An excerpt from the diary of Starlight Glimmer.

To the citizens of the Griffonian Syndicate, Leona is a wonderful leader. She’s kind, compassionate, caring- but ruthless when she needs to be. To the people, she brought prosperity, order, opportunity, and wealth. She outed the old abusive rulers and shifted the corporate servitude to the people. Citizens of the Syndicate don’t call her The Godmother in passing because she said they had no other choice. They do it out of respect.

She’s actually in an interesting position- normally, whatever governing body exists will serve the corporations out of a sense of financial duty of sorts. They see the CEO’s as their biggest producers and money-makers, and thus, will go through great lengths to ensure they are taken care of. Profits soar, at the cost of the people. And the journalists just go to the highest bidder- their propaganda makes it seem like the corporations are the good guys.

Leona realizes that to ensure the continued existence of the government and the corporations, the citizens have to be happy. Equestrian citizens have been paying higher and higher taxes and getting squeezed for every last bit or drop of labor; major CEO’s experience tax breaks, frivolous write-offs, bail-outs, exploit loopholes and use chicanery to keep the lower class down.

Leona, however, tolerates none of this. One quote of hers that comes to mind is, and I quote…

“Fuck you, pay me.” -Don Leona Grimfeather.

It’s brilliant! Oh, you thought you could skim off the top without my notice? Fuck you, pay me! You want a tax relief as a reward for all the ‘generous’ time off you gave your employees? Fuck you, pay me!

Actually, the economy of Minos is experiencing a heavy downturn as Leona’s policy of Fuck you, pay me has essentially weakened the Bank of Labrynthia through brute force. She doesn’t go to courts, write up warrants and subpoenas; she knocks on their door and asks, “where’s my money?”

Another thing she told me- “Unreported income will be recovered, I assure you.”

She didn’t go into great detail about what happens if they still refused, instead opting to give me an example of what happens when she doesn’t get her tribute. It was yesterday, in fact, we were spending the day together; on my end, I wanted to know more about this odd government; on Leona’s end, she apparently saw potential in me as a leader.

I don’t know about that last part- but what happened next did give me a few ideas.

Leona’s car rumbled and growled as it drove down the back road. It was early in the morning, around seven, and we just ate breakfast. She said she had a time sensitive appointment at some woman's mansion to make, which is why I decided to join her.

“Normally I wouldn’t eat until around, like, 9 or so… but I’m on a bit of a timeframe with this.” She explained- then she cryptically added, “Also, I didn’t want to kill my appetite before breakfast… Don’t worry, no-one’s getting murdered.” That was a little relieving, to be honest.

After a few moments, I had to ask- “So, how often do… do people get murdered, around you?” A bit of an odd question, but these are odd circumstances. She just chuckled.

“These days? Not so often. Normally, I have someone else to do it for me unless I got something personal with the fucker… or like when I had to take care of that rat, yesterday. Sorry about that, by the way.” She seemed more annoyed than sad. “I mean, I did everything for that girl! I let her eat Mamma’s cooking, made her as comfy as I could, you saw the car I gave her as a bonus! It was a nice car!” She just sighed, “It is what it is, I guess. And I still gotta deal with that shitshow!”

Personally, I just laughed. “See, if my boss was as nice as you were, we wouldn’t be in this mess!” That got a good laugh out of her. “Hell, if that Elitist fuck Neighsay were half as nice!”

“That’s just it, isn’t it?” She said, and I nodded. “Maria probably found out some information so valuable that she would risk death to reap the rewards. But usually- if you take care of your people, they’ll be happy to have your back. But anyways, we’re almost here.”

We pulled around to the backside of some ginormous fenced in mansion with a walled back-garden. There was a large gate on the backside- one where an equally large truck with a large barrel on the back waited. It smelled foul, even from a distance.

“Thankfully, this prick’s out on business. Oh, you can wait in the car. I’ll only be a minute.” She explained, leaving me behind with the car running. Not that I couldn’t see what was going on of course; There were guards outside the gate, but they stared forward as if they didn’t even see us. I had a feeling that if I asked, Leona would say they know better than to say anything. I watched Leona help guide the truck as it backed up into this woman's garden, crushing furniture, latticework, and plantlife underneath its massive tires.

Inside the garden was a massive private swimming pool of granite and marble- it seemed like construction was recently finished, as there was no water in it. A metal pipe extended from the back of the large truck, and hovered directly over the empty pool. The driver flashed her a thumbs up; with a wide grin, she grabbed a broken piece of wood off the ground. On the side of the truck was a large safety latch; when knocked out of the way with the piece of wood, it revealed a metal release lever.

With a couple unsuccessful thunks from the board, the lever was released. Gallons of sewage started flooding into that poor bastards swimming pool as Leona made a mad dash to the car, the tires squealing against the cobbled road as she drove us away.

Finally, after an awkward silence I just had to ask- “So uh… what was the point of that?” I asked, and she started laughing.

“A private swimming pool is not a fucking tax writeoff- no matter how much paperwork you planned to do by it.” This whole thing was over a frivolous writeoff?

“But… What about due process? Why not just take her to court over it?” She rolled her eyes and scoffed at the mention of due process.

“Due process doesn’t work against people like that.” She said, rolling down her window and lighting a cigarette. “You know, your elites.” It still didn’t sit right with me.

“Why not? Why shouldn’t it?” I mean, equality in front of the law has always been something important to me- but as much as I hated to admit, Leona had a point.

“Too many people to bribe along the way. Let’s say, I go through all the effort of bringing him to court. I gotta make sure the judge can’t be bribed, the jury can’t be bribed, what have you- then, I gotta protect the judge and jury to make sure they don’t get whacked. But even before that, this rich fucker’ll hire a lawyer. Then, finally, after months or years of effort, the lawyer uses a bunch of loopholes and chicanery, then-”

“Alright, alright, I get it. You don’t wanna waste your time with the courts.” I interrupted her, having gotten the point.

“It’s not just about wasting time, or even money.” She said, tossing the cigarette butt out the window and lighting another. “It’s about sending a message. Tomorrow, I’m gonna get on the morning radio show and say ‘Yeah! I had some rich asshole’s multi-million dollar swimming pool filled with shit! What’s she gonna do about it? If she wanted to write it off so bad, she should’ve opened it up to the public like I told her!’”

I couldn’t help but smile. If Celestia, or even Twilight pulled something like this- I dunno… I guess it’s nice to see someone get what they deserve.

“Everyone gets to laugh as the rich asshole has to deal with a pool filled with shit- and as a result, all the rest of the rich assholes will know to not fuck around. And because she didn’t want to pay me my sales tax, she’ll be paying to have her pool un-shitted, her garden fixed, everyone knows what a pathetic greedy fucker she is… I may never see that sales tax, but his pool’s gonna pay in fuckin’ dividends through sheer entertainment.” She had such a smug grin on her face- one I couldn’t help but match.

“There is something inherently satisfying about seeing an Elite get pushed around like they do us.” I mused aloud, “They act all high and mighty- but hold them to the flame, they run like rats.” Her smug grin turned dark, devious even.

“You don’t know the half of it. Elites like this cunt- whose pool I just destroyed- when the pressure builds, they start to crack. Even ones that have callously used hitmen in the past to further their own gain- you start yelling nonsense and press a gun to their face, they crumble like a fuckin crouton!” She said, laughing between her words while I laughed along. “No, please, no! I have so much more money to make! I’ll sell you my wife at a discount if you spare me! Don’t kill me, please!” she spoke in a mocking tone- and I couldn’t help but continue our shared laughter.

Then, I fell quiet- to be frank, I felt a little bad for laughing.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, apparently having noticed my silence. “If you’re feeling guilty, don’t.”

I couldn’t help but snort back a peal of laughter. “Oh, it’s that easy?” I said in a sarcastic way, and Leona chuckled with a smile.

“That’s not what I meant, smartass!” Despite her harsh language, her laughter kept up. “Besides, do you know who’s pool that was? Mrs. Tankthrust.” My eyes widened as I realized just who this was.

“The same one who hires zebra mercenaries to break up strikes in Equestria?” She nodded, and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Now knowing what kind of person Leona just messed with, I couldn’t help but savor the irony.

“That same piece of shit. That’s why I say don’t feel bad for her or any of the… fuck it, the Elites. Now you got me saying it!” I shrugged, a little apologetic. “Point is, she had every opportunity to do the right thing. She fucked around, she gets to find out.”

While I didn’t feel as bad for laughing, it still left a burning question in my mind.

“What… what’s stopping them from cutting their losses in Griffonia?” I mean, why wouldn’t they just leave?

“What’s stopping them from leaving?” She said, a haughty tone in her voice. “I do.” Then she went on to explain- “For the majority of them, I take care of them. Our syndicate is a two way system of compromise- while it is my job to prevent the corporations from fucking over the people, I also have to make sure the corporations aren’t getting rawed over the couch.”

At first I was totally skeptical, but I saw her reasoning.

“Just as an Elite can squeeze the working class for every penny, a Union can sometimes go overboard with their demands and jeopardize the entire company. People get greedy, they get unreasonable sometimes- that’s how the world works. But if either party has a problem with the other, they send their petition up to the Fair Labor Enforcement Agency. It gets manually reviewed by a bunch of people, then they go to the belligerent party. They collect the facts as to why the demands were refused, as well as looking into why the demands came into being… They decide that the demands are unreasonable, the party has two chances to appeal. This, I believe, is more than a fair system for all involved.” She explained- but I still didn’t get my answer.

“But… How do you prevent the CEO’s from jumping ship? Or outsourcing to Equestria? Without the trade ban, what’s stopping them?” I asked, and she gave me an odd look, cocking her eyebrow.

“Me. I’m stopping them. Let’s say some Elite tries to take refuge in Equestria. There’s some things I can’t tell you- but bottom line is, I see it as Equestria harboring a Griffonian criminal. They can hand the fucker over, or I threaten military action… that is, if I hadn’t already sunk their private superyacht as it leaves the docks. Remember who owns the army.” She said- and you know what? Fair enough. “But the point is- this system isn’t one of equality, I will admit. It’s a system of Equity- to prevent bullying from the Elites, the working population needs an equalizer. That’s why I’ve made it relatively easy for my people to own guns- as a polite society is an armed society… Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.”

As of writing, it’s only my third day here, and I already have so many new ideas to think about! Already, I had some ideas, and I was curious on her input.

I asked her- “Why not just skip the middleman and nationalize all the labor sects?”

She opened her mouth to reply, then blinked. “That… huh…” now it was her turn to think! “I… nah. That probably wouldn’t work.” her dismissal annoyed me to hear, not gonna lie.

“But… why wouldn’t it? Why do we need any of these rich assholes?” Might as well not sugarcoat it. “People like Tankthrust- what do they do aside from push pencils all day? What value is she bringing to the economy?”

“Her company is-” She started,

“No, no! The individual Tankthrust. What does she do aside from scheming and stealing from the other classes?” I noticed her glare, and I shrunk back a little bit. I felt relieved when her glare ended as quick as it came.

Note to self- never interrupt Leona mid-sentence.

“Because it’s easier for me to let the people keep doing what they were already doing before. I let the CEO’s keep their jobs, I legitimized the Bosses, and I let the unions form. People don’t like stepping down, so I gave them a choice. Listen to what I say or lose everything; basically what I did to the dogs. Either way, the Syndicate goes on.” She said with a shrug. “But, I mean, what worked for me may not work for you. Conversely, systems that work out for you might not work out in Griffonia. It just comes down to the will of the people… and propaganda.”

Finally, I smiled. “I think I get it…”

The rest of that car ride was rather uneventful. I asked Leona for some time to think- she obliged by turning the radio up.

While I understood where Leona was coming from, I didn’t entirely agree. Personally, I think all Elites should bow to the will of the people. In my book, I discussed how the people would use peaceful means to get what they want… but listening to the Equestria update on the radio told me that may not be an option.

The gist of it is- as a result of the recent debacle, The Crown is cracking down hard on protesters. Gallus was on the radio encouraging people to report Anti-Equestrian Sentiment among their peers for rewards. The Equestrian court and parliament are bogged down to near uselessness between citizens demanding a proper solution; and the elites, demanding that the status quo remain in place.

It’s quite disgusting to see a nation built on the values of friendship and compromise fall to such depths because of greed and hatred. And as much as it pains me to admit, I hate the Elites as much as the common pony does. It utterly goes against the virtues of friendship… but they make themselves very easy to hate.

All the meanwhile, poor Twilight is caught in the middle of this storm. How she hasn’t fallen from nervous collapse yet is beyond me. She’s a great friend and a great ruler- but she’s really not fit to lead during times of great unrest. Things seemingly started unraveling not long after she took the throne proper, and that is by no coincidence. As soon as Celestia all but disappeared from the public eye, the Elites started growing in power by virtue of ruthlessness. Celestia was no longer on the throne- and as a result, the Crown lost its bite.

This all begs the question- why has Celestia seemingly abandoned us in our time of need? And I don’t think it was just career burnout that drove her to retire. What Gallus said seems more and more credible as I think about it- and that horrifies me.

If Celestia truly is in a weakened state, then the check on Draconic power and influence will dissolve if her secret is let out. She needs the dragons to think she could still extinguish their very existence with so much as a blink of an eye.

I respect the dragons deeply- hell, I’m friends with their current Lord Ember! But as a species, their societal priorities are utterly incompatible with the continued existence of other societies. I’m not saying that because their culture consists of them constantly fighting and bickering over hoards and land- something they take personal pride in.

No, my reasons are much more legitimate.

The first dragon war was sparked by their old Dragon Lord, Ušum. He made a plot that involved enslaving the other races of the world to dig up gold for them, creating the ultimate, eternal hoard. What happened next has only been whispered about by the eldest, most ancient of dragons, lamenting on the terror that took place on The Day the Stars Fell.

The troubling thing, however, is the Draconian religion still reveres this plot, almost as much as it reveres material gold itself. They say it was ordained by their Mother Hydra that the dragons would one day rule Equus, and all the gold in the world will belong to her children… or something like that.

I remember when I found all this out during a private conversation with Ember. I asked her if she revered the plot too… and she changed the subject, saying she wasn’t comfortable saying more. I didn’t think about it at the time- but now I can’t stop thinking about it. Why? Why wouldn’t she denounce these awful beliefs?

I need to see if Leona can possibly schedule a one on one, between Ember and I… But… I dunno. I’ll get to it, sooner or later.

I gotta get my mind off this.

Speaking of Leona, the rest of the day was quite calm. A lot of meetings, sitdowns, sitreps, speeches, that sort of stuff. But what really formed the highlight of that night was getting to meet her, admittedly, quite colorful friends! She was taking me to a bar they frequented, and I was a little nervous at first- after all, if my life was in danger, I asked her if it would have been better for me to lay low.

Her response was a reassuring “You’re with me. No one can fuck with you.”

That night, when we pulled up to this place, there was no parking available down the entire street! The line out front nearly wrapped around the building, and there was practically an army of bouncers nearby. We stopped outside the front entrance, and Leona handed a valet her keys and a wad of bills.

“We’re goin’ in through the side. Stay close.” She said with a smirk. I was led down some stairs on the other side of the line, the crowd of griffons making plenty of room for their Don. She led us through the kitchen, the employees casually greeting her like a friend as we walked by.

When we finally reached the floor, she went straight to the bar. The griffon sitting there wore a coat to cover his lack of wings and a black eyepatch did a poor job of concealing the chemical burns underneath.

“Adrian!” She yelled over the crowd and the cheery swing music. “I got someone I want ya’ to meet!” He turned with a smile and held out his hand, which I shook.

“This is Starlight Glimmer, and she’s under Griffonian protection.” She said plainly, and he nodded in apparent understanding.

“You can call me just Starlight… or Glimmer, for that matter.” I said somewhat sheepishly, and Adrian chuckled.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Madame Glimmer.” He spoke in a refined tone of voice that suggested good education, fit for a member of nobility. “Please, call me Adrian.”

He then turned to Leona and said in a far more casual tone- “Want me to get the table ready while you introduce her around?” He said, and Leona nodded.

We walked away before I had a chance to ask any questions- something that would probably be a running theme tonight.

“Hey! Hick-for-hire!” she yelled to a griffon that dressed like a foppish cowboy, boots and hat and all! “Say hi to Starlight, she’s been couch-surfing and landed in my house!”

I blushed, taken aback! “I have not!” But their shared laughter told me that they were just joking around.

That introduction played out much like with Adrian, with a quick exchange of names before moving on.

Next were the twins, Fin and Jos. But really, it was more of an introduction to Jos, as Fin apparently doesn’t talk much. Kind of reminds me of Fluttershy, in a way.

But most interesting was perhaps Sinan, a zebragriff she was friends with. He was wearing a purple silk robe which must have come from the Hippotigria, one of the smaller Zebra city-states. It had beautiful swirling patterns represented by gold trim to represent stripes.

After our names were introduced and we shook hands, I had to ask before Leona dragged me on!

“Sinan, if you don’t mind me asking… Is that robe from Hippotigria?” he raised his eyebrows, apparently surprised.

“That’s exactly it! That’s the tribe my father originates from… I’m impressed! How’d you figure it out?” He asked, and I just gave a sheepish grin.

“Oh, I just recognized the patterns on the robe. I-It’s nothing, really.” He simply snorted.

“Still though, it’s more than most know about my people.” He said with a wide grin.

Apparently having made good impressions, the rest of the night was pretty fun! Instead of discussing business like I assumed they would, we all drank, played cards, and told each other stories.

When we first sat down, I didn’t plan on drinking… but when that waitress showed up ten minutes into our card game to see if we needed more drinks, I figured, what would one or two hurt?

“A-Anyways… hic… tha’s why I think we sh… should sink tha yachts!” So much for two drinks. “We, we gotta… fuck the rich!” I said, slamming a hoof into the table. “No rubber, fuck ‘em!” the roaring laughter around me told me to keep going…

But in retrospect, they might have been laughing at my drunken antics, rather than fully agreeing with me.

I don’t remember much of what happened after that, and I was more than a little embarrassed when Leona told me what went down while we were all hanging out in the living room after breakfast. Tiara was there, and Trixie was on the other couch with me. Amelia was spending time with Anastasia, leaving the rest of us behind to talk.

“Oh, you were blind drunk!” Leona explained, quite bluntly. My darling wife Trixie joined in Leona’s mirth, the traitor! “Ranting and raving about Marksism and the rich.” I blushed, crossing my arms in a huff while Trixie hugged me from the side.

“Oh, please.” Tiara said, rolling her eyes and looking at me. “Don’t let it get to you- you have no idea what it’s like dealing with Leona when she’s drunk.” Leona started sweating in response and said-

“What are you talking about, honey? I-I mean, we all do stupid stuff when we’re drunk.” She had a nervous grin on her face, silently pleading with her wife to shut her mouth. Tiara just gave her wife an evil grin as she shared with me some stories about Leona that, if they ever got out, would probably get me murdered on the spot.

It’s… a little surprising how easy that was for me to write out. Then again, as Leona would put it- “You don’t gotta find out, as long as you don’t fuck around.”

Bottom line is, Leona wanted those stories brought to the grave and I don’t blame her. That’s why I’m not writing them down, in case something happens to this diary.

Didn’t stop me from laughing as her wife told the story.

I’ve been writing for the better part of the afternoon now. Leona had something she wanted to take care of, but if the PA announcement that rang out a couple hours earlier is anything to go off of, I’d say she probably already completed that task.

I wonder if Leona would be up to discuss politics some more? She said she wasn’t doing anything all afternoon…

Author's Note

I have a discord server for this fic out now!! It'd be real cool if u joined :333

Just so we're 100 percent clear, this chapter takes place before the previous chapter. The ending was Glimmer's thoughts before she, by chance, decided to visit Leona during a time of need :3

As always, thanks so much for reading! Likes and comments are greatly appreciated :3