The Nikolai Files #1 - Origins and Introductions · 5:01pm February 13th
Hey guys, Bill the Storyteller here! It’s been a while, but I hope you’re well and that the new year has so far been treating you well. With the recent release of Chapter 4 of Preston Marlowe Goes to Equestria, I thought I’d take the time to put up a blog post on some behind-the-scenes/cut content of the story before continuing on with the next chapters. Consider this as a mini series for PMGtE from me, but also a way to give myself an excuse to write something.
The title is a…crappy one, that’s for sure. It’s a placeholder, but I’m going to call this little series of mine ‘The Nikolai Files’. What is this going to be about? Well, it’s going to talk about the Russian character I wrote off back in 2021. As the story progresses, this series will cover everything about Nikolai, who he is, what kind of role he would’ve played in the story, and so on. I guess a sort of a ‘what if’ had I decided to keep him in the story. And so without further ado, let’s get this show on the road!
So, let’s start off with the most important question: who was Nikolai Degtyarev?
Nikolai Degtyarev was a character I created back in 2012 when I first started writing Preston Marlowe Goes to Equestria. Back then, when it first came out, the story was very, VERY cringe. (I was an angsty teen who recently got into MLP and wanted to try standing out in the fandom. Give me a break.) During the first few chapters, I had announced a blog post asking for suggestions for the name of a Russian protagonist that I would add in the later chapters of the story. After reading the very few comments posted, I came up with the name Nikolai Degtyarev, and thus, our Russian comrade was born.
Why did I create Nikolai?
Since the story takes place in Equestria, a mostly peaceful land of cute pastel colored horses, I was thinking about what would happen if Preston crossed paths with someone who is the enemy back in his home world? Obviously, there would be some friction between these two, considering their countries are at war with each other, and the only thing that would keep these two from killing each other is the fact they’re both stranded in Equestria. This world has nothing to do with the war back home, so there’s no point in shooting up the place just to kill the other guy. Therefore, these two would come to a truce to not start trouble in Equestria until they returned to Earth and went their own separate ways.
What kind of person would Nikolai have been?
Probably the polar opposite to Preston Marlowe. When I first started this story, I wrote Marlowe as a very Russophobic individual. Since the enemies in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 are Russians (and Latin American militiamen) and you spend the entire campaign tearing through the Russian Army like some indestructible Terminator, I wrote Preston as someone who’s a patriotic, by-the-book American who hates Russia and communism. In short, Preston would be labeled as some mindless killing machine who kills his enemies without any pang of remorse. Nikolai, on the other hand, would be written as this idealistic young man who hates the war and is against what his country is doing. He would basically be like Cannibal Johnson from Fallout: New Vegas in a way; someone who questions orders and does their best to avoid collateral damage. While Preston’s personality had undergone many rewrites to get to the character that he currently is in the story, Nikolai’s personality had pretty much remained the same. Had I decided to keep him in the story, Nikolai would basically be a humble man who has dreams and aspirations, loves music, hates war, and would gladly put his family and friends first and himself last.
What role would Nikolai have played in this story?
He would play the only human friend Preston would make during their time in Equestria. Once the story would reach the point where the two would meet face-to-face, there would obviously be some mistrust and suspicion between the two since their countries are at war with each other back on their Earth. Though Nikolai would’ve tolerated the truce between him and Preston, Preston would be the one who would be the most wary of Nikolai. In fact, back when I first wrote the story, Preston at one point would’ve tried to poison Nikolai while they had breakfast in order to rid of someone who would eventually resume being his foe the moment they stepped back into their own world. In the rewrite, Preston would obviously still be wary of Nikolai, but at the same time, he’d remind Nikolai of the numerous crimes the Russian Army has committed on the people of the world and his further commitment to kill as many Russians before the war ends. Though Nikolai would remind him that not every Russian was a mindless, blood-thirsty monster, he can’t really argue back at Preston’s statement because he knows for a fact that it’s somewhat true. As the story progresses, the two would eventually become fast friends, both of them realizing that even if they’re from different countries at war with each other, they’re still human beings who were forced into fighting wars for old men and that at the end of it all, they just want to return home to their families as soon as possible.
Why was Nikolai cut from the story?
As I’ve stated at the start of the rewritten Chapter 2, I wrote Nikolai off for the sake of progressing the story. As I was rewriting this whole story, I soon came to realize that the story would be less about Preston Marlowe and more about Preston Marlowe and some Russian trying to co-exist in this world of talking ponies. I wanted this story to focus on Preston’s struggles as he learns to adapt to the new world around him and overall build him up to be a stronger person as the story reaches its climax. Plus, I had a sequel or two planned after this story and having Nikolai in the story would’ve made things too complicated, especially with Preston’s personality. So near the end of 2021, I wrote him off simply because he was the one thing preventing me from progressing the story.
So there you have, the first part of ‘The Nikolai Files’! I hope you found this behind-the-scenes interesting, and I hope you’ll continue to support my story! I especially would like to see more comments and feedback. If you have any questions regarding any of my stories, or even about Nikolai, feel free to ask them and I’ll try my best to answer them. Anyways, that’s all from me. See you next time!
