After freeing Chrysalis from Galeem's control, Starlight and her party continued their journey. But just before they crossed the bridge, Chrysalis had given them information regarding the path that was near the bridge that was blocked off by the light pillars erupting from the fissure. Chrysalis claimed that she saw a strange blue switch and suggested that they checked it out. Surprised by the fact that Chrysalis had actually gone through the trouble of giving them information, they were hesitant to trust her. Starlight, however, decided to take the risk and led her party back down the mountain and to the path where the bridge was blocked off.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Lucario. "I thought you didn't trust her,"
"Yeah, but it's worth a shot," said Starlight.
"Truly a stubborn pony is she not?" Eleven asked Twilight.
"She can be that way sometimes," Twilight sighed. She began crossing the bridge and noticed the blue switch the Chrysalis had mentioned.
"That must be it," said Spike.
"Let's check it out," said Piranha Plant.
"Don't do anything stupid," said Bowser. Starlight was about to walk over to the switch when Lucario stopped her.
"Wait," he said. Starlight stopped and turned around.
"What is it?" asked Spike.
"Someone's here," said Lucario. "I sense a strong energy source around this area," The party froze in place as they looked around their surroundings. After a short period of silence Lucario suddenly turned towards Starlight.
"Starlight get out of the way!" Lucario exclaimed.
"What why?" asked Starlight.
"Behind you!" Lucario warned. Starlight quickly turned around as a beam of sky blue energy shot towards her. Starlight yelped as she quickly teleported out of the way.
"What was that?" asked Ember. Starlight appeared next to Lucario just in time to hear someone laughing.
"Impressive," chuckled a voice. Starlight and her party looked above to see a pony flying down. She had her back turned to them, but Starlight recognized the princess from her wings and horn. Her coat was a bright pink color and she had a mix of purple and pink wings. Her tail and mane were a beautiful mix of purple, violet, and cream yellow that ended in curls. A small blue heart was imprinted on her flank and a small golden crown sat on top of her head. Twilight's eyes widened as a huge smile appeared on her face.
"Princess Cadence!" Twilight exclaimed. "You're alright!" But Starlight blocked off her path as she tried to approach her. "Starlight what are you doing?" asked Twilight. A tear rolled down her cheek. "Starlight let me through," demanded Twilight.
"No Twilight," she said. Twilight looked at her with a confused look. " "I'm sorry Twilight, but that's not Cadence,"
"What are you talking about Starlight?" asked Twilight.
"She's right Twilight," laughed Cadence. They all turned towards Cadence. She turned around revealing her evil smile and her glowing red eyes that glared back at them. Twilight's eyes widened.
"No," she whimpered.
"You failed me Twilight," said Cadence.
"I..." Twilight had lost her words, her tears choked her as she struggled to speak.
"I know what you're here for, and I will not let you hit that button," said Cadence.
"Who is she?" asked Link.
"A close friend of Twilight," answered Spike.
"Oh no," said Peach.
"Is she being controlled by a spirit?" asked Villager.
"From the looks of it no," said Starlight.
"If you want to hit the switch, you'll have to get past me," laughed Cadence. Starlight looked down at Twilight.
"Twilight I know how hard it is for you, so let me handle this one," said Starlight. Twilight nodded. Starlight turned towards Cadence and stepped forward. She opened the album and pulled out the Giga Bowser Spirit.
"You called?" asked Giga Bowser.
"Please lend me your strength," pleaded Starlight.
"Yeah whatever," said Giga Bowser. He began sending her energy as she made eye contact with Cadence.
"Come on," she said. Cadence smirked as she blasted her with magic. Starlight quickly teleported, but was caught off guard when Cadence suddenly appeared in front of her and tackled her to the ground. Starlight got back on her feet but quickly avoided another magic blast. "Why is she so fast?" Starlight asked.
"What's wrong can't keep up?" asked Cadence. Starlight began charging up a magic attack but was interrupted by Cadence as she ran up to her. "Too slow," she sneered. Starlight managed to avoid her punches and kicks and knock her back with her magic. Starlight gasped as she caught her breath. Sweat began running down her face as she waited for Cadence to make a move. In all the battles she'd been in, not a single enemy was fast enough to outmaneuver her. Starlight was caught off guard when Cadence suddenly teleported. With a panicked look on her face, she began scanning the area for Cadence. "Right behind you," said Cadence. Starlight yelped as she turned around only to get knocked back. Just as she managed to catch herself, Cadence rushed in and grabbed her. She hit Starlight a couple of times before throwing her into the air, blasting her with magic and kicking her back into the ground.
"Starlight!" Spike gasped. Starlight's body trembled as she got up.
"Too slow," said Cadence grabbing her leg. Starlight yelped and tried to escape, but Cadence picked her up by the leg and threw her into a large rock. Starlight's eyes widened as her back slammed into the rock. She collapsed on the ground coughing up blood. "Come on done already?" Cadence groaned as she walked over. Starlight's body trembled in pain as she tried to get up. "Nope, stay down," hissed Cadence stepping on her hoof. Starlight winced trying to pull her hoof away, but let out a scream of agony as Cadence stomped on it several times.
"We have to help her," said Peach. But before anybody could make a move, Cadence used her magic to raise a barrier between them and Starlight.
"Hey what the hell!?" yelled Link.
"Stay out of this," hissed Cadence. She turned to face Starlight again. "Tch you're so worthless," sneered Cadence. "A waste of my time," She kicked her in the stomach causing Starlight to cough up more blood. Starlight's body trembled as Cadence walked away. She could feel her energy leaving her body as she lay there the verge of losing conscious. The screams of her party members and the pounding on the barrier began to grow distant.
"It hurts," she told herself. "I'm so tired," Her eyes grew heavy. "Maybe..... I'll... close...my.....eyes,"
"Is that really what you want?" asked a voice. Starlight's eyes shot open.
"What?" asked Starlight.
"I said, is that really what you want?" repeated the voice.
"Who are you?" asked Starlight.
"I can't say much, but let's just say I'm the God of this world," said the voice.
"Galeem!?" Starlight gasped.
"Not quite," said the voice. "It's true that Galeem is God like, but he is also a creature born of in this world, that I created,"
"You created!?" Starlight looked around and realized that she wasn't in the location she had originally been, but rather a black void. "Relax, we're currently in a place deep within your conscious," said the voice. "Now to answer your question, yes I did indeed create this world, but that also means I created Galeem,"
"Wha?" Starlight asked. Her surprised expression melted away as anger replaced it. "Why would you do that!?" Starlight yelled at the voice.
"I understand that you're upset, but I have a perfectly good explanation for this," said the voice.
"Well then say it, I won't forgive you for creating such a monster until I do," Starlight said angrily.
"Very well," said the voice. "First off. do you believe that this is the only world where many faces can come together like this?" asked the voice.
"No not really," answered Starlight.
"Indeed," said the voice. "You nor your friends know this, but I've created more worlds like this in the past,"
"What?" asked Starlight.
"Now, what I'm about to tell you may sound surprising, but I can assure you it's the truth," said the voice. Starlight looked up in confusion. "You see Galeem, the fighters you've met, the spirits, and even the very journey you're taking, is only an illusion,"
"What?" Starlight asked in confusion.
"Let me show you," said the voice. Suddenly a large square appeared in front of Starlight showing a first person view of a vision. She could see two hands in a small room with a desk, a toy box, a bed, and several posters of cars hanging on walls. "This is me," said the voice.
"You?" asked Starlight. She couldn't tell who this was considering she could only see hands. The vision continued as the hands reached into the toy box and pulled out a small plush of Mario and Kirby and placed them onto the desk. The hands began rearranging the stuff before the individual backed away. The screen began to close, almost as if the individual was closing their eyes, then the screen went black. However when they opened their eyes, Starlight saw something different. The room was gone and now she was in a completely different location. Both the Mario plush and Kirby plush stood up and began fighting. "Is that?" asked Starlight.
'This is the world of Smash, the very world I created when I was just a child," explained the voice. Suddenly another screen appeared next to the first one as another vision started playing. In this one, the individual could be seen walking into a room with shelves filled with multiple video game consoles, a television, a bed, and a table filled with little figures of fighters like Mario, Kirby, and Link. The individual walked over and picked up Mario's figures. They looked at it for a moment before setting it down once more.
"What?" asked Starlight. A third screen came into view as another vision started playing. This time she could see Master Hand, only he was being restrained by chains of light that led to a mysterious blue figure floating in the sky. "Who?" Starlight asked. That's when she noticed someone jumping from a ledge to attack the mysterious figure, only to get knocked back with Master Hand and turned into one of the figures. She watched as Master Hand rose and attempted to punch their attacker only to be knocked back and die. Suddenly the fighters appeared led by Mario and out of nowhere, the blue attacker grew wings and sent waves striking all the fighters. Starlight watched in horror as they were all transformed into figures.
"Those were the sad times," said the voice. Another screen appeared. In this vision, she saw herself in a new environment. Unlike the first two, the individual was now in a room with a desk, a bed, shelves filled with books and trophies, and a wall covered in certificates. The individual put down what appeared to be briefcase and sat on their bed. He looked over to a second shelf with the same figures of fighters that were covered in dust. They looked down when Starlight could hear multiple voices.
'Wha?" asked Starlight. They almost sounded like the voice she was speaking to earlier but in this vision, it almost sounded as if the individual was doubting themselves. They looked up at the figures and walked over to them. The individual picked up the dusty Mario figure and looked at it before closing their eyes as another vision began playing. This time, Starlight could see the fighters battling what appeared be dark creatures taking the shape of a giant humanoid, a rampaging beast, multiple swords, and a clone of the fighter themselves before revealing a small multicolored orb that when thrown off the stage, would suddenly burst into a wave of black aura. A fifth screen appeared and this time, it wasn't in first person. Starlight could see a human with short brown hair and a black shirt smiling back at them. He was saying something but she couldn't make it out too well.
"That's me," said the voice.
"That's you!?" gasped Starlight. She looked back at the screen. She could see the human was still talking before shifting to a scene with the words What is Super Smash Bros written on it, before moving to a scene where Mario and three other fighters were battling on a field. The words The End appeared and then Just Kidding underneath it, before switching back to the human talking.
"You see I've created not just this world, but four other worlds based off of my imagination as a child," said the voice. "However, even though it seems like very little has been created, I've been doing this for my entire life," Starlight looked up with a worried look. "For many years I've been doing this and during those times, many have come to appreciate my creation," said the voice. "But as of now, those who gave me their support, my fans, have lost their sense of appreciation, and have constantly attacked me with requests on how I should create these worlds,"
"Oh no," said Starlight.
"During times of trials and tribulations, I believed that I had been working with the intention of bringing not just mine, but the imagination of others to life," said the voice. "Until I realized that wasn't the case,"
"What happened?" asked Starlight. "As the years went by, I began to grow tired," said the voice. "However just when I thought I could escape, those who supported me turned their backs and gave captured me," Starlight's eyes widened as she put her hoofs over her mouth. "They forced me to work and I didn't have a choice, knowing that if I quit there my fans would think very little of me,"
"Oh no," said Starlight.
"Yes, as bad as it may sound though, I wasn't upset because of that," explained the voice. "I was upset because both my fans and my supporters has lost their sense of appreciation and the REAL intention of creating these worlds,"
"What was your real intention?" asked Starlight.
"To bring joy and happiness to the children by bringing these beloved characters to life," answered the voice. Starlight gasped as tears began to roll down her face. "But in these times, my fans and supporters only saw one thing, who was the true master of these characters," said the voice. "They had become so wrapped up in their thoughts, that they only saw my creation as an opportunity to gain rights to these characters and control them not seeing the true value these characters have deep within them,"
'Oh my Celestia," said Starlight.
"In desperate times, I needed to express my feelings and thus I created this world and Galeem," said the voice. "As cruel as he is, this was my final attempts to try and get everyone to understand once more the true value these characters hold and my real intentions of creating this world," Starlight looked at the screens replaying the visions in a loop. "If I had hurt you and your friends, then I sincerely apologize, but right now you're the only ones I can depend on," Starlight looked back at the screen with the human, still talking with a huge smile on his face. "So I ask you once more, is this really what you want?" asked the voice.
"What do you mean?" asked Starlight.
'If you give up now, you'll put your friends, your world in danger, as well as my attempts to free myself from this endless torture," explained the voice. She looked back at the visions with tears in her eyes. Before looking back up. She shook her head.
"No, no I don't want to give up," said Starlight.
"Very well, then allow me to assist you," said the voice. "Just so you know, this may be the only time we get to talk so I'm going to go ahead and say this," Starlight continued to look up. "Don't give up, I know you can do this, the fate of your world and my freedom depends on you,"
"I know," said Starlight nodding.
"Good luck," said the voice. Suddenly the screens disappeared as light began to fill the void. Starlight shielded her eyes as she felt her body burning. She opened her eyes to find herself back in her original location, she could still hear her friends calling out to her. When she tried to stand, she noticed something was different. Her body wasn't aching and felt a new power surging through her body.
"Guys she's alive!" announced Villager.
"Oh thank Celestia!" exclaimed Twilight.
"Hey guys is it just me or does Starlight look different?" asked Spike. They took a closer look and sure enough, Starlight's body was glowing in a rainbow aura. Suddenly the sky grew dark as storm clouds hovered over them. Starlight looked at herself as her new power coursed through her body giving her strength. Her eyes were glowing in a golden light.
"Hmph, so you're alive eh?" sneered Cadence. Starlight turned around and looked at her with pure determination in her eyes.
"Yes, and I'm going to tell you now, get out of my way," said Starlight.
"Over my dead body," Cadence sneered.
"That was your final warning," said Starlight smirking.