another one of dems drawings i did in the midst of moving. its taken me a while to get the headcanon for qilin's just right, but i think im happy with this

qilin's are peaceful creatures, often regarded as having a strong sense of right over wrong. according to chinese mythology, they're vegeterian, cloven hooved, symbols of protection and prosperity. they may turn defensive and spit fire if they believe someone morally good is threatened, but otherwise are generally peaceful and pascifist creatures.

the qilin village was, for the most part, incredibly peaceful. theyre a soft spoken species that loves and protects themselves and their friends/families. however, as with any creature, conflicts can and will arise. Though they weren't as frequent as they might make it out to be, the Qilin were unhappy about the level of discomfort in the village, believing it to be against their peaceful nature. and so, with the help of the stream of silence, qilin's lost their ability to speak.

but then there's autumn blaze. she of all the village, was always the most outgoing and zippy. though qilin's are generally quiet and peaceful, autumn had such a love for musical theatre and singing and all things loud and proud. much of the village shunned her for this, and when she managed to break the spell of her own silence, they insisted she leave for the better of the village. and so she does.

but as we know, along comes AJ and flutters, who prove that maybe there's nothing wrong with feeling less than savoury emotions after all. the silence is broken, and the qilin grow to understand that being morally good and peaceful all the time isnt as black and white as it seems.

some extras
qilin are like a mix of dragon, deer and pony i guess? like ponies they come in all sorts of different colours, though autumn's village tends to have more earthy coats
they channel magic not just through their horns, but through their hooves. its said that flowers grow in their hoofprints.
theyre generally very cut off from equestrian society, and dont begin to integrate until apple jack and fluttershy come to their village.
for all their "pure of heart" and "morally good" nonsense, they are probably just as if not more pompous than the worst of the canterlot elites. im thinking like the unicorns from gravity falls that scream "nooot pure of heaaaart!!!!" — theyre rlly uppity about rules and stuff
obv not all qilins are like this, autumn blaze being one of them. she's rowdy, loud and uncouth, and gets on like a house on fire with AJ