Some spoilers below for four stories! The mane fic, The Last Crusade, A New Hive, and A Velvet Nightfall!

When I wrote my story there were four stories (above) that went into depth about going through the portal when it was activated. I found that while the narratives were slightly conflicting, you could actually construct a non-conflicting one from all the pieces. While there's no reason to follow all or any of these, maybe you'll find the notes interesting! You could think about what any of these might mean to your characters, imagine where they would be, etc.

The best thing to do is just reread Chapter 33 from the mane fic to get an idea and work from there. Consider this a "what is everypony else doing there?" list for ideas!

I'm going to list excerpts from the four stories that made it to the portal (besides mine) and bold relevant parts. At the end I list bullet points of facts that helped me construct the timeline:

From “Ch. *33. Rift” from the Mane Fic:

“So that’s the school, huh?” I glance over at Twilight as we trot up the river banks and towards the gloomy looking building.

She nods slowly. “This must be the place. Large complex with boarded up windows.”
“And not to mention tacky horseshoe logos all over the place,” Rarity adds.
…

I poke my head out of the brush and watch the car turn the corner. “Yeah, sorry about that, Pinkie. Hopefully it won’t be much longer, we just don’t want to draw any attention until everyone’s ready to go through the portal. We can’t afford getting caught now.”

Jack bites her tongue. “That’s assuming the portal is even here.”

“It is, Applejack. It has to be.” Twilight looks up at the night sky. “And the moon just hit its zenith. According to the legend, the portal just activated and will close in 72 hours.”

I glance down at the smartphone strapped to my foreleg and note the time. “Right, let’s not waste any time. Where’s the statue?”
…

“The statue should be out front, let's get around the corner of this building.”

We walk in silence and my eyes scan our surroundings. There are paintings of horseshoes and pictures of horses hanging all over this damn place. Not to mention bizarre coincidences with all the billboards around here. There's a poster advertising Budweiser, with the Clydesdales front and center. Then an advertisement for some life insurance brand, showing an elderly couple horseback riding. Then some medication being marketing with the image of a farmer holding a saddle. Hell, there's even a poster advertising Lucky Charms, and for some reason the cartoon leprechaun is riding a horse. That doesn't even make sense! “Twilight, seriously, what the hell. This place creeps me the hell out.”

Rarity nods, “Yeah, I’m getting that vibe too. There’s definitely something in the air.”

Twilight trots alongside us. “Like my theory says, the portal is located here and the town experiences the disturbances. I think everyone here can feel that and they react to it, only they don’t know what it is.”

I smack my lips. “Man, that’s strong. I can practically taste it.”

From “Ch. 14 Opening The Way” in The Last Crusade:

The school was in an abysmal state.

Wait, I take that back. Calling it abysmal would’ve been giving it a compliment. Instead, let’s say it was in a decrepit, derelict, deteriorating, dilapidated, deformed state.

Yeah, that’s about right.

You might think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. The windows and doors were boarded up or broken, the walls were crumbling and cracked, the fields were overgrown and desolate, and the rest of the grounds were in no better shape. Fallen leaves and branches littered the patchy grass with small piles of garbage in the corners, all in various stages of decay. The building’s paint was either peeling or faded, with only a few horseshoe emblems here and there hanging on by rusty, eroded nails.

I think it’s safe to say that Canterlot High had seen better days.

We pulled into the pothole-riddled parking lot and just sat there in stunned silence, staring. It was actually kind of impressive in a way. I mean, the place had been long abandoned, but instead of a few decades of decomposition, it looked like a few millennia. This wasn’t just your normal, run-of-the-mill abandoned building we were dealing with, here. This was a ruin—a shattered husk of a structure, a long-forgotten relic better suited for a post-apocalyptic setting rather than the modern day.

From “Chapter 31: This Changeling’s Going to War” in A New Hive

“Liz, come on…” I called up the weathered stairs. My group and I had finished scouting the school out and were busy filing into the basement; the ponies would hole up in the gym, classrooms and any other space.

Unfortunately, after our arrival, Liz had taken one quick look into the basement and, with a loud yelp, immediately scrambled back up the stairs. I’d spent about five minutes trying to get her to come down. “I couldn’t even count how many spiderwebs I could see down there!!” She called.

As I left the school, I noticed that the swarm was gathered overhead, awaiting my instruction. The ponies, once apprehensive of us, now seemed rather calm in our presence, given how they were focused more on getting through the portal than the mass of insectile-equines buzzing overhead. That said, though, the moment I emerged from the front door, they quickly noticed me. I frowned at the number of stares, rubbing my leg awkwardly. “...hi?”

Trixie, who had been standing close to the edge of the crowd, approached me. “Your brood should probably all head in at once, or as close together as they can,” she said. “That way you can quickly get them organized on the other side.”

I nodded. “The brood stands ready, Mother…” Shift said.

I glanced up at the swarm overhead. My children…I noted how I barely considered them as such before—more as subjects than individuals… More as tools than my own kin…
And now, here I was, committing them to battle against a being of unfathomable power…

Some of them could die… Some of them might not see what I wanted for them—for us…
Part of me wanted to tell them to wait here, to tell them that I’d go through alone, to keep them from facing this danger, much the same as I kept Liz from joining us…

But I couldn’t.

My new brood… My new family… They needed to earn this new life, to earn the right to prove to not one, but two worlds that they were no longer monsters…
This battle wasn’t mine alone to fight, nor was it that of the Mane Six…
It was everyone’s.

“My subjects!” I called. “My children!” I strode across the street, towards the building housing the portal.
“We march.”
Ponies broke apart, making a path. Not wanting to seem privileged, I made haste to enter the field house.

The building was flooded with ponies; at the sight of me they quickly split apart to form a path. Giving an appreciative nod, I hurried towards the statue.

All goes well, we’ll be seeing a lot of this thing in the days to come… I mused as I approached.
I glanced back at the brood; they’d be able to pass through quickly enough that the ponies wouldn’t be held up that bad. Turning back towards the portal, I raised a hoof and phased it seamlessly through the glass surface.

From Ch “28: A Reflection in Motion” from A Velvet Nightfall

Twilight Velvet’s perspective:

We arrive in Dubuque and pull up to a parking area near the school grounds. There were already buses and trucks pulling up as well, unloading ponies by the hundreds. It is amazing to see, there must be thousands of us here.

We settle down to listen to the orders being called out, apparently we are now on a countdown to go through the gate. I can see my son and daughter coordinating actions and planning. 
…
Looking over, I see Feather Shine and Feather Pinch, standing with Berry Shine. Tilting my head, I start looking around the crowd, feeling a keen sense of dread, my eyes go wide. Now I’ve got the worst feeling, Twilight and Shinning hadn’t thought this through fully. They had forgotten about this. “Oh hell…”

Blaze blinks, “What?”

“No… no no no no…. Twi-Twi you are better than this…”

“What?” The LT says, looking around.

“She just put the timer on for five minutes, we need to work fast.” I stand up, the panic I’m feeling evident on my face.

Blaze grabs my face with both hooves, looking into my eyes. “Speak up.”

“THE FOALS.” I shout. Turning, I point around, “Mentally they may be 25 but their bodies are still foals, as much as they want to help most of them won’t be able to do much.”

Sugarberry blinks, looking like she has just been hit by a ton of bricks, “Girls! Scatter, fast as you can gather the smallest and bring them back to the JTLV’s. Any that are smaller than say, Sweetie Belle over there, bring them, no questions. Any that are Sweetie Belle’s size ask them if they want to stay until the all clear. Work fast though.”

Incorporating The Four Narratives:

• The school is severely vandalized and derelict (per Last Crusade)

• The ponies initially push to use the school as cover, filling our classrooms and hallways along the side facing the field house. (A New Hive)

  • Overall though, the space inside the school facing the field house is limited and ponies spill out front and down towards the field house because they can feel the portal across the street (per New Hive and Mane Story)
  • Lots of ponies carefully explore the school and note the horseshoe motifs, but overall lots of ponies are more willing to try their luck in the mass outside (per Mane Story and A New Hive)
  • The city doesn’t seem to respond to the thousands of ponies overwhelming the streets and spilling out around the school and towards the field house (per the Mane Fic) but eventually roadblocks and police/authorities show up later to organize and block off the area (per A Velvet Nightfall) 
• If the school is being damaged from the portal (per Last Crusade), then the atrium/sports complex should be fairly run down as well. As should that entire part of town be a little warped.
• The Changelings disappeared inside the school, using its basements. They’re staying out of the way, letting the ponies through first. (per A New Hive)
• By the time they’ve started to really amass, but while still growing, the doors to the field house are pushed open and the Cutie Mark Crusaders give a five minute warning before the Mane Eight are going through and for the lines to begin forming up, news sweeps through that we’re going through. (per Last Crusade)
• Rainbow Dash is human by the time others might see them but is part of one of the first groups to go through the portal (per mane fic), very few if any ponies outside of the mane eight and the Crusaders would have seen Sunset’s message but they could have heard about it from one of them

• Before everypony begins going through the portal a group of mostly unicorns in US Army Ranger uniforms are going through the crowds, calling and trying to collect all young foals and anyone else not able to fight. (per A Velvet Nightfall)

  • Notably one of those ponies they grab is Feather Pinch, “anyone smaller than Sweetie Belle” comes with them, anyone her size should be asked

    • Sugarberry: White Unicorn with Two-Tone Pink Mane; Cutie Mark is Three Diamond. Formerly S. Richards
    • Cipher Splash: Between Tan and Orange, pale blue mane, enigma cutie mark patch
    • Twilight Velvet: Light gray unicorn, white and lavender hair, three purple stars
    • Ballad: Two-tone gold and yellow mane, blue body, golden lyre patch
    • Ah-Pee: thick earth pony, coat is a mustard yellow, mane is a pistachio with darker lime green highlights. Eyes are a mix of yellow and crimson, giving her a tough girl look, three apple pies
• Only twenty or so are going at a time, for even thirty seconds a piece, at only one thousand ponies, that’s twenty-five minutes to empty through. It could easily be an hour to get everyone through. Let’s be optimistic and say half an hour before most get through. (per Last Crusade and math)

• At the eighty percent mark Scootaloo heads inside the school to let the changelings know the ponies are about all through and they’re ready to come. (per A New Hive)

  • The Changelings follow after Queen Chrysalis, who most ponies move out of the way for. The Changelings make their way through all at once and efficiently enough.

Hope that might help!

i can say i found your story to be vary good and supper interesting.
it is ad to see the five score story line grind to a halt as there are still some good story's limping along.
but real life has a way of beating down good authors.
i know one of the story's you list the author is still slowly working on but has failing health.
there is one you do not list that just real life, work and family has gotten in the way
ok time to stop before i start to ramble.

Side note here
Velvet and Blaze are rangers (denoted by berrets)
Cyphers Army intelligence
Sugerberry's Army Administration
Ballad is army engineers
Ah-Pee - Apple Pie (she gets Ah-Pee like AJ) - she's army reserves.

The uniforms are the same, us army uniforms. Only difference is the hats they wear. which in a sea of colors to begin with are likely just to be unnoticed ( Tan rangers, green intel, camo field caps everyone else.)

The foals are gathered, as with food and drinks, and warm blankets kept safe and protected. While those that are older but are unable to fight, are likely to be asked to help out with handing out supplies.

7846758
Scientifically speaking, there is one little quirk in here though...

If we take 'A moon in its Zenith' as highest point in the sky, well the moon just isn't in the right place to be honest. Since whether it was the Original 2020, or Published 2024 version, when the moon shines the highest it's during daytime(May 27th 2020 in lunar month 5th of (Le)April (Early Crecent), and May 16th, 2024 in lunar month is 9th of April(Early Gibbous moon))

Interesting! I didn't realize. : ) I suppose Spectrum didn't either. As far as the actual time day it's supposed to be, it's like 1am. Since they left at midnight and it takes them an hour. (which puts everypony else showing up comically late at night).