If you play through Minish Cap though, you'll find out that the Piccori Sword, when enchanted with the four elements, actually is the Four Sword. So I would say they have alot in common. Minish Cap must've happened before FS.
Well... it really depends on what you want to believe in. You can of course put aside the Four Sword-saga completely from the timeline and see it as a spin-off, but it is not impossible to fit in all three games in a normal timeline at all. In fact, many people see it as three installments in...