No matter where the light comes from, its intensity will always be greater at the narrow end of the cone where the intersecting area is smaller.
The intensity of light falls off as the square of the distance from the NARROW END OF THE CONE, not from the source of light.  This is due to the fact that the intersecting area is the denominator in the equation for the intensity of light.  The drop in intensity tracks the increase of this area, which increases as the square of the distance away from the narrow end of the cone.  The intensity of a LASER beam remains constant over vast distances because the light in a LASER beam does not spread out into a light cone, ie the intersecting or cross-sectional area of the Laser beam is the same at both ends.