Webcomic / Surprise Trilogy

It is recommended that you read the comics before reading this page. All spoilers will be unmarked.

The Surprise Trilogy is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic dark webcomic series by Mexican creator J5A4.

Based on a Creepypasta from the Spanish website Wiki Creepypasta^note which is also written with Cupcakes (Sergeant Sprinkles) in mind, the first comic, Party of One, is a grim retelling of the eponymous episode. After Pinkie Pie celebrates her pet Gummy the Alligator's birthday party with her friends, everyone compliments Pinkie while leaving, and Twilight says to "do it again soon". Pinkie takes the phrase too literally, and wants to invite them the next day to Gummy's after-birthday party in the afternoon. Same as in the episode, right? Except when she tries it that day, they do nothing but treat her rudely, to her shock. She then tries to do a "party of one", only for it to backfire and depress her. At the verge of tears, Pinkie loses her mind and decides to "make a fun party for all to come and stay".

The sequels, Surprise and Diagnosis: Surprise, expands the story even more, while revealing some bits about Pinkie's past.

The English version first comic can be found here, while the original Spanish version can be read here. Both the English and Spanish version of Surprise and Diagnosis: Surprise, can be read here and here, respectively. The English version of the ongoing entire trilogy can be watched on YouTube here, while the Spanish version can be viewed here. An official Spanish dub of this series, along with other comics by J5A4, can be seen here^note While it says "fandub", it's technically an official dub uploaded by the creator.

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The Surprise Trilogy contains examples of:

• Adaptational Jerkass: In the original episode of Party of One, the rest of the Mane Six give different excuses to Pinkie for not being able to come to Gummy's after-birthday party because they were preparing things for her birthday party, and wanted it to be a surprise. Here, while they were tired of having so much parties with her, they told her that in an unnecessarily rude manner, save for Fluttershy, with no instigation nor act of annoyance whatsoever. No wonder Pinkie was shocked by this.
• Ax-Crazy:
  • Pinkamena's mad personality, Diagnosis, is a bloodthirsty maniac that only desires to bring chaos and kill anypony gruesomely.
  • Patient 1/Rage is the very reason of Pinkamena's Split Personality and Maud's trauma.
    Solemn Force: He had serious fantasy delusions with beings of the shadows, which, according to him, and in a few words, they wanted to fill Equestria with filth and he had to purify the corrupted souls. He's a nutcase.
  • Hell, Princess Luna goes nuts during the events of Surprise and especially in Diagnosis: Surprise, once she saw Diagnosis' (in Surprise's body) killings in Pinkamena's house, including that of her own sister (whose head was in a silver cloche, by the way), ate a cupcake not knowing that it's made of her sister's flesh, read Diagnosis' twisted writings in Pinkamena's diary, and was taunted by Diagnosis while she was locked. While she obviously does go overboard, it's no wonder that she's willing to recapture Pinkamena at all costs once she escapes and wants her either alive or dead, even if she does know Pinkamena suffers from DID.
• Big Bad: Diagnosis, Pinkamena's twisted personality and "fifth sister", is the main antagonist of the entire trilogy.
• Bloodier and Gorier: Especially the first two comics^note While the third is more plot-based than the other two, it's not safe from this either.
• Darker and Edgier: Being a series that started with a comic based on a Creepypasta, which in turn also has influence from Cupcakes (Sergeant Sprinkles), this is obviously the case compared to the main series.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: One of Diagnosis' (in Surprise's body) victims in Party of One was none other than Celestia, the Princess of the Sun herself, thanks to a concentrated dose of "break-horns hemlock" in her drink, a toxic plant which debilitates the horns of unicorns and their magic (and possibly alicorns, as demonstrated by Celestia's struggle against Diagnosis) in small doses. Princess Celestia was given a dose at least ten times more concentrated than any other normal pony could handle, just to be weakened and put to sleep. And the worst part is that, in Surprise, Diagnosis might have succeeded in doing the same to Luna, of all horses, if the latter hadn't reacted to the noise in Pinkamena's basement and suspected something weird was going on. Oh, and by the way, the dose for Luna, as revealed by Dr. Psyche, was even more concentrated than Celestia's.
• The Dreaded:
  • Let's just say, there's a reason why Pinkie is called "the Sugarcube Maniac". It goes to the point that ponies are more nervous about her arrival than about Discord's.
    Pinkie Pie/Diagnosis: [to Discord] The ponies are frightened, disorder and confusion take over, they panic, I shook all of Equestria in a short time, you said it yourself. Besides, I drove the Princess of the Night mad. And I did in such a way that you don't represent even a threat to her like me. And surely I am more feared in Equestria than you.
  • Patient 1, also known as "The Shadow Killer" and "The Psychopath of the Shadows". The number given to him is not because he's the first patient to come to the asylum, but because he's considered the most dangerous of all the patients, patients that include cannibals and other killers, even. He's also locked (extremely securely at that) in a place specifically built for him, because he has escaped a few times, luckily not killing anyone in the process before his recapture. Even doctors are afraid of him, with various nurses even quitting before White Temperance's arrival.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Discord, while very impressed by the chaos Diagnosis brings, is also not much fond of her murders and prefers to wreak havoc in a not-so-violent way.
• The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You:
  • In Party of One, Pinkie Pie^note actually Diagnosis (in Surprise's body), as expected, first watches throught the camera and slowly gives a pretty smile to the audiencie. She then says to them:
    Pinkie Pie/Diagnosis: Now I'll tell you something, if you heard this story, the story of the funniest party I made, is because you're invited to it. [Reaching Towards the Audience] Come, NOW LET'S PLAY TOGETHER!!!
  • In the Spanish dub of the 1st and 2nd part of Surprise, Pinkie starts with a Content Warning to the viewers, along with the song Industrial Music Box playing, some Ominous Visual Glitches and a Creepy Child Singing.
    Pinkie Pie/Diagnosis: Just so you won't say I'm not warning you, this time, I...will tell you!! If you're sensitive or scaredy-cats...I recommend you not to go to my party...and get out of here while you can. You're. warned. [Giggles]
  • In the dub of the 3rd and 4th part of Surprise and the 1st part of Diagnosis: Surprise, her speech is in reverse.
• Living Lie Detector: Lie detection is one of Diagnosis' abilities.
• Never Given a Name:
  • Patient 1/Rage says this to Diagnosis, who has the ability to detect lies, so it MAY be true^note He could also may have just forgot about being given a name in the first place, though, considering his time in the assylum and the drugs the doctors were putting in his body; either that or Diagnosis just didn't say anything because she was just playing along with his nonsense. Maybe a bit of both?.
  • Diagnosis didn't have a name of her own at first, either, since she was "hiding" from her "sisters", and Dr. Psyche couldn't even find her with his hypnosis. It was Discord's recommendation for her to be called "Diagnosis" because she said to him she was one when he payed a visit to her in the hospital, so she went with it because she liked it. Plus, being called the "Great Mistress of Chaos" all the time would've started to get annoying.
• Shout-Out: Some of the asylum patients who join Diagnosis, Surprise and Discord in their plan to make chaos in Equestria are based on fictional and real serial killers:
  • Patient 2 — Dr. Hider Morgue: Dr. Hannibal Lecter.
  • Patient 3 — Cheater Leech Ray: Charles Lee Ray/Chucky.
  • Patient 4 — Tedious Bundle: Ted Bundy.
  • Patient 6 — Ailing Woods: Aileen Wuornos.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: Tea and punch was Diagnosis' former method of killing her victims, except for the young ones. She weakened them and put them to sleep, then carried them to the basement and brutally slayed them. This was made possible thanks to her special "break-horns hemlock" that she learned from Zecora.
• Villainous Princess: Princess Luna's clearly influenced by her desire for Revenge on Pinkamena's twisted personality—AKA Diagnosis (whose name she doesn't know yet)—the one who's actually responsible for her sister's and all the other ponies' deaths. Luna goes overboard with her methods and actions, even if it's driven by blind rage. As Princess Candace says: torturing and (almost) killing is far worse than what she's ever done as Nightmare Moon.

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