Alright so after implementing, I thought i'd post the altered code.
Your code was pretty much perfect, although I forgot to add a "/" to the appended path+filename, this probably won't be a problem for most people.
Also, I found that I was importing two objects per image in the file, a jpg and a .import. The .import returns nulls and so need to be left out when appending the image to the pics list. Should say this once again is probably an issue on my end rather than anything you put my way. Either way here's the finished product for other people:
extends Sprite
var pics = []
func _ready():
var path = "res://path/to/folder"
var dir = Directory.new()
dir.open(path)
dir.list_dir_begin()
while true:
var file_name = dir.get_next()
if file_name == "":
#break the while loop when get_next() returns ""
break
elif !file_name.begins_with(".") and !file_name.ends_with(".import"):
#if !file_name.ends_with(".import"):
pics.append(load(path + "/" + file_name))
dir.list_dir_end()
Thanks for helping me out.