Shout Out to Microchips · 3:31am Apr 13th, 2023
I WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS DUDE.
I've spent the last two months trying to find and watch every bit of official Equestria Girls media. That means all the movies, TV specials, music videos, shorts, and Choose Your Own Adventure endings. I think I've seen more Equestria Girls content this past month than I have sunshine. I hadn't seen about 90% of the shorts before, along with two of the TV movies, so it's opened my eyes to a lot of new things: Like how I'm literally Sci-Twi, or how the Equestria Girls timeline is complete nonsense, or how Sunset is both a cringefail queen and a card-carrying member of the IATSE.
Another one of my discoveries was Microchips. If all you've watched of Equestria Girls is the four movies, you probably don't remember him — or if you do, it's as one of the countless unnamed background students they shove into every shot of CHS.
But outside of the movies, Microchips actually has some surprisingly big roles. He stars in a short taking place before the Friendship Games, alongside Flash Sentry and Sandalwood. He wins third place in the CHS pet show with his toaster robot, which then goes on to destroy the school and almost kill Flash Sentry. He has a few cameos in "Forgotten Friendship," most notably as one of Sunset and Trixie's suspects. He also has a supporting role in "Rollercoaster of Friendship," where he takes the job that Applejack got turned down for and is Vignette's first non-Rainboom victim. He's an available option for two of the Choose Your Own Adventure shorts: One where he solves Sunset's stage design woes, to which Sunset happily calls him a genius; and one where he spends time with Twilight and reveals that he's also a world famous theremin DJ (late Equestria Girls gets fucking weird btw). He's got a few more appearances, but those are the most notable ones.
As far as I can tell, Microchips is one of only two non-villain main/supporting characters who doesn't have an Equestrian counterpart. He's an original character, made exclusively for the EqG universe. The other character who fits this mold is Timber Spruce, who of course has a much stronger reason to exist, since he's Sci-Twi's love interest.
I have no idea why Microchips ascended from background human to actual fleshed out character, but I really appreciate the work that the EqG crew put into him. He's still mostly a walking nerd stereotype, yeah, but at least they actively show that he has friends and hobbies.
That short I linked above with him and Twilight is what inspired Operation I'M NOT GAY. I found their chemistry in that short really cute (I actually think he would have been a better canon boyfriend for her than Timber), and wanted to explore it more. I also checked out the Microchips tag on FiMFiction, and couldn't find a single decent story with him in it — an issue that desperately needed correcting.
I don't know that I'll ever write about him again, but I hope his imaginary cartoon spirit enjoys this one. He gets to punch Trixie!
Speaking of Trixie -- a few people commented on how unexpected her appearance was. I agree, and I almost considered cutting her for that exact reason. But the reason I really wanted to keep her in, and actually the entire reason I added her in the first place, was this paragraph:
“Twilight Sparkle!” Trixie said, raising a fist high into the air. “The Great and Powerful Trixie demands that you mate with her! Our children will be the strongest magicians this world has ever seen!”
I started writing Operation I'M NOT GAY in March. But I actually wrote this paragraph all the way back in 2015, for a long-abandoned fic that only one person has actually read. I always loved it and wanted to include it in something I actually published, so... here's Trixie!
The fic's upvote/downvote ratio has got me a bit confused — what in the fic was that controversial? Twilight outright saying she's bisexual? Weird.
In any case, I hope you enjoyed it! And if you aren't already, consider giving me a follow. I don't want to give away too much now, but I've got another fic dropping next month, and it's probably the most ambitious project I've ever started... 
Have a wonderful day!
quirked up purple boy goated with the sauce
#ReleaseTheNyanpasuCut
Im half convinced eqg is stuck in some kind of weird time fuckery where time still passes but they don't age and senior year never ends.
And I still can't get over the fact that Sunset is Banksy. Eqg is so weird.
5722829 Fun fact: If you mention the name “Flanksy” around Dubs, he devolves into a carnivorous ape-thing and knuckle-runs at mach speed toward the nearest source of meat, slavering and screaming a primal yawp.
Same thing happens if you mention Sunset on a motorcycle.
As a fellow Micro Chips enjoyer, I'm glad to see him get some love. My Spring Fling entry will be focusing on the ol' nerd, pretty much for the same reasons you suggested. An absolute dearth of content.
The movies act as helpful milestones, but yeah, the later stages do fall into something of a time abyss. Though at least Sunset's Backstage Pass establishes that some level of temporal shenanigans are canon.
In any case, always appreciate seeing a background character get some love, pony or human. Great use of Microchips. (Fun fact: Before he got a canon name, I called him Neutrino, because he was small, hard to spot, and didn't interact with the plot.)
Where does IATSE Sunset come from?
Yeah, he's one of the many background characters of Equestria Girls with great potential but barely used.
Nice! You're not the only one.
you said it :B
Always loved Micro Chips. :) As a love interest for Twilight, he's kind of on-the-nose, but at the same time, I cannot disagree with a single word you have said, keep it up!
I take umbrage with your assertation.
It's a solid 6/10, at least.
There were actually quite a few characters in EqG that never had pony equivalents shown, afaik. At least they're ones I've never noticed. Blueberry Pie and Raspberry Fluff, for a couple (Trixie's bandmates), though that probably falls under the category of crowd filler who wouldn't be worth making sure you copied from or to the main series. I can't remember if Micro Chips's shipping bait was given a name. And one I particularly liked the design of (Watermelody) gets a fairly prominent role in at least Legend of Everfree. Unless you're talking only ones who get canon names? Not sure the other Crystal Prep girls count. They weren't exactly villains. There's Juniper Montage's dad and the actress who was playing Daring Do (I forget their names, but they were given ones).
But yeah, Micro Chips was a nice character to see turn up repeatedly.
Shimmercode was the greatest EQG short ever. And that entire choose your own adventure series about a play that combined the Wizard of Oz and Flashdance was fantastic.
Microchips is interesting. In almost any other setting he would be the resident genius in town, but since Sci-Twi switched schools he's the second-smartest person around (maybe 3rd, depending on how much Sunset Shimmer feels like working for it on a given day) so he's got to have some issues.