Recently, I've been thinking more and more about what Johnny gets out of his and Pony's friendship, since I've seen a couple people say that he doesn't seem to get much from it. I, personally, have never seen it that way. Obviously we don't get to see their friendship super well-rounded in canon, so this is just based off of the way I view and interpret these characters.
Pony, obviously, gets a lot from the friendship. He has someone who understands him, cares for him, is his best-friend, forgives him and his faults, and is willing to put him first even when dying. I've seen people look at that and think that Pony is just taking without giving, but I think that to Johnny, taking care of Pony and being someone seen as reliable, is a gift.
Johnny, I believe, is close to Dally partially because he admires him, but also because Dally doesn't treat him as weak. He doesn't coddle him. Dally messes with him, is rude, congratulates Johnny when he kills Bob instead of fussing, and generally treats Johnny as someone who can handle himself while still caring for him. It seems that Ponyboy does the same - when he's rude to Johnny he apologizes but doesn't trip over himself worrying that he's hurt Johnny, he lets Johnny in and shares his struggles with him instead of hiding them from him, and cares for him without making it a Thing.
Now, we don't really see the rest of the gang actually interact with Johnny in canon, but the fandom's general consensus is that, even if he's not being treated like glass, he's still treated differently. A little gentler, kinder, like someone who needs to be looked after. Even if they do respect him and think of him as strong, they still try to protect him. While there's no problem with taking care of someone who is, logically, in a more vulnerable situation than you, I imagine it would be refreshing to Johnny - to be treated as an equal capable of handling sharp barbs and issues, instead of a little brother who needs to be immediately defended from anything that could overwhelm him.
In Johnny's relationship with Pony, he's an equal, and even a protector. Of course, Pony's description of Johnny isn't all that kind, and doesn't give the impression that Pony sees him as an equal, but that's how Pony treats him. When Pony needs support, he trusts Johnny to help him. When the Socs corner them in the park, Pony doesn't step in front of Johnny but stands at his side. He trusts Johnny to be okay and capable of taking care of himself, and to verbalize when he's not. Pony gives Johnny the agency to choose when he needs Pony's support. And this isn't because Pony just automatically assumes that Johnny's okay, but because Johnny does go to him if something is wrong.
Johnny tells Pony when he feels suicidal. He tells Pony about how he prefers when his dad is beating him. He argues with Pony in the church. Johnny only lives for about a week once the book starts, and it's entirely Pony's POV, so yeah we don't see a lot of moments where Johnny is vulnerable, but what we do see of Pony and Johnny's friendship isn't a one-sided exchange - it's two people who trust each other to tell the other the truth and know what they need from the other. I can imagine that that kind of trust is very important, considering that Johnny lacks a lot of control in his life, and Pony is someone who feels like everyone around him tolerates him and only sees him as a tag-along or a burden instead of a friend or equal.
While we don't have super obvious or straight-forward examples of what Johnny gets out of his friendship with Pony, it looks to me like Johnny gets to be a friend, a confidant, an equal, and a protector, while also being trusted enough to say when something is bothering him, and is also given the room to be vulnerable.
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