did it to keep her from tracking me down.”
“What about Firecracker Burst?” Applejack asked. “She told Pinkie she helped you out after you and Sunset got into it before the Formal.”
“I didn't go to her. She sought me out. Wanted me to cry on her shoulder and all that touchy-feely garbage. She wouldn't let it go, so I pretended to be all broken up about it so she'd leave me the hell alone.”
She handed back the emails. “So that's it. That's all I know. I don't know who the woman was who attacked me at the mall, and I don't know why she has a mad on for me.”
Rarity looked thoughtful. “You say you got into some government databases when you were looking to blackmail Sunset?”
Beachberry shifted in her seat. “I don't know if I'd use the term 'blackmail – '”
“I would,” Applejack stated. Beachberry shot her a dirty look.
“But yeah,” she said, “I did. Why?”
Rarity paged through the emails, pulling out the one forgiving Sunset. “We found this one, but there's no headers and the address seems to be randomly generated. Is there anyway you can find out who sent it?”
Beachberry took the email and looked at it. “I've dealt with this site before. I might be able to figure it out.” She looked up. “What's in it for me?”
“Not reporting you right now to Principal Celestia for what you did seems like plenty to me,” Applejack frowned.
“Applejack,” Rarity said, her voice holding a warning note. “If you can help us with this, Beachberry, and if everything comes out, we'll put in a word with Principal Celestia for you, asking her to be lenient. It will still be her decision, of course, but we'll do what we can.”
Beachberry considered for a moment. “I guess that's the best I can hope for. Give me your number. I'll call you tonight if I find anything out.”
Rarity gave Beachberry her number, and shot a smug smile at Applejack. The cowgirl rolled her eyes again and leaned down.
“Y'all are just lovin' this, ain't you?”
“Perhaps a little,” Rarity whispered back. Her smile turned into a grin. “Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I am!”