mysql really slow when running over piggyback

[jmallar3]

We're noticing that when piggyback is used to bridge a connection to MySql/RDS, a) it takes MySql much longer to connect to the datasource, and b) simple queries take much longer.

ssh -F ~/.ssh/piggyback -i ~/.ssh/my.pem -T -L 9997:my-rds-host:8080 {jumphostip}

$ cat ~/.ssh/piggyback
Host * !github.nike.com !github.com
    SendEnv LANG LC_*
    ServerAliveInterval 30
    StrictHostKeyChecking no
    ProxyCommand /usr/local/bin/piggyback proxy-host 443 %h %p
    ServerAliveInterval 60

Connecting via MySqlWorkbench... The connection seems to establish within a few seconds, like it does without piggyback, but then something happens, and I get a spinner, and it stays there for ~ 30-45 seconds, and then I get a response.

Running queries shows similar effects. The query can take several minutes to run, but the actual execution time of the query is in milliseconds.

As a test, I ran this SQL (which isn't even valid SQL).
select now;

After hitting return, I got a spinner for ~30-45 seconds, and then an error. The execution time of the query that return the error is .098 seconds.

Something is introducing communication delays here.