Cobalt yawned and stretched out his large wings. Even in a cave as spacious as this, his wings scratched against the outer walls. He ran his claws through the horde beneath his belly, savoring the sensation of metal against his deep-blue scales. With an arch of his back, his head brushed against the ceiling, his spines cutting scars deep into the cavern roof.

It had been a good nap.

The lustrous mountain of his horde warped beneath his shifting weight as he crawled down. Cobalt attributed this more to his size than the strength of the metal. His immense bulk was a source of great pride for him. Even by dragon standards, he was massive. A smile tugged at lips whenever he thought about what it meant to be so large. He was among the greediest of dragons, with a horde to suit such a gluttonous creature.

He needed to be large, after all, to protect such a valuable treasure trove.

Cobalt crawled across the floor to a nearby pile of gems that, while puny compared to the pile of metal he’d just descended, would make most other dragons’ jaws drop in envy. Cobalt, however, placed little stock in this mound of gems. He reached into the pile and pulled out a clawful of gems before stuffing them into his massive maw. How many gems had he consumed over his lifetime? Thousands, perhaps even millions.

Only fools and ponies thought of gems as “valuable” or “precious”. It was only the dragons with some degree of sense that realized metals were the only material of worth. Among these wiser dragons, hoarders of gold and silver were not uncommon. Occasionally, one might encounter a dragon ambitious enough to try collecting platinum for their horde.

Cobalt, however, troubled himself only with the most precious of all metals: aluminum. His fixation with the metal earned him enough notoriety to be called “Cobalt, the Aluminum Dragon” by his contemporaries. He chuckled out a column of smoke as he thought about this, and reached for more gems.

Cobalt took a moment to look around his home, kept lit by the ever-present magma flow on the other side of the cavern. It was difficult to gauge time here, but by his estimates, it’d been about six-hundred years since he’d last seen sunlight, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. This cavern offered everything he needed. There was fresh magma to drink or bathe in, and it kept his cave warm without being so hot as to melt his precious aluminum. There was plenty of space for his horde, food, and himself, with enough room to continue growing, if he should happen to collect more metal. Above all, though, he successfully made it private. For centuries, he had to put up with ponies and other dragons who were after his aluminum, or even worse, [i]diamond dogs[/i] too stupid to see the worth of his horde trying to steal his food.

It had become less of a problem in recent centuries, though. Cobalt figured that the ponies and dragons had wised up and knew not to challenge him for his aluminum, no matter how valuable. Besides an occasional diamond dog, he was able to enjoy his solitude in peace.

Cobalt crunched down on another mouthful of gems and swallowed. He decided he’d eaten enough to suit his stomach and looked at his sparkling pile of gems. At his current rate of consumption, he determined that it would last him perhaps another two-hundred years—three-hundred, if he ate conservatively. At that point, he would need to venture out of his cave to collect more food. As much as the thought of leaving his precious horde unguarded sickened him, he took comfort in the fact that it’d be an opportunity to find more aluminum to add to his pile of riches.

Cobalt crawled over to his horde and carefully climbed to the top. The aluminum groaned beneath him as he settled into a comfortable position. He closed his eyes and snorted out a column of smoke, getting ready to resume his nap. He slowly smiled as he entertained the thought of returning to the surface someday. It’d be interesting to see how much more valuable aluminum—already the most precious metal of them all—had become in his absence.