What he said above. I had to replace my cluster and they told me the same thing. I could have sworn then, they were wrong. It would not budge. It does tho and it feels like you are going to break it if you tug any harder, but your not.
The best and easiest way that I found to do this is to place some paper or something on top of the guage face and place a flat head screwdriver between the needle and the face and slowly twist is so the blade goes from horizontal - to vertical | , but do it slowly. This should get it started for you. It will get to the point where the blade won't push it off anymore. You will have to use your fingers then, but it should be much easier for you at that point.
Good luck!