"Girls, look!" Pinkie cried in glee as the clouds began to dissipate before there chariot. An island came into view from below them.
"Tree houses!" she cried as they got closer, surprising the girls as a few houses became visible and spread across the islands beaches and cliffs.
"Well, Ah'll be." Applejack said as they touched down on the beach near one of the houses
"This island has some locals!"
"We should go and introduce ourselves." Twilight said, nodding in thanks to the two guards who had driven them this far
"Who knows, they may be able help!" She exclaimed in glee.
"Yeah!" Rainbow cried ecstatically before pausing
"Wait, help? With what?" she asked
"Rainbow!" Pinkie gasped before latching on to her face
"You weren't listening?" Rainbow, her head still held within Pinkies hooves, shook it.
"Twilight only told us, like, a gagillion times!" Pinkie exclaimed in surprise before shaking the poor mare.
"How can you not remember what it is Twilight told us before coming here!?" She stopped abruptly, to the relief of the now dizzy pegasus, and turned towards Twilight.
"Why are we here again, Twilight?"
Twilight sighed before explaining, "This island appeared on the map back at the castle. And, with Celestia's approval, we're allowed to go and get as much information as we can about this island and it's inhabitants and report back to Canterlot with our findings for further observation. "
"So Egghead stuff. Gotcha." Rainbow said nonchalantly. Twilight frowned at this, but ignored it and began making her way towards the tree house.
The house itself had a roof made up of dried palm leaves and the walls seemed to be from stalks of bamboo. A window port is seen on the side of it, next to a red wooden door. The door itself had the word "Kong" labeled in yellow upon a large plank of wood above the doorframe.
"Hello! Mr. Kong?" A loud knocking startled her out of her observation as Pinkie, to the surprise of her and her friends, was found at the doorstep of the abode knocking on the door. She stopped abruptly with her knocking and placed a hoof onto her chin in question.
"Mrs. Kong?" She began again
"Are you home?"
She stopped with her knocking and went towards the window port, much to the confusion of her friends. "Hello?" She called out as she went in through the window.
"Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed in panic.
"Come out, come out wherever you are!" She hollered from beside them, startling them all.
"~Olly olly oxen free!~" she sang out, looking this way and that for the missing islander.
"Pinkie, I-"
"Marco!" Pinkie cried out, cutting off Twilight, her eyes shut tight and her hooves out stretched, moving here and there trying to get a feel around her surroundings.
"I don't thi-"
"Marco!"
"Would you ple-!"
"Marco!"
"Pinkie!"
"Marco?" Pinkie questioned, her eyes still closed, her face scrunched in concentration, and her hooves dancing all over Twilights face.
"Pinkie Pie!" Twilight cried, having enough of her friends game. Pinkie opened her eyes and smiled at who it was she had found
"Twilight!" she exclaimed joyfully.
"Pinkie," Twilight began again, "I don't think-"
"I don't think anypony's home, Twilight!" Pinkie deduced. Twilight gave her a flat look.
"Um, girls?" all heads turned to Fluttershy
"Look." she pointed from below the tree house. Following her hoof, they notice a cave barely visible by the jungle shrubbery surrounding it.
"You think anypony's in there Twi?" Dash asked.
Twilight looked at her, then to the rest of the girls before shrugging, "Only one way to find out." She said and walked towards the cave. Her friends followed her inside.
Inside, they found themselves within a small tunnel, "I don't like this." Fluttershy mumbled just loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Don't worry, Fluttershy" Twilight said, looking back at the trembling pegasus
"It shouldn't be to-" She bumped into something while she was talking, a wooden sign with the words "Kong's Hoard" written on it in yellow. Twilight knew only one type of creature that would use the word hoard in anything. "Dragons." She exclaimed quietly, to herself.
"Girls!" Twilight looks towards them, only to find there attention transfixed behind her. "Girls?" Twilight looks beyond the sign. Her eyes widen in surprise at what she saw. Just beyond the sign, the cave opened up, light was coming through from a large hole on the ceiling, and an mountain of gold glistened the inside of the cave.
'No. Not gold.' Twilight squinted upon the the gold, pondering the odd shape, before realization came. "Are those...Bananas?"
"Twilight, darling." Rarity says, shaking the alicorn out of her stupor. "There could something else here." Twilight threw her a confused look.
"This is a hoard, dear." Rarity explained. "An odd hoard, mind you, but a hoard none the less. What if the dragon it belongs to is hiding its more valuable treasures under all of it?" The more Twilight thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense.
"Alright girls," They turned to Twilight.
"We're gonna see if theirs anything in here that's worthwhile! Pinkie, Fluttershy! Get the guards, they could help with this!" With a nod, the two set off while the rest of the girls grabbed as much bananas as they can before following the two out and placed the piles just outside of the caves entrance before going back in and doing it all over again with the two guards in tow.
It felt like it had been hours to the group as the ground was starting to become visible, but there was no sign of treasure. "Rarity," Twilight began. "I'm starting to second guess myself."
"But, their has to be something in here, darling!" Rarity said "The sign says 'Kong's Hoard!' for crying out loud!" She said as she grabbed the sign and pointed. That was when she noticed the dirt upon her hoof as she touched the sign. Inspecting the sign closely, Rarity found bits of yellow peering out in the between the two words. With a quick sweep from her magic, both Twilight and Rarity had found a hidden word upon the sign.
There eyes widened.
"Kong's...Banana Hoard!?"
"Banana Hoard?" Applejack exclaimed from behind them, startling the two as the rest of the group came over.
"Now that don't make a lick of sense!" She said aloud, looking to both Twilight and Rarity, "What kinda dragon would go around takin fruit rather than treasure?" she asked.
"Well, they're shiny, for one!" Pinkie exclaimed, picking one up and admiring it glistening form.
"Pinkie could be on to something, Twi." Dash said, "What if these things are the only thing that's gold-like on this island that's good enough for this Kong guy?"
Having no other answer and finding nothing else in the cave, Twilight decided, with a sigh, to have the stock pile be put back into the cave. Mulling over a thought, Twilight takes a bundle from the hoard. "We can't go back to Canterlot empty hooved." she exclaimed when the others stared at her questioningly
"Besides, it's just a bundle! It's not like the dragon will miss it!" and with that, they went to work putting the hoard back how they found it.
"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy spoke up after awhile of working.
"Just a minute Fluttershy," Twilight answered, carrying a pile with her magic "We're about halfway done."
"Sugarcube..."
"Applejack." Twilight glanced at the farm pony "I just told Fluttershy-"
"Twilight!"
"What!?" Twilight glared at Rainbow until Pinkie came beside her, grabbed her head and turned it towards two new arrivals on the edge of the islands jungle. To her surprise, they where a gorilla and monkey! From there distance Twilight could tell that the gorilla was huge. It had brown fur and wore a red tie around it's neck, the only piece of clothing she could see on it. The monkey was also brown furred with a red cap donned upon its head and a red shirt with two yellow stars on it. Both of the primates, carrying piles of bananas, stood rooted in there spot looking at the group in surprise.
"...Oh..."
The two continued to stare until they noticed something behind the group of ponies. Slowly, Twilight follows there gaze to the remaining stock pile behind them. Her eyes widened in realization.
"Girls," She began with some trepidation.
"I don't think the Kong's are dragons." She concluded to the rest of the ponies. Both groups jump in surprise when a banana peel is tossed nonchalantly between them. All slowly turn towards the source in disbelief.
"P-pinkie?" Twilight uttered.
For her part, Pinkie Pie, realizing that all eyes are upon her, swallowed the treat she was eating before answering their unspoken question with a look of guilt upon her face. "...I eat when I'm nervous."
Having given her answer, Pinkie Pie grabbed another banana in shame, popped it in her mouth, and tossed the peel over her shoulder before chewing and swallowing.
An enraged roar shocks them, as well as bananas being flung this way and that, back to there new arrivals in the mitts of a tantrum. The ground shakes before them as the gorilla slams its bare hands onto the earth, making them trip and stumble in surprise. Before anypony could say or do anything, the two primates charge at them.