Low Battery

by Matthais Unidostres

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Sweetie Belle, Opalescence, Comedy, Slice of Life
Length: 2906

After a day of playing with her friends lasts longer than expected, Sweetie Bot ends up with a nearly dead battery and struggles to plug herself in.

Sweetie Belle has the mind of a young filly, and like all youngsters, they often prioritize fun with friends over more important things. Normally, this isn't an issue. However, after a fun day out with her two best friends lasts longer than expected, the little unicorn's good mood is interrupted by a Low Battery Alert. Now the robotic filly must rush to get home and plug herself in before her battery hits 0%.

Published 2021-11-29 01:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2021-12-11 21:17:07 UTC

Low Power Mode v1.1

"Later girls!" shouted Sweetie Belle as she waved a forehoof in goodbye to her two best friends.

"See ya tomorrow, Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo said as she flapped her wings and took off in the direction of her aunts house.

Applebloom smiled, tiredness evident in her eyes and said, "Woah, nelly. Ah'd say Ah'd see ya girls bright an early Sunday morning, but after today, Ah'm plum tuckered out. Ah'm sleepin' in tomorrow."

Sweetie Belle looked up at the sky, then down at the horizon. Celestia's Sun was almost fully set, casting an orange glow throughout the sky.

"Wow. We've been Crusading extra late today," Sweetie Belle remarked.

Applebloom pouted, "Yeah, and we still got nuttin'!"

Sweetie Bell shrugged and said, "Well, maybe it means we should try Crusading smarter, not harder?"

Applebloom appeared to think it over for a moment, then replied, "Nah."

Sweetie Belle just rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, see ya tomorrow, Sweetie Belle!" Applebloom said before galloping off.

Sweetie Belle watched her friend leave, and then leisurely strolled in the direction of Carousel Boutique. As she walked, the unicorn filly thought to herself, "Wow, we really did Crusade for a while. It's been exactly 3 hours 16 minutes and 39 seconds since we met back up after dinner. Well, they had dinner, I was drawing with those crayons Rarity gave me. I still had enough charge from yesterday. I can't believe all my RAM was so focused on Crusading ideas that I didn't remember to plug in before going into sleep mode last night. Whatever though. I'm totally fine. Though it's kinda weird that I didn't even get at least a 30% warning. I know my battery's pretty good, but still, I can't believe I still have-."

Sweetie suddenly ground to a halt as a sudden memory, and horrified realization, struck her hard and stopped her cold. She recalled in perfect detail the moment she'd decided to just disable her low battery alerts after a 30% warning flashed before her eyes the other day, causing her to trip and fall just as she was about to kick the ball and score the winning goal. The disappointment of her friends and the laughter of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon drove her to make that choice, but now she was deeply regretting it.

"Okay, okay, I'm sure it's fine," Sweetie Belle said nervously, forcing herself to smile even as her eyes twitched and darted around, "I'm positive I've got plenty of power left."

Access Settings
Alerts and Alarms
Low Battery Alert Settings
30% Alert- Disabled
20% Alert- Disabled
10% Alert- Disabled
5% Alert- Disabled
4% Alert- Disabled
3% Alert- Disabled
2% Alert- Disabled
1% Alert- Disabled

"Ugh! Why did I disable ALL of them for!?" Sweetie Belle groaned.

30% Alert- Enabled
20% Alert- Enabled
10% Alert- Enabled
5% Alert- Enabled
4% Alert- Enabled
3% Alert- Enabled
2% Alert- Enabled
1% Alert- Enabled

Sweetie Belle huffed and said, "That's so annoying. I wish there was just an 'All OFF' and 'All ON' toggle or some-."

Low Battery
10% battery remaining.

Sweetie Belle's jaw dropped as she stared at the message that flashed before her eyes. "What!?" she squeaked out, "Oh, no-no-no-no, this can't be happening! I - I- I - !?"

Sweetie Belle immediately took off running back into town as fast as her legs could carry her. She jumped over rocks, hopped over potholes, and even weaved in and out and around the occasional pony that was out enjoying what little Ponyville offered in the realm of nightlife.

Eventually, she did make it back to the Carousel Boutique, and ended up headbutting the door right open, and then swiftly kicking it closed.

Low Battery
5% battery remaining.

"I spent 5% just running here?!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed in disbelief, then looked about the darkened boutique with her night vision without thinking. Then, the light level suddenly seemed to drop dramatically, making it too dark to see.

Low Power Mode
Enhanced Vision, Night Vision, and Zoom Vision are disable to conserve power.

"Of course," Sweetie Belle moaned as she stumbled about in the dark in search for the light switch.

"I'd probably ask Rarity for help at this point, but since I've been so responsible lately, she trusted me to stay here alone and feed Opal while she visits her Boutique in Canterlot! She won't be back until tomorrow at noon! Is this my reward for being responsible!? And Applebloom thought her first time was bad!" Sweetie Belle lamented as she felt around on the wall with her forehooves.

Low Battery
4% battery remaining.

Finally, she found the lightswitch and the Boutique was fully illuminated. Sighing with relief, Sweetie Bell turned to her left side and focused on a spot on her body.

Open Charger Port
Let Out Charger Cable

Normally disguised by her white fur, a small door opened up on Sweetie Belle's side, and out of the door came out a long cable with a two pronged plug on the end of it. Once the cable was fully out, coming to a length equal to Sweetie Belle from tail to horn tip, the filly smiled and powered up her horn and grabbed the plug in a light green aura, levitating it up to eye level.

Low Battery
3% battery remaining.

Her horn then promptly blinked out, and the plug fell unceremoniously to the floor.

Low Power Mode
TK Capabilities and Magic System are disabled to conserve power.

"OH, COME ON!" Sweetie Belle shouted, then she quickly knelt down and grabbed the cord in her mouth. She frantically looked around like a lost puppy for an agonizingly long, panic stricken moment, then she spotted an electrical wall outlet on the wall directly opposite to where she was standing. Relief flooded through her, and she quickly started to run towards the outlet.

Low Battery
2% battery remaining.

All four of Sweetie Belle's legs suddenly went limp, and she fell forward and flat on her stomach like ragdoll.

Low Power Mode
Limb Movement and Organic Movement Mimicry System are disabled to conserve power.

"No. . ." Sweetie Belle muttered through the cord in her mouth. As embarrassing as this was, fear of humiliation was the least of her worries. Losing power now would mean none of today's experiences would be saved. Everything she had recorded in her short term RAM would poof out of existence, instead of being compressed and transferred into her permanent long term hard drive. Not only would be a wasted day for her, but yet another opportunity for others to look at her with suspicion. Any possibility of her secret getting out had to taken very seriously, and not remembering an entire day the next morning was not something she could afford.

As Sweetie Belle lay flat on her belly, she could see the outlet on the wall right in front of her. It was only a few steps away from her, so close yet so far.

WARNING. SHORT TERM MEMORY NOT SAVED TO HARD DRIVE. 11 HOURS AND 18 MINUTES WORTH OF RAM DATA WILL BE LOST. TO PREVENT MEMORY LOSS, PLUG IN BATTERY IMMEDIATELY.

"Nonononono, okay, okay, I can still make it. It's right there!" Sweetie Belle thought frantically, and she spat the charging cord so that that fell onto her right forehoof.

Power Settings
Rerouting Power
Reroute to-
-Limb Movement
-Sight
Rerouting all remaining power to Limb Movement and Sight.

It suddenly felt to Sweetie Belle as if her entire body had gone numb, including her nose, tongue, and throat. Her sense of hearing also vanished with all the grace of a speaker being unplugged.

Low Power Mode
Speech and Vocalization System, Hearing, Smell, Touch, and Taste are disabled to conserve power.

"This feels awful! I hate not being able to touch anything!" Sweetie Belle thought as she fought the urge to freak out.

WARNING. Due to critically low power levels, Limb Movement will be limited and delayed; Sight will be basic and unenhanced.

"Don't care, just let me focus!" Sweetie Belle hissed mentally as she forced her hind legs to move. With great effort on her part, she lifted her hind legs up enough so that her back hooves were flat on the floor. She then pushed down with them as hard as she could as she walked her forward, scooting herself across the floor and straight towards the electrical outlet. As she slid ever closer to the outlet, she raised her right forehoof slightly, and gave it a slight flick and twist so that the charger cable hanging across it swung and wrapped around the hoof, coming to a stop on the top of the foreleg.

Low Battery
1% battery remaining.

"Oh my gosh! No-no! Please, no! I had a good day today! I don't wanna forget!" Sweetie Belle thought as she shakily raised her right forehoof towards the outlet.

WARNING. SHORT TERM MEMORY NOT SAVED TO HARD DRIVE. 11 HOURS AND 19 MINUTES WORTH OF RAM DATA WILL BE LOST. TO PREVENT MEMORY LOSS, PLUG IN BATTERY IMMEDIATELY.

"I know! I know! I'm trying! I'm-."

Click.

"YES!"

If Sweetie Belle's Organic Movement Mimicry System had been operating at the time, she would've let out a huge sigh of relief as her chest heaved up and down as she stared at the end of the charging cable, now securely plugged into the outlet.

"Oh, thank Celestia and Luna and Twilight and Cadence and even Discord!" Sweetie Belle thought with immense euphoric relief as she "felt" the percentage of her battery level slowly increase.

Speech and Vocalization System enabled.

Hearing, Smell, Touch, and Taste enabled. All Senses set to base level.

Sweetie Belle smiled as she was able to feel the floor under her belly again. "Whew. What a nightmare. Nothing worse than losing your touch," Sweetie Belle quipped.

Low Power Mode
Limb Movement, Organic Movement Mimicry System, TK Capabilities, and Magic System are disabled to conserve power.

Sweetie Belle nodded mentally and remarked, "Yeah, yeah. I know. I don't need them now. I'm okay with just lying here and waiting."

"Meow."

Sweetie Belle's attention was caught by the sound, and she managed to move her eyes to one side to see Opalescence stealthily moving towards her. The cat approached the fallen filly, tilting her head at Sweetie Belle in curiosity.

"Go away, Opal," Sweetie Belle said grumpily.

Opal frowned at this, clearly insulted by the command. The cat proceeded to ignore the order and began licking her forepaw to clean herself.

"Ugggh!" Sweetie Belle groaned, not at all eager to be the captive audience of Opal taking a bath.

Opal paused in her grooming to cut her eyes at the limp filly, then the cat's eyes drifted over to the charging cable plugged into the wall. Opal then put her paw back down and walked over towards the plug in the wall.

"No, Opal. Don't touch that!" Sweetie Belle hissed.

Opal paused and turned to Sweetie Belle, and the filly could've sworn she saw the cat smirk at her.

"Don't even think about it," Sweetie Belle said as she glared at the cat as hard she could.

Opal ignored the warning and began to almost playfully bat at the plug with her paws.

"Stop!" Sweetie Belle said desperately, her glare becoming a pleading look.

Opal slowly turned her head towards Sweetie Belle as she rested a paw right on the plug.

"Please?" Sweetie Belle whispered.

All it took was a swipe of her paw to unplug the charger cable.

"WHY YOU-!?" Sweetie Belle shouted.

Opal meowed loudly before turning around and walking away with a swaggering step and a swing of her tail.

Power Settings
Rerouting Power
Reroute to-
-Limb Movement
-Sight
-TK Capabilities
Rerouting all remaining power to Limb Movement, Sight, and TK Capabilities.

Opal heard the sound of hooves stomping hard on the floor, and turned just in time to see the filly that was limp as a ragdoll a moment ago flying towards her with outstretched forelegs. Opal hissed as she just narrowed avoided Sweetie Belle's pounce. The cat ran towards the kitchen with the furious filly in hot pursuit.

Sweetie Belle was too angry to care about anything as she lit up her horn and snatched up mugs and plates in her green aura, then hurled them in Opal's general direction. Opal yowled as a dish shot over her back like a frisbee as she ran across the kitchen counter. She then jumped back down onto the floor and made a quick dash underneath Sweetie Belle's legs. Sweetie Bell attempted a sharp turn, which didn't go so well for her due to the lack of grip her hooves had on the kitchen floor, and the long charge cable hanging off of her which tripped her up slightly.

With a fierce growl, Sweetie Belle got back up and ran out of the kitchen just in time to see Opal fleeing up the stairs. Sweetie Belle followed and chased Opal right into the spare room the filly always stayed in whenever her parents left her with Rarity.

Once inside, Sweetie Belle kicked the door closed, smiling wickedly as she knew now that Opal was trapped. Sure enough, the cat was backed up against the wall beside the bed, her back arched and her fur standing up on end.

Sweetie Belle gave an evil chuckle as she stalked towards her foe, he horn glowing as she levitated a large pitcher of water over to her. Opal's eyes widened at the sight of the pitcher, and she closed her eyes and circle up into a ball as she waited for the inevitable.

Thud! Splash!

Opal opened her eyes and uncurled herself at the loud noise. The cat saw that Sweetie Bell had dropped the pitched of water, which now lay empty on the now damp floor. Also, Sweetie Bell herself had fallen on her side and lay completely limp and unmoving.

Opal blinked and stared at the filly for a moment, then smirked and hissed at her before walking right past her towards the door. It wasn't until Opal had reached the door that she realized that it was closed, and it wasn't until after she'd scratched at it a few times that she realized that she had no way of opening it. Opal huffed and walked back over to the fallen filly. The cat looked at Sweetie Belle for a moment, then huffed again and meowed loudly into the filly's ear. When that did nothing, Opal began pawing impatiently at Sweetie Belle's face.

After getting no response from the filly, Opal then sat quietly and took a closer look at Sweetie Belle. The cat's frown deepened, and slowly but surely, the beginnings of feeling of actual concern began to take shape.

"WARNING! BATTERY LEVEL CRITICAL! RAM DATA LOSS IMMINENT! 11 HOURS AND 19 MINUTES WORTH OF RAM DATA WILL BE LOST! PLUG IN CHARGER CABLE INTO COMPATIBLE ELECTRICAL OUTLET IMMEDIATELY!"

Opal jumped back at the sound of the serious sounding unfamiliar voice coming from the filly. Once she got over her initial surprise, Opal's seeds of actual concern finally sprouted as feeding times in the recent past came to mind. The cat looked over at the charging cable still hanging out of Sweetie Belle, and then over at the electrical outlet in the wall she'd been cornered against mere moments ago.

With an annoyed huff, Opal approached the cable and picked it up with her mouth. Rearing up onto her hind legs and using her forepaws to the best of her ability, Opal managed to insert the plug into the electrical outlet. After this, Opal leapt up onto the bed, kneaded the blankets with her claws, and then curled up for a much needed nap.

". . . . . . Thank you, Opal."

The End

Author's Note

I suddenly had the urge to write a Sweetie Bot story. I'm not sure if that many people are interested in her anymore. Most of the one's I've read were unfinished/abandoned. For instance, Alive by SapphireLibra3 was awesome, but was abandoned right at the climax! Flesh and Blood by PajamaHam also got canceled before the drama could even really start!
Thankfully, Sweetie Bot - A Heart's WThe Sweetie Bot Project?arming Tale by Grimweird DID get finished, and had plenty of great scenes and fun references to other robot related media. Steel Soul by Masterweaver was a really heartwarming oneshot.
Anyway, I hope you like this fun little story I wrote, and I hope it encourages more people to write about Sweetie Bot.
Also, what ever happened to The Sweetie Bot Project?

v1.1 patch notes

I noticed some confusion in the comments about how Sweetie Belle's memory worked and how running out of battery power would cause her to lose her memory. I actually had the idea of how it worked in my head at the time, but I failed to convey it in the story. I want my stories to be complete and showcase their full vision, so I went back and updated the story to better hint at what was going on. I brought up things such as RAM and short term memory and long term memory and a hard drive, and I also had Sweetie Belle give a run through of what was at stake via inner monologue. So, now the story should make more sense. Thank you for your patience.