Life, the universe, and everything

Before we start off, the singular is spelled with ie, not y.

Introduced in Chroma, this particular breed of equine surpasses classification. It is the result of Changeling and pony pairing, which was made possible with Queen Chrysalis' peace offer. Technically, the Changeling part of them outweighs pony, causing them to visually appear as one. However, nopony has ever seen what a Shapie really looks like, as they choose a pony shape late in embryonic development and stick to it for the rest of their lives.

Despite being part pony, the Shapie retains her morphing abilities. Even before acquiring mastery over it, they are often seen slightly modifying their looks both randomly and on purpose. While they could thus utilise the full power of a shapeshifter to their advantage, there are multiple agreements both spoken and not, saying that those integrated into pony society with the ability to change their appearance do not do so excessively in order to remain recognisable. A Shapie can, however, temporarily change her physical appearance to make use of magic or wings. By nature, all Shapies who have a horn in their current state are talented at illusion and alteration magic, though less so in spells used only by ponies which would have little use to an invasive Changeling.

Shapies can not pick the appearance of their cutie mark. They are connected to the hive mind from birth and can naturally feel all pony emotions, yet have not lost their ancestors' ability to feed off of love. Further research in crossing Shapies with purebred Changelings and ponies is required to determine how far those traits do or do not stay.