With everything going on, what with the invasion and Tyrek possibly escaping, I was stressing out really bad. To try and clear my head, I had decided to take a break from training and get out, maybe go explore the woods. Swift Blade was brutal with it, making me run ten miles a day at minimum! It left me feeling like I'd just fall apart if I let my guard down for even a moment. After walking quietly through the countryside for a little while I decided to rest. Picking a nice tree with plenty of shade, I sat down, feeling several joints buzz from being relieved of my weight.

I casually watched clouds drift across the sky, making all sorts of comical references from their shapes. As I sat there, almost falling asleep, I heard faint music. Almost like a soft whistling sound. I looked around, trying to locate the source. I got up, following the sound to find a small necklace hanging from a branch. It looked like a small stone with a hole in the middle, somehow playing soft music as a breeze blew through it. As it played I recognized the tune as the Song of Storms, one of my favorites from Ocarina of Time. I hummed along to it as I reached up and plucked it from the branch. The moment I touched it though, it flashed brightly as an ethereal wolf sprang from it. It turned to face me, and with a growl leapt right into my chest. There was a bright flash and then… nothing. I must have blacked out, because the next thing I knew, I was lying on my face.

I felt groggy and my brain acted like it was full of mud. Blinking some of the remaining spots from my eyes, I looked around at the spectacle before me. I stood on a great shining cloud, with prominent sights from the land below poking up through the wispy floor. I could see the castle and the Temple, Death Mountain and the Arbiter's Grounds. It reminded me of the training realm from Twilight Princess. Looking toward the middle of the cloud-like dimension, I notice the strange ethereal wolf again, and with a howl it suddenly transformed into a tall figure with a thick cloak of red feathers with their face hidden in shadows.

“...Huh, you’re the second Link-a-like I’ve met so far.” The stranger said with a chuckle of amusement.

I shook my head again, trying to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

"Holy Hylia, you're real…" I said in shock, finally getting to my feet.
"And what do you mean Link-a-like? Wait… you're like me?"
I put a hand to my head, trying to understand this as it left me feeling like I'd been hit with a load of bricks.

“How’d you come to that conclusion so quickly?” The stranger asked as he reached up to grab his hood, pulling it down to reveal.. Link? No, the hair is different, but why does he have a blonde mustache and goatee?

"Well, I'm not sure honestly. A feeling mostly. Like we're connected somehow. It's hard to describe…" I said with a heavy sigh. My body finally felt normal again, all the sluggishness gone.
"So… where are we? All I did was whistle with a singing rock necklace." I asked in mild frustration, rubbing my temples.
"Then… you attacked me? Not you you, the glowing wolf you.." I tried to remember, but it had all happened so quickly.

“Judging from how you’re talking and the sound of your voice, I'm guessing I'm your first Displaced you've summoned and you’re not used to a lot of the things that have happened to you so far? As for being Connected? I suppose in a way, not in a related sort of way nor am I from your world. The only connection is that we both possess the triforce of courage from our respectable worlds; displaced by fate because of a stranger manipulating the strings through trickery.” The stranger said as he reached up to stroke along his goatee in thought.

"Displaced? Is that what we are? It's actually a bit of a relief, knowing I'm not alone in this." I chuckled in relief.
"And as far as me being 'Displaced', I woke up in the Everfree about four and a half months ago." I smirked in slight embarrassment as I rubbed my neck.

“Same as me then. I woke up in the Temple Of Time with my body changed many years ago. I was alone, confused, and freezing cold, quite a rough start to be exact. I'm Jeff by the way, hopefully you’ve kept your name much like my friend Mike?” Jeff asked curiously.

I took it and shook it happily. As we shook, both our hands glowed as our Triforce resonated with each other.
"Johnny. And no, publicly I go by Link. I use it more like a last name to be honest, but everyone keeps calling me Link." I sigh in exasperation.

“Johnny Link sounds… odd.” Jeff with said before shaking his head

"If it makes you feel any better about it, it used to be Sikes." I laughed as I shook my head.

“..Ok, admittingly Link sounds better than Sikes, Johnny Sikes makes it sound like a stage name, as if you fool people.” Jeff said jokingly with a chuckle.

"It was my dad's idea. He's this small-time Magician in Vegas. You might very heard of him. 'Sonny Sikes, Magic Extroardinair'?" I cringed a bit, as I never talk about my father. He wasn't the best dad, being gone all the time tends to make you forget your family.

“Sorry no, but I'm guessing he either came to be after my Displacedment or you’re from a different earth. Multiverse theory is weird like that.” Jeff said as he crossed his arms over his chest, he gave me a look as if studying my appearance. “Hmm, Hyrule Warrior Link, although you seem to be missing alot of your equipment?” Jeff pauses as he looks at my belt. “Or do your pouches work like mine where items shrink down when placed inside?” Jeff asked with a nod.

"It really only works in combat as far as I can tell. Farore was teaching me how to use it for a bit, but then all hell broke loose down south. Ganondorf invaded the southern coast and a Mad Titan might escape his prison." I spat bitterly.

“Ganondorf? Jeez, you got Displaced rather late since that bastard is around. Is he human shaped, pony? A mix of both?” Jeff asked with worry in his voice.

"He has his form from Twilight Princess, but he's apparently more powerful than he was there. He was sealed in the Arbiters Grounds almost three hundred years ago for committing mass genocide on the Hylian population. Zelda had been keeping him sealed in that area all this time, and it's only made him piiiiiiiissed." I said, trying to emphasize just how bad this Ganondorf was.

“Tch, you’d best get to training and preparation then. I can help with some of it if you’d like, we’ve got all the time in this mindscape. One hour here is one minute out there.” Jeff explained as he lowered his arms down.

"Thanks. I can use all the help I can get." I replied, putting my hands on my hips.
"I've been training with the Royal guards, but they really are only adept in general combat and swordsmanship, so it's just been brutal. I am constantly repeating the same drills all day, but I need something… different. Something to give me an edge." I mused aloud, looking deep in thought for a moment.

“I’ve got alot to offer, so to narrow it down me having to explain it alot, tell me what you’d like to focus most on? Magic? Swordsmenship, something unique?” Jeff asked as he moved his cloak to the side, revealing his master sword. It looked odd seeing it at the hip and not on his back.

"I'd say some advanced sword moves, maybe a magic spell or two? Sorry… I'm still getting used to being the 'Hero', so I haven't really had time to think of what I would like…" I sighed sadly.

Jeff let out a hearty laugh. “I know the feeling, I was forced to become a hero as there were many vile creatures plaguing Equestria with Celestia not having enough time to take care of it herself.” he explained to me.

"Is it just a problem us Displaced seem to have? Getting sent to places so messed up they need a Hero?" I asked with a hearty chuckle. "No offense to you or your Equestria. It just seems to be a recurring theme here."

"From the many Displaced i've met, the reasoning for their displacement varies heavily. Not everyone was summoned for heroic deeds, others either try to live a life despite their new powers and body, or they use it for their own personal gain, good or bad. I've got a failsafe on my token so If I ever get summoned by anyone with ill intentions, I can break the contract, make their copy of my token crumble to dust, and force my way back to my world." Jeff explained with a nod.

I nod back respectfully.
"That's a good idea. I know I wouldn't wanna be pulled somewhere just to be forced to do evil shit." I snarled slightly, clearly angered by the idea. "It's bad enough we got ripped from our lives. Why make it worse with all that… stuff." My voice seemed to ooze contempt. Who would willingly choose to be evil when handed a second chance at life? It made absolutely no sense to me. That, or my Triforce was influencing me to be more noble and honorable.

“Power corrupts, and Ganondorf is a fine example of that.” Jeff said as he lowered and shook his head. “Now, I know you said advance swordsmenship, but it’d be best if I start at the lower tier.” Jeff explained as he reached behind his cloak to pull out his Hylian shield while his other hand pulled down to pull the master sword from its sheath, holding it in his right hand and his shield in the other. “Don’t worry about being harmed here in the dreamscape, it’ll be all mental fatigue.” Jeff explained as he got into position.

I also got into my ready position, drawing my sword and shield.
"Ready when you are Jeff!" I called with a grin.
'I hope I can keep up with him. He's definitely got experience on his side, so I should stay on my toes..' I thought to myself, trying to think on how he might come at me. I side stepped slowly to the right, keeping my shield up.

Suddenly, Jeff thrusted his sword straight at me, surprising me with his speed and forcing me to leap back to avoid getting stabbed in the face.

"Holy Crap your fast!" I said in shock as I landed on my feet. I wasn't expecting that, but I should have. Looking down, I noticed Jeff’s boots had golden wings sticking out of them. I instantly regretted taking my focus when he smacked me in the face with his shield.

“You gotta keep your senses sharp.” Jeff said with advice.

I just nodded, not wanting to waste my breath with a verbal response. I took the offensive, charging at him with a strong upward slice. Jeff reacted with an opposite slice, swinging it downward as our blades clashed. I pushed into my blade as hard as I could, my body refusing to back down. Yet I could feel Jeff's strength overpowering mine as I began to slowly lose ground.

“You’ve trained with veteran guardsponies, but when's the last time you’ve had an actual fight?” Jeff asked curiously.

"I fought a couple bokoblin yesterday, but they're kinda clueless." I admitted sadly.
"The Princesses don't want me to try and free the Everfree until I can hold my own. Which… isn't going well…" I blushed a bit. Jeff slid along my blade, I felt myself stumble forward as he suddenly rolled around me, soon I felt the blunt of the sword’s handle on my back.

"How…" I started to question, looking at him.
"How did you do that? That was actually really cool!" I smiled, quite impressed.

“I used your strength against you. Next time you’re fighting an opponent who has more than you, just push against their weapon, then kneel into a roll, they’ll be caught off guard since what they were wrestling against is suddenly gone.” Jeff explained

"Use my own enemies weight against them, eh? That would definitely come in handy." I nodded, giving my sword a good swing before facing you again. "You know, you're a pretty good teacher. You don't make me feel… bad, for being so.. well bad." I chuckled in amusement.

"I’m guessing the pony guardstallions have been too harsh on you, huh? Training as if going to war instead of just guarding Celestia? By the way, you would be the fourth person I've taught. The first one was a Jedi who was struggling how to use the force, second one had a Omnitrix that wasn't cooperating with him, so I taught him some swordsmenship to fall back when his watch fails, the third would be Mike, a man who got Displaced based on some kind of speedrun version of Link where he beat the game with the most minimum equipment, the poor guy only had three heart containers."

"Jeez, I could never do one of those minimalist runs. I didn't have the skill or patience. I feel bad for this Mike though. He sounds like an alright guy from how you talk about him." I smiled slightly, twirling my blade absently.

“You’ll be able to meet him if a wooden ocarina token falls into your lap.” Jeff said as he returned to his stance.

"I look forward to it. The three Link-ateers, right?" I chuckled excitedly, readying my own stance.

“Ha, nice one.” Jeff said with a chuckle as he pulled his sword arm back. “Now, I’m going to teach you the spin attack, just focus your energy into the cross-guard of your sword, then fill it up to the tip of the blade.” Jeff explained as his Master Sword gleamed brightly. Taking a leap back to provide me some distance, he suddenly twirled around, releasing a blue ring of energy around him.

"Ok… seems easy enough.." I thought aloud as I imagined my energy flowing into my sword. At first, nothing really happened. Then it began to faintly glow, getting brighter and brighter until it was gleaming like Jeff's had a moment ago. With a yell, I unleashed it, sending a similar blur ring away from me. But now I was slightly dizzy as I took a knee.
"Woah… that was awesome.." I laughed as I caught my breath.

“Wait till you learn elemental magic to channel into your weapon.” Jeff said as he rotated his sword arm around.

"Elemental attacks? Man, Magic makes everything cooler. Unless it's explosive magic. Apparently one of the Royal scientists almost blew up Canterlot. Added one too many drops of distilled sunlight." I chuckled in embarrassment.

"Exactly, elemental. I channel mine through the goddess orbs I've got in my pouch such as Fire, Wind, Ice, and Electricity.” Jeff explained as he held up his master sword, showing each element dance along it as he spoke.

"Goddess orbs… like from Wind Waker? I didn't know they could do stuff like that." I said in bemusement.

“Ah, close, but they’re not pearls.” Jeff said as he placed his shield behind his cloak until I heard a click, I guess it was sliding onto some kind of hook. Reaching into his pouch, he soon pulls out three orbs that were baseball sized. Each orb had their respectable colors and symbols belonging to each goddess.

"Woah, they look so… ethereal. Like a crystal ball." I said in amazement as I came closer to look. "Who knew such awesome power was in such a small package." I chuckled as I sheathed my sword.

“Each orb contains a small fracture of the goddess similar to the triforce except minus the whole wish granting part and instead just magical powers they wielded. Fire, Ice, Wind, Electricity, Earth, and among other things.” Jeff explained as I studied each orb.

"I wonder if there is something like this in my Equestria. I mean, going off of Zelda logic there probably is. Just gives me another thing to search for." I sighed, looking at the orbs with a slight melancholy expression.

"There may be, you just need to find whatever monster or dungeon they might be held up in, or perhaps guarded by a race. Now, I can teach you two spells, but not all of them, I wouldn’t want you passing out from overusing your magic pool.” Jeff explained as he held up the orbs. “Which one interests you most? Fire and Earth of Din? Ice, healing, and protection of Nayru, or electric, shape shifting, and agility of Farore?”

I pondered my options for a moment, before replying with a grin.
"Nayru, I choose you!" I yelled and then immediately began laughing.
"Oh… sorry, I couldn't resist." I chuckled as I tried to collect myself.

“There's a time and place for everything, but not now.” Jeff said in amusement as he put away two of the orbs.

"Yes, I'm good now. Sorry, Professor." I grinned, emphasizing the last word, causing Jeff to softly chuckle.

“Man, sometimes I miss planet earth.” Jeff said with a sigh, The hylian pauses to think for a bit. “Now, the spells i've learned how to cast with the Orb Of Wisdom would be shooting ice with your sword, channeling in your arrows or your sword, manifesting a shield of magic over you, healing yourself, surrounding yourself with a diamond barrier, reflecting spells, and a few others but I know you don't have a rod or a boomerang to use it with."

"Ok, so I should focus on ones I can use… you said I can channel it through my sword, right?" I look over concerned, as I was trying to keep up.

“Pretty much, just place your hand over the orb and simply imagine it, it’ll be slow at first but eventually it’ll come as natural as breathing.” Jeff explained as I placed my hand of Nayru’s orb. I closed my eyes in order to concentrate, trying to imagine the energy flowing through me and into my weapon. The blade cooled as a thin layer of ice formed, sending off whisps of cold steam. As this was happening, a mysterious presence could be felt. Watching us. I looked around, trying to see if I could zero in on it.

"You feel that Jeff? We've got an audience." I said quietly to him, my eyes scanning our surroundings.

"I had expected this to be honest as dreams are her domain. Isn't that right," Jeff pauses to look up. "Luna?"

"So you recognize me? How interesting…" She said as she appeared near us.

"Your majesty." I got to my knee and bowed my head respectfully, causing her to giggle in amusement.

"There is no need for that. Please, rise Link." She ordered softly and I complied.

“What Displaced doesn’t know you?” Jeff asked with a soft chuckle.

"Displaced? Is that what you both are?" She mused, looking Jeff over curiously.
"If you are anything like our Link, you must surely be of excellent character." She smiled warmly at Jeff.

“Similar but not the same as. Your Links got plenty of training, but he’s in need of experience. Those Bokoblins won’t be enough unlike what I faced back in my world.. Ah, that reminds me.” Jeff paused to look at me. “Don’t rely too heavily on your knowledge of what you know of, things are quite different in person than simply on a screen.” the hylian explained. I nodded back with respect.

"I understand. Not everything can be easy, am I right?" I chuckled happily. Luna just looked between us in pure confusion.

"What doth he mean by 'screen'?" She asked in confusion, her older way of speaking slipping out.

Jeff looked over at Luna, softly blinking at her. “A uh.. Simulation in a way projected from a box.”

"I'll show you when we return to the waking world." I promised her as she gave me a frustrated and sad look.

"Very well. I will await your return then, Link." She said sadly as she vanished, leaving us alone once again.

"Thirty three minutes have passed here, so likely thirty three seconds have passed in the real world. I should end the dreamscape before I worry the apple family of what just happened. I did leap in here rather abruptly in my wolf form to talk to you in private afterall. We can continue your training out there." Jeff explained as he placed Nayru’s orb back into his pouch.

"Oh crap, I forgot about them…" I said in embarrassment as I rubbed the back of my head.
"They'll probably be really worried if they saw it."

Jeff slowly waved his hand as the mindscape started to dissolve into Twili-particles; my vision slowly blurring into blackness. I suddenly woke up, finding myself back in the Everfree forest.

Author's Note

Ok, so a lot of chapters are getting posted today. This crossover was written almost a month ago with DisplacedWriter, and I had to make sure I had plenty of story posted before this went up. Go check out DisplacedWriter and their stories!